I like using Google Maps, My Tracks (also by Google) and while I haven't tried their Navigation system yet I intend to soon.
the really annoying thing is how it is dependent on a data connection to work. I am often driving down a highway where phone reception and 3G goes out, and all of the sudden my GPS is useless. Just today I went for a short drive down a dirt road and just a mile in, my GPS lost its 3G connection and became completely useless.
Another issue is, my service contract does not cover Canada and I live 2 hours from the border. So once I cross into Canada, not only do I lose my phone and data service, I also lose my GPS.
I had a WM phone that was otherwise pretty crappy before, but I downloaded Garmin for Windows Mobile and it installed all the maps right on the phone. then it didn't matter if I had a data/wifi connection at all. as long as I could get a GPS signal I was good to go. Even if I didn't even have a contract with a provider at all, I had a good working GPS. And when I went to Canada not only could I get directions, I could find thousands of waypoints that were stored on my phone.
I am wondering, why doesn't Google just let us download the maps, like Garmin does? This would make our Android devices work like a real GPS and they wouldn't crap out every time we go out of range, which is really a silly thing for a GPS to do.
I realize there are other GPS apps (I've read copilot is good) that store the maps locally, and I guess I'll eventually try one of them. But it seems silly to have to do this. Then I'd have two GPS apps taking up space on my device when I really only need one.
I would guess that eventually Google will give us the maps. Until then, anyone know why they are dragging their feet?
the really annoying thing is how it is dependent on a data connection to work. I am often driving down a highway where phone reception and 3G goes out, and all of the sudden my GPS is useless. Just today I went for a short drive down a dirt road and just a mile in, my GPS lost its 3G connection and became completely useless.
Another issue is, my service contract does not cover Canada and I live 2 hours from the border. So once I cross into Canada, not only do I lose my phone and data service, I also lose my GPS.
I had a WM phone that was otherwise pretty crappy before, but I downloaded Garmin for Windows Mobile and it installed all the maps right on the phone. then it didn't matter if I had a data/wifi connection at all. as long as I could get a GPS signal I was good to go. Even if I didn't even have a contract with a provider at all, I had a good working GPS. And when I went to Canada not only could I get directions, I could find thousands of waypoints that were stored on my phone.
I am wondering, why doesn't Google just let us download the maps, like Garmin does? This would make our Android devices work like a real GPS and they wouldn't crap out every time we go out of range, which is really a silly thing for a GPS to do.
I realize there are other GPS apps (I've read copilot is good) that store the maps locally, and I guess I'll eventually try one of them. But it seems silly to have to do this. Then I'd have two GPS apps taking up space on my device when I really only need one.
I would guess that eventually Google will give us the maps. Until then, anyone know why they are dragging their feet?