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One of my hobbies over the years has been mapping on the
handheld, starting with my own (now rather dated and in need of
revision) Mapper project. On the Psion Series
3 version, this had support for plugging in a GPS receiver, to get a
primitive moving map. I never did get this to work reliably on the
Series 5 and the functionality got dropped. But no matter, as several
others came along to fill the gap.
So, without further ado, platform by platform, here are
the info and links you'll need to get going!
Psion/EPOC
 The
software you really need is TomTom
CityMaps Europe, which comes on CD, has every street in Europe
mapped out, with good route planning and full GPS support. It's no
longer sold by TomTom, but people like Expansys
still have copies left, and there's always eBay. Make sure the box
looks like this (see notes below, under the 9210 section). As a last
resort, its predecessor, StreetPlanner, will do just as well.
On the GPS side, TomTom used to do a dedicated
Psion-connecting GPS receiver module, but again this is now only found
on the second hand market. With a little patience, you can do just as
well using any standard handheld GPS and the appropriate DIY cable. GPS
signals are sent as the plain text, NMEA 0183 standard, and you only
need two wire connections from GPS to Psion. So, if bastardising two
existing cables/connectors, you've only got to handle soldering two
wires. Making such a cable is beyond the scope of this article, try a Google search for pin info for your
GPS.
Once connected, go into CityMaps and use 'Maps |
Preferences | GPS' and use the settings:
Use GPS: Ticked (obviously)
Seconds between updates:2
Keep position on screen:Ticked
Map matching:Ticked
In 'Maps | Preferences | General', set:
Route indicator follows table:Unticked
With these settings, CityMaps will track your position
on-screen, against the current planned route, with your next
instruction counted down at the bottom of the screen. If you go
'off-track', just pull over, tap on the 'Set (cursor as)' button and
press 'Enter' to accept the default of 'Departure'. A new route is
quickly planned from your current position and it's off you go again.
Nokia 9210/9210i
 At
the risk of sounding like a TomTom advert, it's their software you need
again, and again it's called CityMaps Europe. However, it's a
totally different version of the package to the one mentioned above for
Psion, you have been warned!
On the GPS-side, TomTom unfortunately never got round to
writing drivers for generic NMEA-talking receivers (theoretically
connected via the PC Suite serial cable). So your only option is the
official Nokia
GPS (model LAM-1), not officially available anymore but plentiful
on the likes of eBay. The good
news is that the GPS package also includes both the CityMaps Europe
and RoutePlanner Europe applications, so you don't have to buy these
separately. So, if you think about it, the GPS is better value than at
first glance.
 The Nokia GPS clips
neatly onto the left hand side of the 9210 and is recognised instantly
by the two TomTom applications (though note you can't run both at
once). As with CityMaps for EPOC, it's easy to recalculate routes
on-the-fly, with bottom-of-screen instructions as to what to do at the
next junction.
For optimum usability (and mimicking the current Nokia
9500, Palm OS and Pocket PC Navigator products as far as possible),
you'll probably want heads-up display, with real-time updating of both
map and navigation instructions. Here are my recommended settings:
Map orientation: Heads-up
Color style: Greys (for best visibility in sunlight on the 9210)
Route indicator follows table: unticked
Keep GPS position on screen: ticked
Map matching: ticked
In use, this solution works well. If you go 'off-track',
you do need to pull over briefly though, pressing the 'Cursor' command
button twice and then waiting while a new route is compiled and drawn.
Note that because the Nokia 9210 insists on auto-dimming
its display after a while, you may want to invest in the shareware
utility Smart Display, which
will let you keep the screen at maximum brightness.
Nokia 9300/9500 (and Series 60) devices
TomTom again are the ones in the frame, with their MOBILE 5
product, which works on the Nokia 9300/9500 and all Series 60
devices built on Symbian OS 7 and upwards. This comes with a suitable
Bluetooth GPS and the whole system is tremendously well worked out. See
my full review of the Series
60 and Series
80 versions.
Other possible solutions include WayFinder, which works well in
urban areas but falls flat when your smartphone is out of GPRS
coverage, and (for all Series 60 devices) Route
66, which has the benefit of working on all devices, regardless of
OS age but is slightly slow and clunky compared to TomTom MOBILE 5.
UIQ (e.g. the Sony Ericsson P800/P900)
 For Europe at least,
there's currently only one navigation solution for UIQ, with the
comprehensive WayFinder
service. In short, the application talks wirelessly to any Bluetooth
GPS and (also wirelessly) to its home server on the Internet, via the
wonders of GPRS. It's quite frugal with bandwidth, don't worry, your
biggest cost will be in stumping up for the year's subscription to the
service.
The upshot is that it can guide you from anywhere to
anywhere else using both visual prompts and digital audio instructions.
Being able to keep your eyes on the road and let WayFinder talk to you
is extremely liberating and a big step forward.
For more screenshots (including maps) and more
information, see my detailed
review over on AllAboutSymbian.
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