Ovi Maps and Moving to a New City

I just want to take a minute to say, how awesome Ovi Maps has been for me lately.

I moved to Delhi about 2 weeks ago to take up a new job, and as anyone who’s been here might already know, Delhi’s a pretty huge city. Half the time, I have no idea where I am and the few times that I do, I have no idea where I’m going. Doesnt help that my knowledge of Hindi is very very poor, which makes it even harder to get around, or ask people directions. To add to that, most rickshaw or taxi drivers here immediately pick up on my out-of-town accent and charge me extra fares for trips.

Thankfully, my dependency on technology led me to give Ovi Maps a go, on our Nokia E72, and Nokia N97 Mini that we’re currently reviewing.

All i can say is, Holy freakkin awesome batman. Ovi Maps has been TREMENDOUSLY helpful to me while I’ve been here.

Dont know where I am ? Start up Ovi Maps on the N97 Mini or E72, and I know exactly where I am, in a minute. Where am I going ? Search for the location and find out where it is. How far is it ? How do I get there ? Select “Drive to” or “Walk to” and find out exactly how to get there ! Also, since I know how far a place is, I know exactly how much fare it’s ‘worth’, so that the rickshaw and taxi drivers here dont cheat me like they usually do !

Plus its been really useful in finding nearby Restaurants for me to catch a quick dinner after I get back from the Office. Or coffee houses near the Office, for that extra jolt of energy during Work hours. And most importantly, Supermarkets and malls where I can stock up on Groceries or Winter clothing for the season. There are all listed in Ovi Maps, so you can easily find them.

To add to that, every time I pass by a place that I think will be important to me later, I ‘bookmark’ it (that is, I save it as a ‘favourite’) on my Map, so that I can get to it when/if I need to. Like the other day, I passed by a branch of my bank and saved it’s location as a favourite called “Bank”. Yesterday I needed to cash a cheque and didnt know how to get there ! I opened up Ovi Maps, selected the favourite icon I saved as “Bank”, selected “Walk to” and wahey! I was there in a couple minutes.

Another really really useful feature of Ovi Maps, is that you can view it online, save favourites online, and sync it back to your device. For example, I could search for a nearby laundry place online, find it, bookmark it and sync it back to Ovi Maps on my N97 Mini. Then I could simply select it and choose to ‘walk to’ it (or ‘Drive to’ if its far). This also works vice-versa.

My only complaint ? Well I lucked out on the fact that the N97 Mini I got to review, came with a free 3-Month Walk and Drive Navigation. Since I dont have a credit card, I dont actually have any way of purchasing a license to use the Navigation on my N82. With Google Maps making their Turn-by-Turn Navigation Free, why cant Nokia do the same ? As you can see, it sure does help !

Also, the Maps for India arnt exactly great. Sure Delhi’s pretty much covered, but my Hometown of Manipal/Udupi is just one road in Ovi Maps. Heck, even the freakkin Taj Mahal wasnt on the Map, when I went there last year.

That being said, I’d be completely clueless in Delhi, without Ovi Maps! Atleast until I totally get used to the place. Infact, just today a friend of mine was dropping me home, and we got totally lost. Started up Ovi Maps and it guided us right back home. Another friend of mine was sitting next to me in the car and remarked “That is Amazing!“. It sure is ! GPS is a wonderful thing, and Ovi Maps definitely makes it so incredibly useful.

So that’s about it. Ovi Maps Team, if you’re reading this, much thanks for a great product/service. You’ve got one guy here who’s insanely depended on it. You have no idea how useful it’s come in. GPS has gone beyond just Geo-tagging pictures and Nokia SportsTracker, for me. It’s become an important and crucial part of my daily life.

Have you tried out Ovi Maps on a Nokia device before ? Have your own stories about it ? Let us know in the comments y’all !