Review of Lumisoft’s A-Z Maps for Symbian OS Phones
December 18, 2006 by Carlos Eduardo · 4 Comments
Having recently moved to London, I was introduced to the ubiquitous map for locals: The A-Z Maps. These maps are as british as beer, and everyone from bankers to cab drivers use them to find out where they are going. However, we are in the digital age, and well, paper is so 1980′s. This is my experience with Lumisoft’s digital A-Z Maps for the mobile phone thus far.
What’s the only electronic device you ever carry with you every day? Your mobile phone! It would therefore stand to reason that any map software you would want to buy would HAVE to be for your mobile phone. It’s pointless to use the WAP version of a map or an online version of one because of the data charges. Therefore, it would also stand to reason that the best and only way of doing this would be to have it loaded on the local memory card, and that’s just what Lumisoft did.
Lumisoft has succeeded in making what I think is one of the best pieces of Symbian OS software out there (If you live, or plan on visiting one of the cities they cover). The biggest problem I thought I would have before reviewing this product is being stuck with a flat file, and have to move it around while I struggled to see the small streets. What I experienced was far from that. For reference, I used their product on both the Nokia N73 and the Nokia E61.
First of all, the start screen is a simple list of street names. You can start typing a street name (or post code) and the software will automatically start eliminating streets that don’t fit the letters you’ve input so far, thus helping you find a place even if you don’t remember how to spell all of it. One thing that it doesn’t do, unfortunately is tell you exactly where a street number is (for example, where is 233 Fulham Road), but neither do regular maps. It does however, show on the road numbers such as 100, 200, etc. so that you can determine roughly where something is.
Once you have found the location, you click on it, and the software shows you the location of where you point is relative to the city as a whole.
You then click again and it’ll take you straight to where you want to go, encircle it, and allow you to move the map in any direction (with a slight delay between the screen refreshing) so you can find other points of interest around it. Because they have the maps through A-Z, the maps include all of the typical information that A-Z maps have.
Lastly, you can click additional times to see different levels of zoom.
In conclusion, unlike many other products out there that are either overly complex and/or rely on bluetoothed GPS units to operate, this one is straight forward, independent of data connections, and simple to use, just like the A-Z print version. I’ve been using it daily since I bought it. Currently the only competitor they really have that has a similar type product is Vindigo, but their focus is slightly different.
If I could put in a few wishes for future editions I’d say:
- Availability for Palm OS and cough cough Windows Mobile devices
- A split screen listing of nearby tube stations, hospitals, gas stations, etc. (even though you can see them by scrolling)
- Estimates on travel time between a point of origination and destination
- The option to be able to hook up a GPS unit so as to get a precise read on where you are. Although, I think it’s overkill for someone to carry a GPS unit for a phone that doesn’t have a GPS unit built-in, I’m sure someone out there uses it. On the upcoming Nokia N95, this would be a great feature since it has GPS built-in.
- Inclusion of being able to search by building number and street name, not just name only.
If you don’t live in London, don’t worry, other maps you can get from Lumisoft include:
A-Z London Maps
A-Z Birmingham Street Map
A-Z Great Britain Super Scale Road Atlas
A-Z Roadmap of Great Britain
Paris Street Map
Barcelona Street Map
Dubai Street Map
Helsinki Street Map
Link to Lumisoft’s website – http://www.lumisoft.net/index.htm
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Oh, I forgot to add one thing… the installation procedure for Mac users is a bit vague in that it doesn’t tell you that the maps need to be at the root folder of your memory card. You can’t have a sub-folder with the files inside, the application won’t be able to find them. So, make sure the folder (AZmaps) is right at the / of your E: drive (SD card)
Good short review. I’d add a couple comments.
First I’d like to see the GPS capability too as an extra but I wonder if it would slow down the app. This is is a city map and tends to be used a ot by walkers rather than drivers. So that may be a reason that GPS is not hugely important.
Second what this map is missing hugely is an overlay of Train/tube maps. Maybe even a bus map possibility. It merey shows the location of the tube stations but does not even mark the train/tube lines. This is a huge gap for a city map since that is a critical complement to the street/walking map. I suspect this may have something to do with the cost of licencing those maps in the UK’s crazy sytem of “privatized commercial status” of their government mapping authorities. But it is a huge loss in any case.
Finally, dont expect to see Windows Mobile verison of this from Lumisoft. They are licencing the maps from A-Z and the A-Z guys alrady have their own Windows Mobile Application available, which does accept GPS by the way, although overall it is not as slick and easy to use as the Lumisoft S60 3rd interface.
Also, what is surprising is how few cities Lumisoft has available. No New York or Wash DC or Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Madrid, Rome, Athens, Oslo etc. They really should increase the number of cities available. Will imcrease their user base.
Ditto for their dictionaries.
Agreed, as a walking map, GPS isn’t necessary, and usage is generally pretty snappy. I too wish there would be an overlay for bus/tube stations. A larger preference would be towards bus routes, as they tend to be more complex.
It does surprise me that they have such a limited set of cities, but in their defense, I guess it is related to the source of the maps. In the case of the A-Z maps, they mostly cover the UK.
Lastly, good point regarding the Windows Mobile app.