I just installed Navmii on my laptop. My very first impression, when I saw the above menu screen, was: "Wow, what a beautiful design!"
My laptop is set to 1280 x 800 resolution, and after resizing the screen shot to the above small image, the beauty might have been partially lost. But I must say I was impressed.
Terry (tcassidy), Ken (Ken in Regina), and I have the UK version of Navmii. The USA/Canada maps will be released soon, and hopefully then we will be able to take this new PC GPS software for a ride. But in the mean time we can at least explore the menus, options, etc, etc.
I will share more as time permits.
My laptop is set to 1280 x 800 resolution, and after resizing the screen shot to the above small image, the beauty might have been partially lost. But I must say I was impressed.
Terry (tcassidy), Ken (Ken in Regina), and I have the UK version of Navmii. The USA/Canada maps will be released soon, and hopefully then we will be able to take this new PC GPS software for a ride. But in the mean time we can at least explore the menus, options, etc, etc.
I will share more as time permits.
The map screen looks good on my UMPC at 800x480. The program is quite small and appears very fast even on this anemic device. I do note the maps are TeleAtlas.
Terry
Terry
The GPS device must be set up manually. I set up the appropriate COM port for my Bluetooth GPS 10x and it found it ok.
Terry
Terry
As Navmii only has UK maps at present, I was unable to use the GPS. However, I picked a POI to set up a route and then used the Demo route function to get an idea of display while routing.
The display is fine and the spoken directions are clear enough. However, it did not speak street names on all turns. I got one for A315 but not Butterwick for example.
Terry
The display is fine and the spoken directions are clear enough. However, it did not speak street names on all turns. I got one for A315 but not Butterwick for example.
Terry
I'm not sure about the street name pronunciation, I haven't yet gotten that far with Navmii on my laptop. But I like your screen shot. On the left side you can see the speed trap warning. It shows the legal speed limit, too.
I did another route using 3D. The only street name it spoke was A40.
Terry
Terry
I only see two "Voice" options:
- Kate (English UK)
- Dave (English UK)
When you guys downloaded the map activation key file, did it only activate the UK map or did it also activate the Ireland map?
Mine only activated the UK map.
Just curious.
.... Oh yeah, I downloaded the zip file, not the .exe installer file. I just dragged the Navmii folder out of the ZIP file and into the Progam Files folder and it seems quite happy. There are no entries in the START/All Programs menu when you install that way but that's no big thing.
...ken...
Mine only activated the UK map.
Just curious.
.... Oh yeah, I downloaded the zip file, not the .exe installer file. I just dragged the Navmii folder out of the ZIP file and into the Progam Files folder and it seems quite happy. There are no entries in the START/All Programs menu when you install that way but that's no big thing.
...ken...
Just the UK map.
Terry
Terry
Only UK for me, too.
This is interesting. With Garmin Mobile PC and my Garmin handhelds I'm used to a basemap. There does not seem to be a basemap with Navmii.
In the first image the UK is just sitting there in outer space.
The coastlines are confusing. Not really very well defined. In the next two images you can see that it's hard to tell whether it's a river, a lake or part of the coast.
And then there are those lines that head off to nowhere ... perhaps if you follow them you'll just fall off the edge of the world?
...ken...
In the first image the UK is just sitting there in outer space.
The coastlines are confusing. Not really very well defined. In the next two images you can see that it's hard to tell whether it's a river, a lake or part of the coast.
And then there are those lines that head off to nowhere ... perhaps if you follow them you'll just fall off the edge of the world?
...ken...
Ken, that's also how it is in iGuidance by iNav and perhaps other programs, too. No world basemap, but that's not an issue if you don't go outside for example USA/Canada and your street-level map data is for USA/Canada.
I think the reason it stands out so much for me is that the coastline is so poorly and ambiguously defined in the Navmii UK map.
...ken...
...ken...
I really like the map display and the user interface.
It places the navigation instructions at the top and your current location at the bottom, as you can see in the attached images. Even on my Acer Aspire One netbook screen that text doesn't get in the way of viewing the map.
So far this is one of the better nav programs for the spoken voice guidance. In the attached images you can see a roundabout .. the sort of thing we in North America don't experience much and we call them traffic circles when we do. You can see in the first image the pictorial guidance in the upper left. In the second image you can see the interchange itself.
What was really useful about this is the voice guidance. "In 400 yards at the roundabout take the third exit on A4." That would sure make navigating such a complex intersection much easier.
It's very easy to find things in the user interface. It looks like it would be a super interface for a touch screen. The FIND feature is easy to use. It has the best on screen keyboard I've seen.
My criticism of the Find function is the same as for many other nav programs and personal navigation devices: you can't enter an address without first entering a city name. This is just plain stupid. In large metropolitan areas where you have multiple cities, even the local residents don't know exactly where one city starts and the next ends. Anyone who needs a GPS for navigation .... ???? Why do nav software developers do this sort of thing????
When entering a Favorite using the onscreen keyboard, it's even smart enough to automatically do the first letter of each name in upper case. Handy. It's quite easy to create favorites, whether it's the result of finding, say, an address or just clicking an arbitrary point on the map. Very nice.
I can't wait to get my hands on the North America maps and do some navigating with Navmii.
...ken...
It places the navigation instructions at the top and your current location at the bottom, as you can see in the attached images. Even on my Acer Aspire One netbook screen that text doesn't get in the way of viewing the map.
So far this is one of the better nav programs for the spoken voice guidance. In the attached images you can see a roundabout .. the sort of thing we in North America don't experience much and we call them traffic circles when we do. You can see in the first image the pictorial guidance in the upper left. In the second image you can see the interchange itself.
What was really useful about this is the voice guidance. "In 400 yards at the roundabout take the third exit on A4." That would sure make navigating such a complex intersection much easier.
It's very easy to find things in the user interface. It looks like it would be a super interface for a touch screen. The FIND feature is easy to use. It has the best on screen keyboard I've seen.
My criticism of the Find function is the same as for many other nav programs and personal navigation devices: you can't enter an address without first entering a city name. This is just plain stupid. In large metropolitan areas where you have multiple cities, even the local residents don't know exactly where one city starts and the next ends. Anyone who needs a GPS for navigation .... ???? Why do nav software developers do this sort of thing????
When entering a Favorite using the onscreen keyboard, it's even smart enough to automatically do the first letter of each name in upper case. Handy. It's quite easy to create favorites, whether it's the result of finding, say, an address or just clicking an arbitrary point on the map. Very nice.
I can't wait to get my hands on the North America maps and do some navigating with Navmii.
...ken...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marvin Hlavac
Ken, that's also how it is in iGuidance by iNav and perhaps other programs, too.
It's not like my netbook is going to run out of blue pixels if they make the ocean around the UK blue.
...ken...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken in Regina
My criticism of the Find function is the same as for many other nav programs and personal navigation devices: you can't enter an address without first entering a city name. This is just plain stupid. In large metropolitan areas where you have multiple cities, even the local residents don't know exactly where one city starts and the next ends. Anyone who needs a GPS for navigation .... ???? Why do nav software developers do this sort of thing????
I love everything I have seen about Navmii, but this one is a disappointment.
This may be a non-issue for people in Europe, or in any geographical area where cities are far apart from each other. However, in metropolitan areas, where sometimes a road intersection may be a point where two or three cities meet, it is often unclear to GPS users which city to enter into their GPS.
As an example:
6380 Yonge Street is in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
7027 Yonge Street is in Markham, Ontario, Canada
7200 Yonge Street is in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada
So if someone around here tells you a street name and number, that may not be enough if you use a GPS solution that doesn't allow you skip entering city in the process of entering your destination.
This would be my #1 feature request for a future version of Navmii. If Tele Atlas map data cannot accommodate this feature, consider moving to Navteq.
Your comment about navigation programs based on TeleAtlas is interesting, Marvin. I don't think I tried an appropriate local search when I had a product with TeleAtlas data for this area. Maybe it is more forgiving about the city information than NavTeq. I do recall the town/ area identification was just as confusing as NavTeq.
Terry
Terry
I don't know enough about the geopolitical boundaries in the UK to test the forgiveness of Navmii at the moment. I only know one person in the UK so I used their address to test and discovered the issue.
One thing that is really nice is that it is very responsive to offer suggestions as you type and it got both the city and street names after I typed only a few characters. And it was really fast to offer the suggestions, even on my underpowered little netbook.
Lots to like about Navmii. We'll just have to wait for the NA maps to test how forgiving it might be on the city names ... and the general quality of the TeleAtlas North America product to see if it has improved any.
...ken...
One thing that is really nice is that it is very responsive to offer suggestions as you type and it got both the city and street names after I typed only a few characters. And it was really fast to offer the suggestions, even on my underpowered little netbook.
Lots to like about Navmii. We'll just have to wait for the NA maps to test how forgiving it might be on the city names ... and the general quality of the TeleAtlas North America product to see if it has improved any.
...ken...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marvin Hlavac
As an example:
6380 Yonge Street is in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
7027 Yonge Street is in Markham, Ontario, Canada
7200 Yonge Street is in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada
:
I agree that is not quite friendly in actual use.
Most netbook or laptop users have also S&T as well. I usu plan the trip which is super fast with S&T and putting in the address in the 'find' function will immediately give me the city to enter into my ppc.
Daniel
Yes, and in many cases even if you know the correct city name, it may not be the city name the GPS may have in its database.
For example the above mentioned address of 7200 Yonge Street. Is it in the city of Vaughan or Thornhill? Ask 10 people who live there, and 5 will tell you they live in Thornhill, and the other 5 will insist they live in the city of Vaughan.
Do we have any locals reading this? Is 6380 Yonge Street in Toronto? Is it in North York? Is it in Willowdale? I think all of the above is correct, but a GPS that insists on you entering a city may only know of one of those names. That is why I always feel so strongly that it should not be mandatory for people to have to enter the name of the city. A GPS solution should let people to just enter street number and street name, and then, optionally, search the whole state, province, region, whatever, and present the user with all the found matches
For example the above mentioned address of 7200 Yonge Street. Is it in the city of Vaughan or Thornhill? Ask 10 people who live there, and 5 will tell you they live in Thornhill, and the other 5 will insist they live in the city of Vaughan.
Do we have any locals reading this? Is 6380 Yonge Street in Toronto? Is it in North York? Is it in Willowdale? I think all of the above is correct, but a GPS that insists on you entering a city may only know of one of those names. That is why I always feel so strongly that it should not be mandatory for people to have to enter the name of the city. A GPS solution should let people to just enter street number and street name, and then, optionally, search the whole state, province, region, whatever, and present the user with all the found matches
I have a hand held Garmin with North America maps and it allows you to enter a street address without entering the city at all. Same goes for my dad's Curtis GPS with IGO software on it.
...and the same goes for Garmin Mobile PC, iGuidance by iNav, etc. It would be nice if Geolife could address this in a future Navmii release.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken in Regina
And then there are those lines that head off to nowhere ... perhaps if you follow them you'll just fall off the edge of the world?
...ken...
I'll let you all know how my install goes. Next week I'm putting this on a car-PC/Carputer (After Market system not Manufacturers) which uses a touch screen monitor.
Should be fun as I am in the UK and will get full usage with the UK maps.
Tim
Quote:
Originally Posted by DJEvergreen
I have a hand held Garmin with North America maps and it allows you to enter a street address without entering the city at all. Same goes for my dad's Curtis GPS with IGO software on it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dtong22
My Garmin map NA2008 & 2009 do require you to specify the city first. No clue about 2010 nor Curtis
What device are you running those Garmin maps on? It makes a difference.
It's not something in the maps. I'm using City Navigator NA 2009 on my Garmin iQue 3600 and it does not require you to enter a city name before entering the street name, although it allows you to do so if you want to. It's your choice. Same thing in Mobile PC with City Navigator NA 2009 or 2010.
At least with Garmin (Navteq) maps, the limitation is not in the maps. It's either in the software (laptop, PDA, smartphone, etc.) or the personal navigation device firmware, in the way the user interface is designed.
...ken...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken in Regina
Hi Daniel,
What device are you running those Garmin maps on? It makes a difference.
It's not something in the maps. I'm using City Navigator NA 2009 on my Garmin iQue 3600 and it does not require you to enter a city name before entering the street name, although it allows you to do so if you want to. It's your choice. Same thing in Mobile PC with City Navigator NA 2009 or 2010.
At least with Garmin (Navteq) maps, the limitation is not in the maps. It's either in the software (laptop, PDA, smartphone, etc.) or the personal navigation device firmware, in the way the user interface is designed.
...ken...
What device are you running those Garmin maps on? It makes a difference.
It's not something in the maps. I'm using City Navigator NA 2009 on my Garmin iQue 3600 and it does not require you to enter a city name before entering the street name, although it allows you to do so if you want to. It's your choice. Same thing in Mobile PC with City Navigator NA 2009 or 2010.
At least with Garmin (Navteq) maps, the limitation is not in the maps. It's either in the software (laptop, PDA, smartphone, etc.) or the personal navigation device firmware, in the way the user interface is designed.
...ken...
Daniel
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken in Regina
It's not something in the maps. I'm using City Navigator NA 2009 on my Garmin iQue 3600 and it does not require you to enter a city name before entering the street name, although it allows you to do so if you want to. It's your choice. Same thing in Mobile PC with City Navigator NA 2009 or 2010.
.
.
Daniel
If you are using MapSource or nRoute with your GPS18 there is no need to enter the city. If the street name is common it might take longer to search (entering the state/ province will certainly help) but you will get a list of possible addresses.
Terry
Terry
Terry
Just as bad. I have changed the tab to 1000 matches (streets) for my selection. Still that does not allow me to get a simple King street.
The trouble is you need to select street and you are not allowed to type in.
For S&T all you need is to cut and paste say 1240 Queens St.
Daniel
Just as bad. I have changed the tab to 1000 matches (streets) for my selection. Still that does not allow me to get a simple King street.
The trouble is you need to select street and you are not allowed to type in.
For S&T all you need is to cut and paste say 1240 Queens St.
Daniel
You have more than 1000 King street matches in your state/ province? And the one you want isn't near the top?
I will admit that nRoute and MapSource are a bit behind the times. Garmin Mobile PC does not have this issue. However, you CAN search by street; with Navmii and some other TeleAtlas based products, it is not an option at all.
Terry
I will admit that nRoute and MapSource are a bit behind the times. Garmin Mobile PC does not have this issue. However, you CAN search by street; with Navmii and some other TeleAtlas based products, it is not an option at all.
Terry
Quote:
Originally Posted by tcassidy
You have more than 1000 King street matches in your state/ province? And the one you want isn't near the top?
I will admit that nRoute and MapSource are a bit behind the times. Garmin Mobile PC does not have this issue. However, you CAN search by street; with Navmii and some other TeleAtlas based products, it is not an option at all.
Terry
I will admit that nRoute and MapSource are a bit behind the times. Garmin Mobile PC does not have this issue. However, you CAN search by street; with Navmii and some other TeleAtlas based products, it is not an option at all.
Terry
Thanks. I think I got that. It is slightly better now.
For less common street (like Inca that is a road ), it is a lot easier
Daniel
Quote:
Originally Posted by timsmith0
The lines that disappear into nowhere are the ferry/boat routes to Ireland, Isle of Man, France etc
I'll let you all know how my install goes. Next week I'm putting this on a car-PC/Carputer (After Market system not Manufacturers) which uses a touch screen monitor.
Should be fun as I am in the UK and will get full usage with the UK maps.
Tim
I'll let you all know how my install goes. Next week I'm putting this on a car-PC/Carputer (After Market system not Manufacturers) which uses a touch screen monitor.
Should be fun as I am in the UK and will get full usage with the UK maps.
Tim
:welcome: to Laptop GPS World.
Thanks for the explanation about the lines that go to nowhere. That makes more sense now.
I'm very much looking forward to more of your feedback on Navmii once you have a chance to test drive it on your CarPC.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tcassidy
The map screen looks good on my UMPC at 800x480. The program is quite small and appears very fast even on this anemic device. I do note the maps are TeleAtlas.
Terry
Terry
Happy new year to you all!
Thanks for the discussion, very valid observations.
We've been having some difficulties here in the UK with address lookup particularly in city areas that encompass several smaller towns or bouroughs as we would call them.
The address lookup functions were completely re-written recently to allow us to expand functions beyond UK specifics and enable us to localise for worldwide markets. It's proving difficult but we're getting there, hopefully the next update will resolve most of the outstanding issues.
The problem with oceans not being defined and shown in blue is due to our lack of Outerworld data for the US, we only just got this resolved in the UK so it should not be long before the US data becomes complete in this respect.
Which version do we all have?
v1.3 was released recently, here is a link if you need it:
http://www.navmii.com/Storage/Versions/GBI/WindowsDesktop/1.3.0.676/Navmii_PC_1.3.676.exe
Anyone that needs a trial extending can contact me directly chris(at)navmii(dot)com
Thanks for the discussion, very valid observations.
We've been having some difficulties here in the UK with address lookup particularly in city areas that encompass several smaller towns or bouroughs as we would call them.
The address lookup functions were completely re-written recently to allow us to expand functions beyond UK specifics and enable us to localise for worldwide markets. It's proving difficult but we're getting there, hopefully the next update will resolve most of the outstanding issues.
The problem with oceans not being defined and shown in blue is due to our lack of Outerworld data for the US, we only just got this resolved in the UK so it should not be long before the US data becomes complete in this respect.
Which version do we all have?
v1.3 was released recently, here is a link if you need it:
http://www.navmii.com/Storage/Versions/GBI/WindowsDesktop/1.3.0.676/Navmii_PC_1.3.676.exe
Anyone that needs a trial extending can contact me directly chris(at)navmii(dot)com
Chris, Happy New Year 2010 to you, too. Thanks for taking the address lookup issues seriously. Some GPS applications may be excellent, but if users find it difficult to look up their destination addresses, they may just move on to other products that may or may not be as good in other areas.