View Full Version : MapQuest Navigator for Sprint Nextel
Nomis
09-20-2006, 11:15 AM
Ran across MapQuest Navigator (http://www.mapquest.com/features/main.adp?page=slashmobile_navigator_phonelist) on the MapQuest Site a couple days ago.
Anyone have any idea when they are going to be releasing the BB versions?
THX
It's available right now for the 7100i and 7250. I'm downloading it right now. I'll let you know how it works. I have TeleNav and I'm not very happy with it. BB Maps is good but no voice. I want to see if Navigator is any better. Same price as TeleNav but there is supposed to be a 30 day free trial for BlackBerry users
Walt
Ran across MapQuest Navigator (http://www.mapquest.com/features/main.adp?page=slashmobile_navigator_phonelist) on the MapQuest Site a couple days ago.
Anyone have any idea when they are going to be releasing the BB versions?
THX
Stinsonddog
12-28-2006, 09:53 AM
Also the 7130 version works on the Pearl 8100.
MrKyoo
12-28-2006, 11:30 AM
Also the 7130 version works on the Pearl 8100.
And works quite well.
~MrKyoo
Nomis
12-29-2006, 07:50 AM
Cool! I'll have to give it a shot.
Has anyone had MapQuest Navigator stop navigating? I have a 7100i and can't figure it out. I like MapQuest Nav but it's useless if it stops navigating. Looks like I'm stuck with TeleNav.
Ran across MapQuest Navigator (http://www.mapquest.com/features/main.adp?page=slashmobile_navigator_phonelist) on the MapQuest Site a couple days ago.
Anyone have any idea when they are going to be releasing the BB versions?
THX
Stinsonddog
01-04-2007, 04:36 PM
Has anyone had MapQuest Navigator stop navigating? I have a 7100i and can't figure it out. I like MapQuest Nav but it's useless if it stops navigating. Looks like I'm stuck with TeleNav.
Did you move out of coverage area? Did your trial exprie?
Nomis
01-05-2007, 11:19 AM
Mine stopped a couple days into the trial (7520). There is a free one at mobile.blackberry.com that seems to work pretty well (assuming you have a strong enough battery).
I think the problem was my phone software. I updated the 7100i and now I'm downloading MapQuest again. I'll let ya know if the problem is solved. The new software update solved a similar problem I had with BB Maps.
Did you move out of coverage area? Did your trial exprie?
jelive
01-06-2007, 03:01 PM
Tried both Mapquest Navigator and TeleNav today and BB Maps previously. Admittedly I've only tried for a short period but Mapquest wins hands down on my Nextel Blackberry 7100i. It is easier to use, better display as you go directions, easier to understand voice, seems a bit more accurate on points of interest/businesses, etc. Guess only time will tell. :-)
Jim
Okay I tested MapQuest Navigator now that I've updated my handhelds software. It worked great. It navigated the whole trip without locking up. I guess the software update did the trick. I too like MapQuest Navigator better than TeleNav except that you can't pull addresses from your address book. Another pain is that you have to click twice for every selection which seems silly. Like Jim said, it has a nicer display and the voice is clearer. If I had to choose (which I will when the free trials run out) I think I'm going with MapQuest Navigator.
Tried both Mapquest Navigator and TeleNav today and BB Maps previously. Admittedly I've only tried for a short period but Mapquest wins hands down on my Nextel Blackberry 7100i. It is easier to use, better display as you go directions, easier to understand voice, seems a bit more accurate on points of interest/businesses, etc. Guess only time will tell. :-)
Jim
Stinsonddog
01-06-2007, 09:53 PM
Just to clarify for those following this thread. This product is supplied by www.telmap.com. They are developing it for other BB's too. Maybe in the spring.
Just downloaded for my Sprint 7130e. It is very easy to download. It doesn't ask any of your information, you just have to give your phone number. The front page said it is free for 90 days. When I got to the download page, it just said (Free). :p
The first thing I noticed is that the voice is very loud and clear. It is clearer than Telenav. I tried to do a navigate, but I couldn't find a way to preview the turn-by-turn voice prompt. I can see the route and iternary, but no voice prompt preview. Maybe I should read the manual. The other thing I found is that I cannot see the address of the point of interest. I searched for Blockbuster and a bunch of them came out. The only difference I see the distance from origin. It won't let me see the address.
I will play with some more and use it to navigate home tonight.
Played with a little yesterday on the way home. It takes a while to fix your location if you are driving on the freeway. The navigate map doesn't show any street names. There are plenty of spaces on the map to display them, but it doesn't. Unlike Telenav, the voice prompt does not pronounce the street names. :( It just tells you to turn left in 0.2 miles, turn right here, you get the idea...
Another thing I found different than Telenav is that it realized that you went off route very quickly. On Telenav, sometime it took 1/4 to 1/2 mile before it realizes it. With MQ navigator, it started to re-calculate route about 100 to 200 feet after I passed the intersection. On a few occassions, it even told me to do a U turn at the next cross street. The voice prompt said, "It may be safe to do a U turn here" or something similar. I don't remember ever seen Telenav did that.
I still found the lack of addresses showing on the POI search extremely annoying. I was really trying to go to a Blockbuster video, but I have no idea which of the 5 or 6 Blockbusters showing up is the one I want to go to. Is it the 1.3 miles or the 1.4 mile or the 1.5 mile is the one I need to return my movie to? I guess it would be useful if I just want to search for ANY blockbuster.
UPDATE: I found that I can get the address, phone, and description of the business by clicking and select "Details". This is nice, but I still wish they would display those on the search result screen. They made the font so big, they could have fit the address in the same space if the font is smaller. Maybe it was design for phone with smaller screen or lower resolution. But on the good side, it is very easy to read while driving... not that I recommand you play with the phone while driving! :p
Stinsonddog
01-09-2007, 11:34 AM
Played with a little yesterday on the way home. It takes a while to fix your location if you are driving on the freeway. The navigate map doesn't show any street names. There are plenty of spaces on the map to display them, but it doesn't. Unlike Telenav, the voice prompt does not pronounce the street names. :( It just tells you to turn left in 0.2 miles, turn right here, you get the idea...
Another thing I found different than Telenav is that it realized that you went off route very quickly. On Telenav, sometime it took 1/4 to 1/2 mile before it realizes it. With MQ navigator, it started to re-calculate route about 100 to 200 feet after I passed the intersection. On a few occassions, it even told me to do a U turn at the next cross street. The voice prompt said, "It may be safe to do a U turn here" or something similar. I don't remember ever seen Telenav did that.
I still found the lack of addresses showing on the POI search extremely annoying. I was really trying to go to a Blockbuster video, but I have no idea which of the 5 or 6 Blockbusters showing up is the one I want to go to. Is it the 1.3 miles or the 1.4 mile or the 1.5 mile is the one I need to return my movie to? I guess it would be useful if I just want to search for ANY blockbuster.
Really usefull feedback. Thanks
MrKyoo
01-09-2007, 12:07 PM
In MapQuest Navigator to view the addresses in the POI, highlight one of the desired POI – click the menu button – click details.
~MrKyoo
In MapQuest Navigator to view the addresses in the POI, highlight one of the desired POI – click the menu button – click details.
~MrKyoo
Hehe thanks. I found that out and then saw your post. It is quite nice now that I can see the details including phone number.
I tested the MQ navigator some more yesterday and I found out why it offers so many U turns as a direction prompt when you go off the route. It seems like the software does not just download the route alone but also the streets around the route. This is also explained in the user guide which I read yesterday. This is why the re-route is so fast. Whenever I miss a turn, it knows really quick and tries to turn me around without having to download more data. This way, you can still get minor re-route direction even if you don't get any wireless signal out in the middle of somewhere. Where in Telenav, if I miss a turn, it does a full re-route and download data using my current location to recalculate route.
The MQ's way of doing the minor re-route may be a good idea if I am in some place that doesn't get wireless often, but not good for me in LA. What happens to me is that if I purposely go off route to take a short cut, I get about a dozen of U turns prompts trying to get me to turn around at every street. When Telenav did the full reroute, it is smart enough to know that I am running parallel to the freeway, and it will tell me to take the next entrance back to the freeway. It is not the case with MQ navigator. If I exit at Street A and head toward Street B freeway entrance, it will keep trying to turn me around back to Street A to enter the freeway again.
Also there seems to be a side effect of loading the streets around the freeway to do fast re-route. Very often, I would be driving on the freeway 65 to 70 mph and it would, somehow, thinks I teleported to a street next to the freeway. It would try to re-route me back to the freeway. This could be the result of that the freeway was recently expanded and added 2 more lanes, or because GPS data was not very accurate at some places, but it never happened on Telenav. It is very annoying when I am in the middle of the freeway and it tries to tell me to bare left, turn right, make U turn to get back on the freeway every 5 mintues.
datamaxkcmikes
01-14-2007, 01:05 PM
i have tried it and like it pretty well i too notice the "going on the offramps" thing too but ignore it as a very minor glitch occasionally... the part i hate the most is.. when using navigator my phone itself becomes useless as a phone as all my calls go directly to voicemail. i like how after it tells you to u-turn that it will after a couple of minutes reconfigure your route.
However i am afraid how much it will cost to use after the 90 day trial period
Jennesy
01-14-2007, 08:28 PM
Would love to try this program out,but after its completing the installation and it starts to register,it keeps popping up "Network Timeout. Please check your network settings"
But my network is running just fine. Any way to solve this?
++EDIT++
Nevermind,popped the battery out,working just fine.
Havnt gotten the chance to test it with the GPS.As far as POI's go,its defenitely ahead of Telenav and Wayfinder for me.It seems like everytime i try to look for a business with BIZ FINDER on TN,it keeps telling me there are no searches within 15 mi. and then just stops searching! With MQ i enter the same information and I get exactly the result im looking for.
Non-GPS directions with Telenav are so beyond me.It sends me to these completely OUT of the way streets,which i KNOW take much more time to travel through then the ways i usually go.
Have tried "Fastest Route","Shortest Route","Prefer Streets-Highways" and it still sends me these BIZARRE directions
With Mapquest, they make the route's MUCH simpler.
A factor to this though might also be because I have used the MapQuest site quite often in the past to get directions, so having it integrated on my phone just makes sense now.
So far its ahead of the game.
Hopefully I will get to try it out with my puck tomorrow when i head upstate.
Get a better idea of how the voice commands compare and the rerouting.
BBuser99
02-05-2007, 09:26 AM
MapQuest Navigator is available on the 7250, 8100, 8703, 7130. I have used it on the 8703 and 8100 and itworks great and it is free for 90 days on Sprint Nextel
I finally canceled TeleNav and staying with MapQuest Navigator. Someone made a comment about not being able to use the phone while navigating but I have no problem doing that. I get calls but to make calls I can go to my recent calls list by pressing the send button. I haven't seen where I can go to my address book without exiting Navigator. I'll play with it some more.
laser
02-06-2007, 09:20 AM
Maybe it's just my phone, but I can't get steady signal from the sats in my car. I have to hold the damn thing near the window ( 8703e )
Stinsonddog
02-06-2007, 09:46 AM
I finally canceled TeleNav and staying with MapQuest Navigator. Someone made a comment about not being able to use the phone while navigating but I have no problem doing that. I get calls but to make calls I can go to my recent calls list by pressing the send button. I haven't seen where I can go to my address book without exiting Navigator. I'll play with it some more.
Hold the green send key longer to bring up dial by name. You might need to change an option for that on the 8703. See my tips doc.
Hey thanks!! I didn't know about holding the send key longer. Works great. You da man!
Baldie
02-14-2007, 10:25 AM
Does anyone know when they'll start charging for this service? I cancelled telenav as well and like mapquest navi better. I'm still on the 90 days free trial but when will I know if they start charging for the service?? I downloaded it through mapquest and not through nextel so how would the billing work with that?
This is a good question. I've been using MapQuest for a couple of months now and I was wondering how I'm going to be billed. I downloaded it from MapQuest and not from Nextel. Maybe they will forget about us and we'll never get billed. :razz:
Does anyone know when they'll start charging for this service? I cancelled telenav as well and like mapquest navi better. I'm still on the 90 days free trial but when will I know if they start charging for the service?? I downloaded it through mapquest and not through nextel so how would the billing work with that?
Stinsonddog
03-03-2007, 08:56 AM
For those using Mapquest don't you find the entry of addressess to be cumbersome. No tie into the address book, and for each field you have to go the filed, open the field, type the field, and save the field. So for one address with diff fields for number, street, city, state, that is a alot of work.
jareds
03-03-2007, 09:47 AM
it works on my 8800
You're right. That's a pain and you have to pretty much click the wheel twice for everything you do but I like the program so I put up with it. Maybe they'll come out with a new version soon.
For those using Mapquest don't you find the entry of addressess to be cumbersome. No tie into the address book, and for each field you have to go the filed, open the field, type the field, and save the field. So for one address with diff fields for number, street, city, state, that is a alot of work.
jp1979
03-12-2007, 02:04 PM
does anyone know if this will be available for T-mobile customers???
dipdewdog
03-18-2007, 08:56 PM
Just have to add my two cents on this too... Mapquest Navigator works way better than Telenav on my Pearl. Telenav is way slower than MQ at downloading the route and MQ is light years ahead of Telenav at rerouting. The voice prompts are clear, night mode is great, and I never lost GPS or anything during my trip. I'm canceling my Telenav trial and am going to stick with MQ.
I wish I knew more about the pricing for MQ, as far as I can tell I'm not going to be billed... I haven't given them any of my info. Does anyone know what happens after the supposed 90 day "trial period?"
Stinsonddog
03-18-2007, 09:44 PM
Just have to add my two cents on this too... Mapquest Navigator works way better than Telenav on my Pearl. Telenav is way slower than MQ at downloading the route and MQ is light years ahead of Telenav at rerouting. The voice prompts are clear, night mode is great, and I never lost GPS or anything during my trip. I'm canceling my Telenav trial and am going to stick with MQ.
I wish I knew more about the pricing for MQ, as far as I can tell I'm not going to be billed... I haven't given them any of my info. Does anyone know what happens after the supposed 90 day "trial period?"
MQ has diff tech. It does DL alot more route data at the outset thats why it doesnt ping the server, but its alot slower in updating maps you want to see and it doesnt show certain things, and won't show POIs along the route, but both are slated for updates very soon so stay tuned. Both can be very good. Oh by the way, best I know same price after trial.
dipdewdog
03-19-2007, 01:27 PM
MQ has diff tech. It does DL alot more route data at the outset thats why it doesnt ping the server, but its alot slower in updating maps you want to see and it doesnt show certain things, and won't show POIs along the route, but both are slated for updates very soon so stay tuned. Both can be very good. Oh by the way, best I know same price after trial.
FWIW, MapQuests's tech makes a whole lot more sense to me. Why risk losing network connectivity along the route? At least for me, it seems like even though MQ gets more data upfront, it doesn't take that much longer to initiate navigation than Telenav. I'm looking forward to the updated MapQuest for sure.
When you say same price, you mean free? ;-)
wangta01
03-25-2007, 02:01 AM
I too am a bigfan of MapQuests. I have yet to try telenav, but don't feel like I need to!
Stinsonddog
03-25-2007, 07:00 AM
FWIW, MapQuests's tech makes a whole lot more sense to me. Why risk losing network connectivity along the route? At least for me, it seems like even though MQ gets more data upfront, it doesn't take that much longer to initiate navigation than Telenav. I'm looking forward to the updated MapQuest for sure.
When you say same price, you mean free? ;-)
Not free - 9.99 a month. Right now you might not like it. The input GUI is terrible in that for each data field you have to open a new window so to speak instead of putting all data in one screen for an address. I am trying to get them to fix this. The DL of maps does take alot more time and so does zooming. These are trade offs. I think without the GUI fix I would bet too frustrated. That is why I await the new versions from both of them. Promised to be within a month but I am not holding my breath either.
mgerbasio
03-25-2007, 12:28 PM
I agree with stinsonddog on the MapQuest gui input. As someone suggested, sorry can't remember who it was, I download the version for one of the Sprint phones and have it working on the 8800. The GUI is frustrating to say the least. However it isn't all bad and has benefints compared to TeleNav.
Regards-Michael G.
wangta01
03-25-2007, 09:37 PM
I agree with stinsonddog on the MapQuest gui input. As someone suggested, sorry can't remember who it was, I download the version for one of the Sprint phones and have it working on the 8800. The GUI is frustrating to say the least. However it isn't all bad and has benefints compared to TeleNav.
Regards-Michael G.
I just used Mapquest to go from NYC to up state NY - everything worked perfectly. I honestly don't think the GUI is that annoying. Perhaps I'm used to having to input every address line because I'm coming from using a TomTom Rider, where the GUI is similar. I'm also not that annoyed that the application doesn't synch to the address book. When I travel and need GPS services, its usually because I'm going to a new location that I'm not as familar with. Most of the people in my address book with addresses - I know exactly how to get there.
Also, while I was using Mapquest, I came to really appreciate it's load-first approach. It makes rerouting very fast (i missed one turn b/c of a freakin huge tractor trailer), and saves the amount of internet service required, which saves the battery (I think) and makes everything run faster, since the data is downloaded already. The voice prompts were very loud and clear - almost startled me a couple times as I got caught up listening to the radio.
However, it did make me wonder why the heck there isn't a way to download all the maps like all the other GPS units in the world!!! I hope BB opens up the memory card to applications - I saw today the huge potential the blackberry has as a fully functional GPS!
PS. On another note - I was driving with mapquest running and I successfully recieved 2 phone calls. I think the bb can receive phone calls b/c its not accessing the internet (since it downloaded the map before starting). Pretty cool - I thought I read some telenav users complaining about missing phone calls while using GPS.
Stinsonddog
03-25-2007, 11:43 PM
today the huge potential the blackberry has as a fully functional GPS!
PS. On another note - I was driving with mapquest running and I successfully recieved 2 phone calls. I think the bb can receive phone calls b/c its not accessing the internet (since it downloaded the map before starting). Pretty cool - I thought I read some telenav users complaining about missing phone calls while using GPS.
There is no question that it's easier to use the phone is the GPS program is not pinging the server so if you are going to be on alot MQ might be the way to go.
pengrus
03-25-2007, 11:51 PM
I have a technical question.
When they say the GPS download the map data for the route, such as mapquest, where do they download these data to? To the internal BB memory? If it is to the internal BB Memory, we only have max of 64MB, after all applications, maybe only 20-30MB left, how can it hold data for a long trip, let's say from Bay area to Houston, Texas? So do they download partial route first, and download more along the way?
pengrus
03-26-2007, 12:32 AM
Have you discovered what the trackball can do within Mapquest Navigator? If you move LEFT or RIGHT, it'll take to you different view of ROUTE OVERVIEW, ROUTE ITINERARY, NAVIGATION MAP, etc, and the trackball left or right also brings up other options in some other window, I thought it is pretty cool, and not mentioned anywhere.
takeshi
03-26-2007, 11:31 AM
It makes rerouting very fast (i missed one turn b/c of a freakin huge tractor trailer), and saves the amount of internet service required, which saves the battery (I think) and makes everything run faster, since the data is downloaded already. The voice prompts were very loud and clear - almost startled me a couple times as I got caught up listening to the radio.
Interesting -- I've found the opposite to be true in my experiences with the two apps. Mapquest always seems to take longer to reroute. I also like having the street names announced as it's not always convenient to look at the screen when dealing with traffic.
The Mapquest interface does need some work. It's pretty cumbersome and annoying but it is free...
ggammill
05-19-2007, 11:36 AM
Not free - 9.99 a month. Right now you might not like it. The input GUI is terrible in that for each data field you have to open a new window so to speak instead of putting all data in one screen for an address. I am trying to get them to fix this. The DL of maps does take alot more time and so does zooming. These are trade offs. I think without the GUI fix I would bet too frustrated. That is why I await the new versions from both of them. Promised to be within a month but I am not holding my breath either.
I've been using telenav for a year on my 7520. I have been very frustrated with it as it has no route overview, nor movable map while navigating. When asked about it, I was told this was due to a limitation of the 7520 (although Hello World seemed to be able to follow me with no problem.) Telenav's support is ridiculous. If you have a problem with their software, they blame everything on the phone, or the nextel service itself. Check their forum and you will see what I'm talking about.
I was pleased when Mapquest Navigator came on the scene. It has everything that telenav for the 7520 doesn't. So far, I haven't had any problems with it finding satellites, or connecting to their server, or any of the mind numbing problems I have with Telenav.
The cons with Mapquest are keeping me from cancelling Telenav though:
Waaaaaay too long to load. It takes almost 45 seconds to boot up as opposed to abut 10 seconds for Telenav.
What's the deal with the loading bar? It doesn't show from 0 - 100%, it just fills up and starts over when it's full.
No access to the address book. This is something that absolutely needs to be changed. Not that I need directions to someone in my address book, but I use the navigator to get my eta, as well as how far it is.
POI- Telenav beats Mapquest hands down in this area. POI along the route would be nice. I travel quite a bit and this is a necessary feature.
The GUI is horrible. This definitely needs to be fixed. Clicking twice for everything is a pain in the thumb. It seems to me that this should have never made it to a released version in the first place.
Some of these have already been discussed in this thread. Hopefully Mapquest will address some of these in ver 3. BTW Stinsonddog, do you know when it will be released? Will it be available for the 7520?
ggammill
05-22-2007, 03:42 PM
I guess my question was buried in my post.
Stinsondog, do you know when Mapquest v.3 will be released?
97Camaroguy
05-25-2007, 12:58 PM
[QUOTE=Does anyone know what happens after the supposed 90 day "trial period?"[/QUOTE]
I downloaded the 90 day trial version back in Feb.
After your 90 days is up the program just tells you it can't navigate because your free trial period is up.
Mine notified me of this en route to Alabama, which of course made me tremendously happy.
However, a simple phone call to the office where someone with internet access could get onto Mapquest for me and re-enter my number for the now 30 day trial period.
MQ sent me a text with a new link and after downloading and re-installing the program, I am good to go again for another 30 days.
I suppose as long as they have free trials for Nextel customers, mine will be free.
I have not tried Telenav, but I do love Mapquest Navigator.
ggammill
05-26-2007, 10:15 AM
I guess my question was buried in my post.
Stinsondog, do you know when Mapquest v.3 will be released?
*tap tap tap*
Is this thing on?
ggammill
06-24-2007, 10:09 AM
any update on the new version of MapQuest Navigator? I thought Stinsondog said somewhere that a new version would be out soon.
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