Smart phones these days have camera, GPS and internet connectivity, so, how to use these in combination? (That would be very Web 2.0!) Nokia have managed to combine all these into a newly released technology they've named 'NokiaviNe'. Described by Nokia as 'The web. Made by hand'.
Recording your path (anywhere, but let's say as a tourist) and displaying the photos you've taken on that path (for others to follow, like your friends/family), seems like such a good idea. Once you are near a WiFi hot-spot you can upload the pictures and the path you've taken, for all to view on the web.
The reality is rather disappointing. Run the application and the phone's screen shows where you are on a map, as you move, the map gets progressively downloaded to keep you in the picture so to speak. That means you're downloading data on the go to keep that map refreshed (the main image shows Cowichan Bay, Canada where overseas data charges were high!).
Good idea, yes, but in New Zealand streets are scantily mapped, even the largest cities are represented by only a couple of roads, and for example central Wellington is labelled Berhampore (a small suburb)! So it's usefulness as a map-guide is very limited in NZ.
The disappointment continues for the web user, the NokiaviNe website introduction take AGES to load, then it wants you to play a promotional video. Better to go here and skip the video, it's still slow to load though. Zoom in and have a look around New Zealand, there a few 'viNes' made by intrepid types in New Zealand, if you zoom into Martinborough you might find a couple of viNes I've put up, but they obscure each other! (I would link you to the viNes directly, but I can't give you a URL to a specific one - a missing feature don't you think?). This is only going to get worse as more people "make the web by hand".
Nokia have such a winner with Sports Tracker (which I've blogged about enthusiastically before), and in fact, viNe is built on the same technology, though Sports Tracker is still in beta (not released)!
So, if you are thinking of trying NokiaviNe, I suggest Sports Tracker instead, see my previous blog. Here's an example using Sports Tracker on a road trip we did recently along Australia's Great Ocean Road.
Being such a Sports Tracker fan, I wish I could be so ethusiastic about NokiaviNe - but no, it missed the mark for me. Great idea, poor functionality, high data usage, and incomplete mapping data (in NZ) make the whole experience cumbersome and frustrating. Just the basics, of not being able to share my specific trip on NokiaviNe, is a show stopper. Try harder Nokia, I wanted this to work. I love showing iPhone fans what I can do on my Nokia N95 8G - this could have been one more notch in my belt. You let me down.
