Mapping and navigation applications have always been one of the most in-demand services on any device, and every major smartphone company is trying to cash in by making more accurate, detail-oriented and innovative mapping apps to draw customers.
While Google Maps is currently the most popular mapping application, a new upcoming mapping application called ForeverMap2 has been released for Android and aims to up the ante by offering offline accessibility, which Google Maps doesn’t offer currently. The mapping application, developed by navigation technology start-up Skobbler, uses mapping information gathered from an open source project called OpenStreetMap, which gathers geographical data from users from all over the globe. The maps can be viewed, edited and used by anyone anywhere in the world, very similar to other open-source projects like Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia owned by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation.
According to Marcus Thielking, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer for Skobbler, the app was designed to provide users with more accurate location services owing to the finer attention to detail that OpenStreetMap offers. He has stated that Google Maps tends to ‘keep [its] users online for as long as possible’ while adding that ForeverMap2 will allow users to access their maps without the need to go online dip into their data plans. The app costs 99 cents and is currently only available for Android devices but a similar app is expected to be introduced for the iPhone 5.
Aside from Skobbler, Nokia has also released a new 3.0 version of their Transport application, also known as Transit, for Windows Phone 8. The app, which serves to provide users with a more dynamic delivery of directions especially for public transport like trains and buses, has been upgraded with a more intuitive interface that allows its users to view and choose their route options as well as view and inspect any segment of their journey with a single tap or swipe on the screen. It also has a countdown timer, instead of the conventional expected departure time facility, which actively informs its users how much time is left before a bus or a train is about to leave.
The app, available in over 550 cities and 53 countries and can be downloaded from Windows Phone marketplace, is expected to generate some buzz for its latest releases, the Lumia 820 and the Lumia 920, both of which run Windows Phone 8.
