Rumour: WP8 Apollo, Nokia Maps to replace Bing Maps?
Yesterday, WPCentral’s Daniel Rubino said in a post responding to the new iOS update that:
While Apple had their day, next week Microsoft will begin to unveil how they do more in one update than Apple does in three. Mark our words.
http://www.wpcentral.com/apple-strikes-out-ios-6-or-how-windows-phone-8-will-be-more-impressive
That’s quite a statement. I don’t want to have any expectations for June 20th as I feel I might set myself up for a disappointment. The reality of it all though is that Apollo HAS to be amazing. It HAS to be that good and Nokia HAS to be ready to deliver this phone ASAP.
Daniel seems to be very confident that MS will be able to deliver more in three updates of the OS. Is that three of any update, including minor updates? Either way, it’s a big claim, stressing again that this is a ‘massive overhaul’. Well it has to be.
But Daniel does give some specifics.
1) First in mapping. Nokia Maps looks to get a big boost as it will completely replace Bing. Not just in Lumia phones but in competitor phones – so the Nokia experience creeps in with them too. Good! Bing is nice and smooth and all but I never saw the point as the turn by turn directions in Bing are just stupid. Although Nokia Maps itself wasn’t that good either (Drive was the only one useful in this respect, imo).
In Windows Phone 8, Nokia Maps replaces Bing Maps all together and will feature 3D navigation and hardware acceleration across all Windows Phone devices.
http://www.wpcentral.com/apple-strikes-out-ios-6-or-how-windows-phone-8-will-be-more-impressive
Windows Phone userbase and market is still microscopic. The more places Nokia’s mapping solution gets to, the better. Especially since HTC are already trying to infiltrate this with their own offerings.
2) Integrated Skype. Integrated Facebook is no longer a unique thing with iOS 6. It’s a total shame that Nokia and MS preferred to shove it into your faces that the only thing that you could do was upload things to facebook quickly, never really showing the convenience of the facebook contact, calendar, gallery integration. Silly.
Anyway Skype will apparently behave like a regular phone call. Like on the N9 I guess. Good.
There’s other minor things, not too important right now I guess.
It’s probably best we wait until the 20th to hear any more stuff. I find that it’s already a shame that we’ll hear about things from June 20th and potentially see no devices until October :/.
Category: Nokia, Windows Phone
About the Author (Author Profile)
Hey, thanks for reading my post. My name is Jay and I'm a medical student at the University of Manchester. When I can, I blog here at mynokiablog.com and tweet now and again @jaymontano. We also have a twitter and facebook accounts @mynokiablog and Facebook.com/mynokiablog. Check out the tips, guides and rules for commenting >>click<< Contact us at tips(@)mynokiablog.com or email me directly on jay[at]mynokiablog.comSubscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
I just wish there will be W8 swipe gestures in WP8 as well. They work so well in N9 that I want to use them in my next device as well.
Oh, and better notifications.
Yeah, swipe from top to close an app could/would work as the top of the screen is currently only used for the battery/signal status bar swipe in the homescreen.
Swiping from left edge to switch between apps would be coold too but would require changing the paradigm of the “in-app-panoramas” being infinitely scrollable/swipeable.. so not sure if that could be implemented without messing too much the UX.
Enabling side swiping requires as much a change in paradigm as N9 required a change in paradigm in browsing the web and maps. You can pan and swipe inside apps, and the rules concerned are simple and intuitive.
However, with Windows Phone stubbornly remaining as uninteresting as ever, I don’t really care if they fail to move on from the front door approach to smartphone UIs. Because making a more rectangular copy of iOS is easier than innovating, I guess.
Oh you have seen Apollo? I mean you saying they remain as stubborn as ever would imply that.
N9 was a completely new UI/UX. It is of course easier to integrate any UX paradigm/gesture when you are designing from scratch than to add something to an existing UI/UX.
But, come to think of it a bit more, it is correct that MS could intro an edge swipe (e.g. for switching tasks like they have done in W8 already) to WP while still retaining infinite/looped scrolling of the panoramas within apps.
“as uninteresting as ever” I meant to say.
The problem is that it’s not as functional or as easy to use when you have a lifted bezel around your screen as many WP devices currently have. Swiping comes natural on the N9, amongst other things, because the device was designed with that in mind, what with the curved glass and seamless screen joints.
It would be especially difficult to use swipe-oriented paradigm one-handed if the edges of the screen are providing you with an obstacle. Just tried a side swipe with one hand on my Omnia 7 and I almost dropped it…
Not sure if Microsoft wants to add device design requirement to the already pretty huge list of restrictions for OEMs.
No it wouldn’t, W8 Metro UI also uses plenty of panorama to browse the content and still has the swipe from the side to quickly switch windows.
There’s no reason why it would not work in WP8 as well.
I think that considering MS plans for overtaking Nokia it would be hard to believe they will do it. They just promote their interface and want it to overhelm all the rest of the world – period.
Typo in the story: not Pocketnow but WPCentral Daniel Rubino.
Ta
Good that Nokia maps gets integrated in all Windows Phones. I would hope they add the detailed Birdseye view from Bing maps when you zoom in. Hope there is also a Nokia logo on the maps
Apollo will for sure be competitive, but I don’t know if metro UI appeals to everybody.
Nor does it have to appeal to everybody. 20% would be more than enough.. :p
Agree – birds eye view would be nice to maintain. And Bing maps is also really smooth. I like the animations when you pinch and zoom. Other than that, Nokia maps it all the way
More revenue and more customers for Nokia. Particularly should maps stuff make it to actual Windows 8. Now there you’ll see a possible explosion of users for nokia maps stuff. A big old tablet is actually pretty handy as a sat nav if driving.
Yeah, Bing Maps rendering engine (that’s something Nokia has never been good at), but have Nokia handle all the content. Hopefully we’ll get transit directions built in, like should have been available 2 years ago.
I hope that Nokia gets some money for MS getting mapping inWP for free. Since they already were using Navteq maps, I doubt.
WP8 must be dynamite and MS themselves need to put money in it. It looks like Mango push is gone. I wish that Nokia is finally able to have full range, intelligently differentiated phones on the shelves when WP8 is out. And the US MD should shut up with his Pureview pitch until they have something concrete to show.
If you think about it, it makes sense why the Mango push is not there. At least regarding the updates or lack thereof. Fits with the rumour that it’ll be minor updates instead. It’s quite sad.
It was supposed to be every three months, new handsets.
January 900
February 610
March
April
Mary
June
There should have been something for April/May/June (and no, Lumia 610 NFC does not count) :/
L900 and L610 still aren’t globally available. They’re reaching some of the top markets right now.
Their roll-out has taken much more time than I was able to guess. It is somewhat weird.
One would think (hope?) that its due to some supply side/logistics/production ramp up issues. The other thing that springs to mind is that in some cases the timing to markets may have something to do with roll out of Tango and __hopefully_ some enhancements from Nokia itself (e.g. the rumored added BT transfer capabilities).
Going by the Chris Weber toast on HowardForum, I think the June 20th is the announcement date for Tango,fitting in between Microsofts and Apple announcement schedule. Tango could be larger for the global lumia owners than you think, meaning bringing everyone up to par. In any case. I’ll take this 900 over my previous phones.
The 610,808 and 311 placed in key markets should be the last phones until 8 comes, otherwise you confuse sales people at carriers. A placement of the 900 and 600 or 311 at ATT in the U.S. would be perfect til then as an example.
What? Tango (sic) – or WP7.5 Refresh as it is actually called – has been announced and available for quite some time now…
My guess is they will get some more money than they did for just the Navteq map data, after all its a much more comprehensive package that seems to be implied here. This could be in the form of revenue share, licensing payments or even baked into the platform support payments (less likely, IMO).
But as Jay said, the real breakthrough would be to have Nokia Maps replace Bing Maps altogether across all MS products. Would seem logical if they are serious about the “three/four-screens” vision.
But, even Nokia Maps across all of WP is still a big IF in my mind.
I think it has been noted by Nokia already several times that they will receive royalties for the use of Nokia Maps in Windows Phone devices. They are contributing the entire location-based services platform to the platform (and maybe to Windows 8 too?), something Google was not willing to do with Android…
Getting this, and it does make quite a bit more sense why Nokia went Windows Phone. They are betting location will be the next big thing and they will own it – and sell it through the Microsoft partnership. I think the assumption that they are giving it away for free is patently false.
Of course I expect Nokia to keep certain differentiation in this space exclusive to their devices of course (free turn by turn navigation for example?), but the location platform on Windows Phone will come from Nokia and be common amongst Windows Phone devices and be available to app-developers to use and so on.
Overall this is not new information, it has been trickling out for months, ever since February 11th 2011. Even the fact that Nokia Maps will replace Bing Maps has been told by Nokia and Microsoft before, now it just has a “date”: Windows Phone 8.
Do you have link for this? It would be good news, because I half expected that Elop is going to give the maps to MS even formally free of charge, just for the privilege of being part of WP ecosystem. But I’m especially interested in the question whenever Nokia is getting real royalyt payments or if it is mothballed into the “platform support”.
Actually, it still doesn’t make sense. It could make sense if you are expecting that profits from locations will dwarf all the money from app store, music store, running advertising platform, etc, plus the non-monetary benefits like being able to shape the OS according to your needs and tailor it for HW of your choice.
Wait, scratch that, it wouldn’t make sense for Nokia anyway, because you are assuming the decision at the end of 2010 was either Android or exclusive WP. That is of course completely false. For start Nokia had their own OS, better than WP and available sooner than WP, so they could take the benefits both from maps AND from controlling the ecosystem.
So, Elop’s subordinating Nokia to MS still, year and half later, doesn’t show any signs of starting to make at least a little bit of sense.
So… three ecosystems (Android, Apple and WinPhone) with three Navigation Solutions. Maybe Nokia speeds a bit, so they’ll release their 3D-Maps-Solution soon on WinPhone/Symbian/Linux.
Nokia has REALLY to speed up – they released 3D-Maps as it’s first for Online – but on the handsets, it seems, Nokia is the latest one.
And please! SwipeGestures in WinPhone8-Lumias!
Im not WP or Microsoft fan, but I hope WP8 will be great update, for the sake of Nokia’s future.
Wasn’t this news like 6 months ago? They said that Nokia Maps will take place in every WP device, but voice turned Navigation will be Lumia exclusive.
True to an extent although there have little specifics of course. I guess the news here is that – IF it is true – it is better than the Nokia staffer said on Conversations (or some other Nokia site/blog among the millions they seem to have). He said it would be the default mapping app on Nokia WP phones, not all WP phones.
I don’t know know why people have problems with WP8 (in beta form) being unveiled next week and then devices coming two months later as Apple is essentially doing the same and has been doing this for quite a while. iOS6 beta is out but is the new iphone ? NOPE. It too will take another couple months to be unveiled so please guys lay off nokia for a while. Apple does the same with OS X upgrades. And Microsoft does this with latest windows editions launches all the time. Developer preview, Consumer preview, RTM. As long as Nokia announces their WP8 devices at Nokia world and makes them available a week (2 at best) later, I’m fine with it. and honestly, you guys should be too. This is standard procedure and happens all around.
Interesting stuff.
Nokia and Microsoft better deliver, this is their last chance. Everything is on the line.
WP needs a very big UI overhaul and improvement, wallpapers, etc… they need to make it more alive and not so boring.
Skype integration would be great! And from that article it seems that any VOIP app can integrate itself the same way, like Viber for example, good stuff.
If they remove the front buttons and move everything to gestures like the N9, that’ll be fantanstic!
Nokia Maps will be a great addition to WP but they need to improve the app. Multiple routes suggestions when selecting a destination, quick route overview like in iOS 6 Maps, auto switching Day/Night, multiple route/stop points, GPS data/mileage counter(totals, etc…).
Nokia needs to deliver a multicore phone with a powerful GPU, with an HD screen and PureView.
There was some story yesterday about a dual core one being in focus group testing.
HD screen is coming. And the design of the (I guess one could call it that) follow up to the 900 sounds promising from what I’ve heard (have not seen).
yeah, unless there’s customization – WP8 is going to look just as drab as ever.
what i find amusing is this sentence “how they do more in one update than Apple does in three”. well, they did not have some basic features to begin with, so obviously, they’ll add more features in one go than 3 of apple’s !
“Nokia needs to deliver a multicore phone with a powerful GPU, with an HD screen and PureView.”
they should have done that a long time back. but nokia believes in giving a castrated bull, no rage, a lot of ‘bull’. they will give just enough for the user to suffice – not make it powerful!
Stop with that old crap already.
Look the current situation instead of whatever happened when they were still making s60v5 phones. Lumia 900 works perfectly in WP7 with the HW it has. What good it would’ve been if it would have had dual core or HD screen since WP7 does not support multicores or other resolutions besides 800×480?
And giving just enough for the user to suffice is a wonderful principle if it’s made with battery life in mind. Why on earth would you want more when it works fine with something less?
thats the same crap they always gave with old Nokia phones. i consistently got out of ram message with my e71/ 72, there was the same issue with n97 too, also on so many nokia phones. low ram hated that approach. just enough battery on my e7 – lousy, dint last the day right from day 1. animation, swipes – all slow. apps opened slow as opposed to swiftly on other more beefier phones. tasks take longer time (it’s okay for people who can wait for long). jpegs take time to render while previewing – it’s all ok with the old apologists. give us some good hardware – we already paid $700 for phones on launch – and we get yesterday’s hardware ? sorry. just does not make the cut for me. no wonder nokia lost sales by the truckloads.
That’s why I used the phrase “old crap”.
Those are all old models, with WP phones the specs are more strictly defined to ensure proper user experience. E7 is fast enough if you put Belle on it.
I have an E7 and it’s the same “old” crap. there’s lag, it’s not peppy, by now the battery life is terrible. sorry, it’s just not good enough
It ain’t good enough, true. It never was – the stupid 1200mAh battery is too small and not removable, there’s no microSD, not enough RAM, not enough CPU power too. Even with Belle it still lags… I compared it to a 701 and the newer device just smacks it dead. And this thing was supposed to be the next Communicator after the E90!
The only good things about the E7 is the awesome keyboard and the AMOLED CBD screen. I can forgive the rubbish resolution because it’s a treat to use outdoors compared to other screens.
I agree that WP should be a bit more alive graphic wise, but only a little. For example:
Background image for Start screen:
Yes, MSFT could try to prepare several different background images to make it more interesting, perhaps with some color and subtle decals and make new ones regularly available from the Marketplace.
User can use whatever image as a BG in the Start screen:
NO. Absolutely no. I hate when people use bad pics (wrong resolution, very busy scenery) of their cats or something as a BG. I would let this job for the professionals so that the idea behind Metro UI would not be ruined.
There are many great looking apps out there for WP7, it just requires a bit creativity to make something nice looking while retaining the clean and informative appearance of Metro UI. WP7 and Metro are generally regarded as very fast and smooth to use, but what OS would not when the graphics are mostly just white text on black background?
What would be the point of a background image when ~70% of it is covered in fugly tiles? Now if the tiles would be actually semi-transparent as we saw on that concept from Neowin, then it might work… And why wouldn’t you allow people to put sepia cats as their backgrounds? It’s their device, if they want to ruin it with a presentation of their utter lack of taste – so be it. What’s in it for you?
Sepia cat is an excellent example.
I feel that it will be detrimental to their user experience even if they like the picture and therefore would not allow it. If they don’t know better, they should not be able to make that choice.
I also feel that it will be detrimental to the WP platform if other people will see these poor customization choices and create an opinion about the OS based on those. “Holy shit WP looks ugly, did you saw that guy’s homescreen?”
Besides, since the Tiles are in the foreground as you said, the BG should be decals or patterns instead of pictures of something. I personally find Tiles much more attractive than many widgets found in Symbian for example. At least they are clear and consistent instead of mess of several different graphic styles.
cant wait for 20 June.
Who makes the most accurate and updated maps? Right now we have a three horse race for mapping: Google’s own Maps, Nokia Maps using Navteq data, and Apple’s mapping using TomTom and OpenStreetMap. Bing already uses Navteq data anyway.
The offline functionality in Nokia Maps just kills everything else out there and combined with live traffic updates in most large cities around the world, it’s my only reason for sticking with Symbian.
nokia maps data is good only for europe and US perhaps. Here in india, google has better data. where Nokia is useful is offline maps – even that is not till the last mile in many cases. I use maps all the time , and its a combination of google maps + nokia maps.
Nokia Maps rocks for East Asia, especially China and Southeast Asia. It’s also pretty good for western Europe. Offline usage is essential when travelling so you don’t need to get a local SIM to use data, otherwise data roaming will burn a huge hole in your wallet.
Google usually does the best when it comes to updating the maps, looking globally. There are patches where Navteq does better, and where Google does better, but overall Google takes the cake. I think it has to do something with Google not being shy to outsource their mapping data to local companies and purchase all the rights to them afterwards.
Nokia used to do the same before acquiring Navteq (there was a point in time where both Google and Nokia used both Navteq, TeleAtlas and such but without purchasing total rights), but since then their maps became Navteq exclusively and are not as nearly updated – even months after Navteq publishes new maps on their site, Nokia Maps don’t get update. And Nokia/Navteq don’t even cover some countries like Israel, Serbia, Japan, South Korea…
When it comes to TomTom (TeleAtlas) and OpenStreetMap – TomTom still does Europe better, on average, and OpenStreetMap has probably the most frequent update rate, but many people would not trust the later as their mapping provider the same way they wouldn’t trust Wikipedia for the most relevant info. Also, OSM has the problem of patchy coverage in the areas where people are not interested for updating + given that most of the map data comes by tracing over satellite imagery there can be a lot of inaccuracies.
Over all, Google probably the best, Nokia close second, rest – depends on where you live, local map providers are usually the most accurate and the quickest to add the changes, but if you can’t use their maps on your device you have to rely on the aforementioned to either cover your area or purchase app data from them.
Daniel on WPCentral now (based on the alleged leaked screenshots) seems to say there won’t be any/many UI changes, including on tiles (however, he does say developers will have a lot more options with tiles in Apollo).
http://twitpic.com/9vxy4i
Thanks. The specific screenshot may be fake/mockup bit Daniels comments are more revealing.
Yeah, I didn’t expect a massive UI overhaul anyway.
In most likelihood, it will resemble WP7 but hopefully with plenty of new tricks to make it more usable (like swipe gestures, I’m not ready to let those dreams go).
Exactly,my sentiment as well.
lol, does this mean having spent all the development time and money converting Navtec’s mapping application to the excellent Qt format, they have now gone and rebuilt it using some toss MS format?