It's almost 2015 and I'm still using a Symbian phone

Well, not as my main phone.  For now, that's a Nokia Lumia 925.  However, my Nokia 808 Pureview is still raking up mileage.

Obviously, the camera is still its main use.  Most of the photos and videos on this blog were shot with it.  I found the Lumia 1020 too much of a lateral move from the 808 to purchase it.  Looking forward to the 1020 successor.

I prefer to use twitter on my 808.  Gravity is (thankfully) still being updated and I find it the easiest way to browse my multiple accounts and lists.  Windows Phone still has no app that can match its ease of use, speed and features.

The 808 is still amazing when it comes to GPS.  I drove for an hour yesterday with no cable plugged in and my battery was only down to 75% .  If I use my Lumia 925, the battery would have drained in 30 minutes.  Even plugged in with my old 1amp car charger, it still ends up dead after 3 hours.  Never had a problem with the 4-5 hour drive to Vegas with my 808.

GPS on Symbian works great.  Route commands come through the phone's speaker.  This is great on the 808, since the speaker is quite loud.  Route commands will only use the car stereo if I am connected in BT Audio mode and have music streaming from the phone.

Car navigation on Windows Phone sucks in my car.  It connects over bluetooth to my car stereo very strangely.  Route commands break the audio and use my car stereo's BT Phone mode.  This means the audio quality takes a major nosedive.  It is a really jarring experience because route instructions are delayed about 2 seconds.  Half the time, the route instruction doesn't even play because of that delay.  Even connected in BT Audio with music streaming, the route instructions still come over BT Phone mode.  Maybe it's my car stereo's fault this experience sucks.

If I only have the 925 on me when driving, I shut down its bluetooth connection and just use the phone's speaker.  This isn't too bad.  I can use Cortana and get directions to where I want to go easier.  Cortana over my car's bluetooth can never hear me.

March Road Trip

This past week I drove up Interstate 5 to Visalia to deliver some car parts. I had my N97 with me and pushed it to its limits. I had Ovi Maps running to keep track of my speed and the Music Player was playing some podcasts so I didn't fall asleep from boredom.

The N97's FM Transmitter would be a great feature if there was some empty radio frequencies it could transmit with. For the entire drive, there was no station I could find to broadcast on. I ended up using the N97's speakers.

I made an effort to check in on foursquare every time I made a stop. I still like playing foursquare. I checked into rest areas and a 7-Eleven during my trip.

While I was driving, I had an idea. Ovi Maps should know if you're driving on the interstate and have a pop up telling you when the next rest station is. Maybe add an option for pop ups and categories you want to pop up when driving.

Taking this to the next level, this would be a great way for location based advertising. A restaurant could have a pop up for their business pop up when you approach. While I would HATE to see this if I'm driving around the city, I would love to see this option out on the highway.

With Ovi Maps, foursquare check-ins and the music player running via loudspeakers, the N97 lasted from 10AM to 3PM. It probably would have lasted longer if the car charger was working. The usb port on my N97 was very flakey so I sent it in for repairs the day after I got home. I'll be using the N82 in the meantime.

No traffic ahead with Ovi Maps

I was on my way from Sylmar to Burbank and had Ovi Maps 3.3 running on my N97. For the first time, I was prompted about a traffic event ahead. I pushed the corner of the screen to take a detour and I was on my way. I saw no accidents or traffic on my way to Burbank.

Another cool thing about Ovi Maps is the language selection. There's a few great voices available now. I first discovered the surfer dude voice about a month ago. He's a lot of fun, its like having Sean Penn from Fast Times at Ridgemont High in your phone. Nokia has added a lot of great dialogue to make driving fun. There's also two English voices that can announce street names, one with a UK accent, the other an American accent. These are highly useful, as they help you find your upcoming turn.

Ovi Maps is constantly impressing me with new features. I'm looking forward to Apps on Maps. A Sportstracker successor is on the way and I'm hoping there will be an app like foursquare or gowalla in the oven. Best of all, Ovi Maps is free.