Smart2Go, the free gps mapping application which Nokia was supposed to release on February 10, finally made its way to the masses today, February 13. Let me share my experience with this app:

PART - I: The Nokia Maps Application

At 9 a.m., I realized that Nokia Maps was available for download. Eager, I went to the site, but alas, the only phones compatible were: N73, N80, E61, E60 and E70. Anyways, I downloaded the N80 version of the application. At about 4.2 kB/s, the 2.6MB download took quite a while (close to 20 mins) to complete. After transferring the file to the phone, the install process took somewhere close to 10 mins. That’s a total of 30 mins just to install the application on the phone. I tested the application after I got back from office. The initial start-up took about 1-1.5 mins after which my phone promptly crashed. Upon reboot, I restarted the app again. I selected the network connection (wi-fi, obviously). The phone loaded up with the pointer over a location in Europe. I moved the pointer to the East coast of the USA (approx towards Maryland) and zoomed in to view the details. That’s when the app crashed again. I rebooted and started the app again. Once again, it crashed.

The overall stability has been really poor, imo. It could be that memory in my N91 is not sufficient, but somehow I don’t think that’s the issue (EDIT: Apparently that is the case. People using the phones listed on the smart2go website are not having problems). Checking the threads on ho-fo, I see I’m not the only one with this problem.

Part - II: The Nokia Maploader

Frustrated, I turned to ho-fo where I read that I might need to load maps. I fired up my old dell and downloaded the “Nokia Maps” application. Now, Nokia Maps needs the phone to be plugged in via usb with Mass Storage Mode selected (There ’s a memory card option as well, but its not really an option for me since I have the N91). I selected USA and decided to load the Maryland map. The file size was about 41.7MB. I selected it and started the download. The download begins and it tells me that it will take 1hr and 30 mins to download the map. Ridiculous! Am I supposed to keep my phone in offline Mode for 1.5 hrs so that it can keep downloading? There’s absolutely no logic in that! Seriously, what was Nokia thinking??

I’m quite disappointed. It might work for people who have memory card readers, but what about people with the N91 and people who only have the connectivity cable? Why limit people to have their phone plugged in when downloading maps? Why not download it to the hard disk and upload it as needed?

Perhaps I should just switch back to AmaZe or MGMaps (links on the S60 freeware page) for now. Are any of my readers facing similar problems with this app as well?