21 comments

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  ric

  8 months ago

  All you had to do was take the RER B south towards Orly, two stops = St-Michel Notre-Dame. €1.50 each.
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  Ewan

  8 months ago

  Yeah.. did that the last time. I was having a perverse
  lets-try-and-use-my-mobile moment...
  
  2008/10/20 Disqus <>
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  Mike42

  8 months ago

  Here's a possible MIR special: Choose 5 normobs. Give them each a different consumer-grade device from each of the top 5 manufacturers. And maybe a budget of £200 each. Their goal is to travel from London to Paris, booking all travel via mobile, navigate to and visit 5 tourist locations, take snaps, share these with friends back in the UK, find accommodation and book via mobile, ditto food and entertainment (an english-language movie, maybe). They have to find the best mobile roaming or local prepay data plan too.
  
  Get their traveling companion to vlog the experience via a handycam - maybe something as simple/robust and mugger-safe as a Flip.
  
  Maybe let them keep the spare cash left over as an incentive to use the devices to find the best deals.
  
  Such an undertaking would expose many, many holes in the industry. Many we know about, many we probably don't.
  
  m/
  
  No maps, guidebooks or calling a friend allowed.
  
  I'd love to see the outcome. It would show up soooo many holes!
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  Mac Morrison

  8 months ago

  http://hellon96.tumblr.com/post/53026927/maps-w...
  
  its not always good on nokia either
  though in my case maps located me roughly and let me guide myself manually
  
  but still - gps in cities just doesn't work - even though its exactly where you need it most.
  
  mac
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  Kip Hakes

  8 months ago

  You said it yourself.. the N95 would have done it. Learn from your mistake! :) Women do love the 'Walking is good excercise' bit :)
  
  K
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  Rich

  8 months ago

  Throwing the toys out of the pram in Paris huh? Grow up, switch the phone off and say something remotely interesting to your other half.

  
  
  sent from: fav.or.it
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  Ewan

  8 months ago

  That wouldn't make very a interesting MIR Show though..
  
  2008/10/20 Disqus <>
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  Mike42

  8 months ago

  Easy there Rich, I'm sure a fair amount of licence was taken with the description of frustration. Who wants to read : "Went to Paris, my Blackberry didn't work. Oh dear"
  
  it is a very, very important issue in our industry. If someone equipped and informed as Ewan was can't make it work, what hope the normobs? How can we as an industry expect to prosper if we can't get the basics of the mobile internet sorted?
  
  /m
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  khouryrt

  8 months ago

  Better than that, Ewan, you could've called me, heh. You know I've moved to Paris, don't you? Next time you're in town: dotsisx(at)symbian-guru(dot)com .
  
  And yes, the N95, N82 or anything with Nokia Maps could've saved you. No roaming charges, no bloody phone bills, no nothing. I downloaded the Paris map on my N82 before coming here, and so far, I haven't been lost once.
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  Ewan

  8 months ago

  I just wasn't thinking!
  
  2008/10/20 Disqus <>
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  Ben Smith

  8 months ago

  Except that handsets without a magnetometer (compass) are crap for following a route - you can't tell which way is north. Tried this 'round the back streets of London the other week and spent 5 mins walking in the wrong direction just to work out what was going on... :-(
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  Ewan

  8 months ago

  I just follow the blue flashing dot!
  
  2008/10/20 Disqus <>
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  South77

  8 months ago

  Are fold-up maps not mobile?
  
  I'll just echo everyone else -- Nokia Maps downloaded in advance and installed with PC suite. That's one area where NOK beats GOOG. Worked great for me barcelona, new york, berlin, amsterdam, manchester, bristol... it's even useful at home in London. The hybrid onboard/off board navigation system is way better than pure off-board systems, as you found out.
  
  What did you think of Paris?
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  Mike42

  8 months ago

  I have done a lengthy side-by-side of G vs. N Maps on several different devices and Nokia are utter rubbish IMHO - even moreso considering you have to pay to use them.
  
  The must useful feature - search - is so hopeless and out of date as to be worse than useless.
  
  And *who* bothers with PC suite and pre-installs? If that's what it takes for N maps to work, then they are truly dead in the water.
  
  
  /m
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  South77

  8 months ago

  You only pay for the sat nav or "tracking" feature, which you don't need if you're walking.
  
  Granted the search is poor on Nok Maps, as it is the UI.
  
  What's good is that it works without network, which is useful abroad -- when maps are useful -- given that many places don't have 3G (or compatible 3G, e.g. U.S.) and it costs a fortune for data
  
  Gmaps UI is *far* from great either, btw...
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  nacho

  8 months ago

  " I relied on mobile technology. And when I really needed it — it didn’t work. Useless."
  
  Oh man, sounds like worst case scenario but it's quite common unfortunately.
  
  I hope you enjoyed Paris though
  
  I have the latest google maps thing in my p1 and so far it has worked brilliantly in Brussels, Barcelona, Malaga and Brixton .... had I been driving... Why oh why can I get directions for walking around?
  
  That's why I use the maps only to get my bearings and use common sense, and .... paper maps ;-)
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  mike

  8 months ago

  +1 for Nokia Maps.
  
  I was in Berlin over the Weekend, and having installed the German maps to SD card was able to get exactly where i needed to be every time.
  And the best thing - no roaming data charges!
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  Steve

  8 months ago

  iPhone would have been your best single device to take with you.
  
  I use the Google maps in spain all the time, though data roaming can be a bit scary. I wish they would let you cache the maps in advance easily - I think it can be done via a jailbroken app but it really shouldn't be that hard.
  
  How about a nice halloween show from the Paris Catacombes? You won't get much signal down there but theres lots of tunnels to explore :-)
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  Ewan

  8 months ago

  You're right Steve -- and I like the idea of a Halloween show!
  
  2008/10/21 Disqus <>
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  AJ

  8 months ago

  Gare du Nord isnt that bad although, granted, there are quite a few homeless people nowadays for some reason. But I seriously doubt you would have come to any harm at all. And it is not that far from Notre Dame at all.
  
  Most of the robbing that gets done in any city is usually in the wealthier areas.
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  Ewan

  8 months ago

  Good feedback!
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