We Get You There – The Navigation Shootout
Time for another shootout, people, are you ready? Two men enter… I mean, two programs go feature to feature, we pick a winner, you run and buy it… I mean, you sensibly decide which one is right for you.
This month our contestants make choosing relatively easier since they are free services. As long as you have the room, you can have them all. I’m talking about mobile search and mapping engines: Microsoft’s Live Search Mobile and Google Maps (for your phone). Even though it looks promising, Yahoo! Go is not available for most phones yet (including my baby), so I’ll have it confront this month’s winner in a future follow-up (see here if your phone is already covered).
Arguably the most common internet searches (mobile or not) are maps and route directions. We look for nearby businesses and restaurants, movie theaters and banks. Whether at home or visiting a different city, we need to find out where we are and where to find what we need. Alas, no search engine yet will find you somebody to love, but these services will help with the mundane.
Criteria and Usability
For this article I’ll grade based on ease of use, speed, and accuracy of results, with an added section for special features. When it’s time to choose your own favorite, keep in mind that depending on the circumstances your needs may be better served today by one, tomorrow by the other.
Both of these programs are designed with specific hardware in mind, meaning handhelds with phone service, an unlimited data plan, and built-in GPS. That said, they are still useful if you don’t have 24/7 internet access (cradled access and wi-fi work fine, just plan ahead of time), and/or if you don’t have built-in GPS (there may be typing involved, the horror!).
Individual experience may vary wildly depending on many factors: your location, data provider, processing power, even phone brand. Coverage from city to city is very different within the US, so outside of this country expect it to be minimal except for major cities. More locations are being added regularly, but it will take time and I wouldn’t bet any money on up-to-date accuracy for a while. Let us know how you fare in your neck of the woods, ok?
FYI: Searches can be done with voice alone, but I never use this feature. Personally I find voice recognition too inaccurate, not to mention slow and cumbersome. If you’re using a smartphone (no touch screen) there will be advantages, but otherwise just use your finger or stylus. If you’re driving, for God’s sake please pull over before you do a search, it’s not like you won’t have to read the results anyway (more on that later).
Live Search’s features can be accessed also by text messaging and directly on their web site. For this article we’re dealing with mobile access only, installing and running it as an application.
ROUND ONE: INSTALLATION
Live Search
Easy enough, Live Search gives you the option of selecting where to install it. In my case I selected the internal microdrive and it placed the program files there (around 1MB), but it also created a directory for data on the flash card (around 12MB). I wish it had asked me for a location on that one too, since my microdrive is double the size of my flash card (for now), but I can live with that. Be aware that directory size will vary depending on your searches. These numbers represent my own usage after a few weeks. My card files stayed at around 1MB before I started testing heavily.
Google Maps
When it comes to installation, Google Maps is another story. It also asks for a destination, but then it places itself on main memory no matter what (???). I found 1.5MB on main memory, plus over 1MB under Application Data. It’s not that it can’t run outside of RAM, the installation file is just not programmed right. You can manually move the program directory to the flash card or wherever, just make sure you create a shortcut to it on your Programs menu. This is not hard to do, but simply unnecessary if the CAB file were set right. The data directory has to stay though. To make things worse, I hear that for the latest version (2.2) even the manual move won’t work, so you’re stuck with main memory. By the way, Google Search also installs itself in main memory (about 700kb), but at least you can tell where it’s going since it won’t ask for a destination. Here’s hoping the Google programmers fix this soon. If it’s any consolation, the directory sizes mentioned remained about the same for me, so most data is not saved permanently as you go along.
Score – Round One: Installation
Live Search: 2 points
Google Maps: 0 points
ROUND TWO: MAPS
Live Search
While Live Search can’t find you without GPS, you can search for any address or type of business directly. The default window allows you to search within the area shown in the second row (last location used). All locations used are kept on the second row list so you can use those little arrows on the right to move through them. Tapping on the field, drops down the complete list and no longer needed items can be easily deleted. “Map” will take you directly to the location selected.
If you select “Choose a new location…” you have several choices, including selecting one of your existing contacts.
Once you’re on the map of the area you want, the menu choices are as expected: zoom, road or satellite view, traffic, GPS, etc.
In general it all works fine, but the most common feature: zooming, needs work. From the default screen you have to double or sometimes triple-tap just to zoom once, wait until it redraws, then do it again, and again. As shown above, by default you are several levels away from street view and it can be a pain in the neck to get close enough to see street names. Clicking once centers, drag moves the map.
Tip: Our very own Tariq told me of a shortcut that makes zooming much easier (thank you!)… If you press and hold your hardware action button (on my Advantage it’s the same as page-up/down, etc, pressed straight down) the options for “Close” and “Menu” will change to “Zoom In” and “Zoom Out” for a second or two. You can press either one more than once and it will zoom directly to that level, no need to wait for each one to redraw. If you are zooming in, a shortcut to that is to continue pressing the action button, once per level (the blue box will get smaller so you’ll know when to stop).
Considering that my maps are not on main memory, I find Live Search maps load pretty fast: just a couple of seconds for the Tampa map shown above, as much as 15 seconds for an area never loaded before. Zooming can take around 10 seconds for each redraw.
With GPS active though, Live Search zooms immediately to street level, shows your location (and direction) with a red arrow, and moves the map along as you go (North is kept up). Good loading time for the new areas unless you move very fast. The red arrow should turn grey when you lose GPS fix, but for me that only worked once, otherwise the only way to tell you’ve lost the satellites is when the arrow stops moving and you’re still going.
Map accuracy and traffic details are all very good where I tested. One-way streets are indicated as such, even on highway ramps. The satellite view shows the mass of buildings pretty much where they are. Not all landmarks are tagged, but Live Search actually showed more tags than Google Maps. Traffic information is decent enough (most of the data seems to be only about highways), but then NY is in permanent gridlock, so that’s not hard. Test your own area carefully before you trust it enough to take a detour.
One of the best features on Live Search is when you map a contact. I tend to write directions within the address (corner of this, between these, etc). When you select a contact, any applicable part of the address is automatically searched for, even if it’s just a zip code (or you have no zip code). If a contact has more than one address, you will get a chance to choose. Once you select “Done”, the map loads up with a tiny little flag to mark the spot. The location is centered, but you may not see the flag until you zoom in. On a local note, Live Search doesn’t like how we label addresses in Queens (cross street, dash, building number: 107-01), but you can delete the dash right there and then click “Find”.
One pet peeve: Contacts won’t be tagged with anything else, even if they are a business. Meaning that the search will only use the address. For example, the contact above is a restaurant and it’s listed in the Live Search database, but the map won’t show what it is unless you do a search by name. Using your contacts is the same as copying and pasting the address field, nothing more.
Alas, “Search Near Here” doesn’t work well. First of all the procedure: it asks you to save the location you have just mapped (even if it was saved before) and that brings you back to the main screen, then you can type what you are looking for and it will do the second search from there (back to zooming again). To make things worse, many searches ended up with no results this way, even though they worked if searched directly, like within a zip code or a map view. My advice: once you have selected a location, simply go back to the main screen and search from there, it will give better results and save you time.
Google Maps
As for Google Maps, by default the first screen you see is your own location, with or without GPS. Using a triangulation of your cell towers’ own locations you get a very good approximation of where you are. This feature of course is for the phones only, but the maps worked even when only cradled or on wi-fi.
The gray circle indicates where you may be, the blue dot where the program is guessing you are. When it first finds you, a quick pop-up tells you the accuracy range (”Your location within 500 meters” for example, depending on where you are, and yes, in metric only). Zooming to the street level I find the “guess” is about 98% accurate. Riding a bus around Manhattan and Queens it followed me religiously, with spots here and there jumping some streets away. The “My Location” feature doesn’t work for everyone yet, and it’s still in beta. As is, I find it extremely useful in NYC, where even with GPS getting a signal can be a pain with all the skyscraper canyons.
There are handy zooming buttons on the main screen and the map loading works very fast (as it should considering it’s gobbling up main memory), barely a second for previously loaded maps, about 5 seconds for new ones, less than 10 seconds for zooming all the way to individual streets. The menu options are the usual: satellite view, traffic, GPS, contacts, etc. As a security feature, the locator feature can be disabled, but don’t forget that with the phone active, your location is always known anyway.
With GPS active, you get only the blue dot (no gray circle), and it follows nicely around town. Beware that activating GPS doesn’t necessarily activates “My Location”. Your position will be always shown, but the map will *not* move with you unless you select My Location again. As a great feature, you always know how many satellites you are connected to. I find the GPS reading a bit slow and my bus sometimes moved faster than the maps could be loaded (Live Search did better). This was running them both at the same time, so there was less memory for both.
Also with GPS active, a couple of times Google Maps crashed while trying to load the map. It still showed my location, moving further and further into a blank field, at least until it hung altogether and I had to restart the PPC. To date I haven’t had a crash with Live Search.
Looking up a contact works great, *except* that it only shows you those with a full address it can read, filtering out all the rest (note the “Contacts with address info…” heading). My mini-notes (corner of that, etc) within the address field rendered those contacts unusable for Google Maps and those are not even shown. In the following screen I’m looking for Tea & Sympathy, the same restaurant you saw located above (it’s a nice little British-style place, lovely bangers ‘n mash) and it is not found because the address reads: “108 Greenwich Avenue (bet. 12th & 13th St, by 8th Ave)”. So either I fix all my addresses for completion and leave out the notes, or I have to open Contacts, copy and paste. At least once I find something I can save it, but it’s little consolation.
If it likes the address (dashes in Queens are ok), Google Maps finds your location right away, places a big marker on the map (same size regardless of the zoom, this is nice), and gives a pop-up with important details, like phone number (you can dial it from here). “Search Nearby” is also found in the pop-up and it works great, keeping the same zoom and providing arrows to move from location to location. One minor issue is that your initial marker will disappear in favor of the new search unless you add it to your favorites (that places a permanent tag). All these features work very well, except for that annoying quirk of filtering out contacts that lack a perfect format or are incomplete. I wouldn’t mind copying and pasting if necessary, but it should show every contact.
In my experience, the map accuracy was also excellent on Google Maps, even if it has fewer tags for landmarks in the satellite view. Traffic seems to be more detailed on occasion. Visually-speaking, the maps are more legible and simply prettier than Live Search’s. With GPS active though, the loading time and position accuracy falls behind.
Score – Round Two: Maps
Results are mixed, so I’ll award points by component:
My location (no GPS): Google Maps gets 2 points (exclusive feature).
Map loading speed (no GPS): Google Maps gets 2 points, Live Search gets 1.
Zooming: Google Maps gets 2 points, Live Search gets 1.
Finding contacts: Live Search gets 2 points, Google Maps only 1.
Finding nearby (with contacts): Google Maps gets 1 point, Live Search none.
Map accuracy (roads, satellite and traffic): Each gets 2 points.
GPS mapping: Live Search gets 2 points, Google Maps gets 1.
GPS location: Live Search gets 2 points, Google Maps gets 1.
GPS indicator: Google Maps gets 1 point, Live Search gets none.
Total:
Live Search: 10 points
Google Maps: 13 points
ROUND THREE: SEARCH
Live Search
The main screen in Live Search is very detailed and allows you to narrow down your type of search. Everything will be searched in the area indicated on the second row, so you must choose that location first before diving into the menus.
Categories give you typical classifications, movies and traffic are self-explanatory, and so on. I particularly love that you can look around the categories for ideas, really useful when you’re in a new area. Restaurants are grouped by type of cuisine for example. Collections are web feeds narrowed down for the location selected (if applicable). You can edit the default collections and add your own.
Of course you can simply type what you are searching for directly. The following screens show the results of a post office search from midtown Manhattan. It resulted on 25 hits, the first one highlighted. The menu allows me to select options and map, again with the first hit selected. The source location is still marked (itsy-bitsy green flag), so it’s very easy to see which hit is closer. The “Results” button takes you back to the list. Tapping on any selection gives you a window with more details, including the option map it, add it as a contact (excellent!), call, etc.
Google Maps
Here the same search resulted in only 9 hits, all automatically mapped. Closing the search results show you all the markers around the location used as a starting point. The address tab within the results list or on each marker pop-up will give you details for the individual hit, including a link to their web site if they have one. There is an option to add to your contacts, but only on the menu (this is a little confusing since all the other options are in both places).
Regarding the much lower number of results in Google Maps, I must clarify that Live Search listed as “Post Office” anything that it found mail-related, including several buildings near me that are offices themselves (sorting centers and such) not public places where you go mail letters. Still, Live Search also listed mail-related places (like Mail Boxes, Etc), that you don’t see on Google Maps unless you search for “Mail” instead of “Post Office”. The results in Google Maps were perhaps more specific, but depending on what is been searched, you may want the wider parameter.
Google Maps doesn’t have nifty categories set up, so you’ll have to type your searches yourself. The pull-down tab shows everything you have searched for, and as you start typing the list is narrowed down to save taps. I couldn’t find a way to delete no-longer-needed entries.
Note: I haven’t upgraded to v2.2 yet (still using v2.1 and perhaps won’t upgrade if I have to keep it all in main memory), but I hear at least a few things have changed, this pull-down list for one. There’s also a new Transit feature for pedestrians, and a little triangle to show direction as you move (with GPS active).
Every location found can be saved as a favorite, including any arbitrary spot in the map. Be aware that there is no way to categorize your favorites, it’s just a simple list in alphabetical order, so be careful how you name your locations if you plan to have many. By the way, you can only edit a favorite after you select it and map it.
Score – Round Three: Search
In detail:
Categories: Live Search gets 1 point (exclusive feature).
Search ability: They both get 2 points.
Search results: Live Search gets 1 additional point for wider parameters.
Mapping results: They both get 2 points.
Saving result as contact: They both get 2 points (even if Google Maps hides it a little).
Saving result as favorite: Google Maps gets one extra point (exclusive feature).
Total:
Live Search: 8 points
Google Maps: 7 points
ROUND FOUR: DIRECTIONS
Live Search
Selecting “Directions” on Live Search allows you to use any of the previously used locations as starting and ending points, or you can find new ones. The results are provided in step-by-step instructions that can be shown in a map.
The map zooms automatically to show the whole route, with the usual zooming issues if you want to get closer. Once zoomed though, you can go to the next step with only the delay needed to redraw the map. Note that only the summary shows you the distance in between steps, those same notes don’t appear in the map tags.
Directions can be reversed for the return trip right on the menu. The route summary can also be copied to the clipboard and pasted anywhere (plain text only).
Doing longer searches, sometimes the route provided was perhaps not exactly the one chosen by those familiar with the area, but it will get you there as long the location is correct. That said, following a route in Tampa I ended up at a nearby address, apparently identical to the one I had searched for, but not the hotel where I was staying (streets with the same name, north, south, etc), so beware of local specifics. If applicable, always search for the business name rather than the address.
Google Maps
Getting directions on Google Maps works basically the same way. You can either use the menu, or just find a location, tap for options, and use the links to directions to or from that spot. A reverse directions option is provided in the summary.
Once you have your start and end points, they’re easily mapped. By default it zooms to the start area (not the whole route). The arrows allow you to follow each step with the map moving along and you can return to the summary by tapping on any of the labels. Each step shows the distance, even in the map. Note that Google Maps took in consideration that my start address puts me on 31st Street facing west (one-way street), so it routed going around the block to return to 9th Avenue, very accurate. Details like that can be very important in some locations.
For longer directions, Google Maps routed almost exactly like Live Search, but in Queens it saved me a couple extra turns. In Florida it gave me better results, mostly because it searched the hotel by name, not just the address.
Score – Round Four: Directions
In detail:
Selecting locations: 1 point each (slightly easier in Live Search).
Route summary: 2 points each. One extra point to Live Search for the copy feature, one extra point to Google Maps for accuracy.
Route mapping: 2 points each. One extra point to Live Search for easy link back to the summary, one extra point to Google Maps for showing the distance in the steps.
Totals:
Live Search = 5 points
Google Maps = 5 points
ROUND FIVE: EXTRAS
Live Search
This is Live Search territory almost exclusively. Three exclusive features are provided: Gas Prices, Web and Weather. While Web is just a link to its own web page (it opens on your default browser), the other two are excellent useful resources.
Gas Prices gives you a very detailed list of gas stations in the area, with addresses and price per gallon, sorted by price, and a note about when the data was reported. Very thoughtful. You can map the whole list or each item, save to contacts, etc, just like any other search. I wish the list could be limited by city or at least by state for those of us with many neighbors nearby (and expensive tolls), but it’s excellent as is.
Weather is self-explanatory. Current weather for the location selected, with a link in the menu for more details at MSN Weather that opens in your default browser.
Google Maps
Their only exclusive feature is the cell locator discussed (and graded) on round 2.
Score – Round Five: Extras
2 extra points for Live Search (exclusive features).
FINAL RESULTS
Live Search = 27
Google Maps = 25
CONCLUSION
These two programs are not identical. Google Maps is designed to do just that, show you maps and find things on them. Google must fix at least the BIG problem with installing in main memory and the issue with the contacts. GPS mapping could use some fine-tuning too, not to mention better stability. I like very much the ability to show my location without having to worry about satellites, and the maps are very easy on the eyes. They have very legible markers, useful buttons and status banners. Most other searches can be done through the browser, but of course that involves an additional program running and still more memory.
Microsoft Live Search is near perfect though. I can appreciate the thoughtfulness that was put into its programming, things grouped in a way to facilitate searches, to give the user ideas, to provide useful information, all in one place. With GPS active, Google Maps’ locator feature is a moot point. Microsoft must fix the problems with nearby searches (within the map) coming up with no results, and outside of GPS the zooming really sucks unless you find out about the shortcuts, but their accuracy on the GPS view and search results certainly take the cake, even if the maps are not as pretty.
Please don’t forget that my results, although not unique, are a combination of software, hardware, data provider, location, etc. Don’t be surprised if some of these features don’t work even in nearby areas. Doug tells me that in Virginia, with new roads popping up all the time, only Live Search can be counted on for accuracy. Tariq reports that with Goggle Maps’ locator, his Glofiish shows him in Taiwan, even GPS shows him there first before moving to the actual spot. He’s in Philadelphia!!! I’m looking forward to hearing the absurdities you all experience trying to find your way around.
In any case, since both of these programs are free, get them both, use them according to your needs, hardware, and location circumstances, and we’ll hope the growing pains are just that. It’s wonderful to have the world in our hands.
WINNER!!!
MICROSOFT LIVE SEARCH
Testing Data
Pocket PC = HTC Advantage X7501 running Windows Mobile 6 with built-in GPS
Phone Service = T-Mobile unlimited data plan
Locations = USA: New York City, Philadelphia, Tampa (Florida)
Application Data
Live Search Mobile is free of charge, current version is 3.0, is from the folks at Microsoft, and can be found here. The mobile application is available for Windows Mobile devices from 2003 on.
Google Maps (for the phone) costs nothing, current version is 2.2, is provided of course by Google, and can be found here. Also for Windows Mobile from 2003, Palm, Blackberry, etc.
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yet another brilliant, and thorough review, where do you find the time.?
If any fixes appear for the mem/card problem Please let us know {my htc touch needs All its limited RAM}
I am using Google 2.2, in London & the new pedestrian & public transport feature is #%€¥£#%, it hasn’t even got the ‘tube’ on it.
many thanks
Jon
ps your news letter displays well via my yahoo mail but is even better via IE, how come?
Wow, thanks, jon! And don’t mention time, ok? I’m chronically behind on all my to-do lists (yes, I have a *bunch* of those). I’ll keep you all posted on any updates I hear about. I may even try GM2.2 just to see what they came up for NY subways. It’s probably worth a laugh or two. ;-D
I’ll ask Doug & Tariq about the newsletter issue, maybe there’s something we can tweak from this end.
Hi Jon
With regards to the news letter displays, I am not too sure I understand your comment because you’re comparing an email service to a browser. Could you elaborate?
Using the HTC Touch, Windows Mobile Professional 6.1
My preference has been Live Search over Google Maps primarily because of Catagories.
However, after this article I did “test” both using TOWING as the search criteria.
LiveSearch was way off. It showed towing companies in the Boston area while Google Maps was spot on finding local towing companies in the Warwick, RI area which is where I am located. Also I checked Gas Prices in LiveSearch and their information is not up to date. This feature I have checked over the last few weeks and it has yet to be very accurate.
My assessment so far: LiveSearch is easier. Google Maps is more accurate… so far.
Hi, Jim T. Don’t forget to search in more than one way. I noticed different results even in the same program when searching by name, by type of business, by what’s nearby, or by address. Google Maps was the best in finding nearby spots, Live Search gave me better results on searching by type of business. Regional data also varies.
For gas prices I haven’t found anything as handy as Live Search. The results are never up to date, I imagine each station has to report their prices individually, but it should be a good clue about which station has cheaper prices, even if the actual $ has changed a bit.
Let’s not forget that all these services are newborn, with lots of growing pains & depending on also new databases for addresses, roads, traffic, prices, etc. All very promising & already quite useful, but with a long way to go still.
Great review! I have found that “My location” with Google Maps 2.1 and cellular is much less accurate than 2.1 (I wish I could find a 2.1 cab and go back). Google will show me my location within x meters but I am generally still pretty far from even the range circle that is drawn. Other than that, I tend to use GM (with GPS) a bit more, but have both programs installed.
Many thanks, schmenge! For what I’ve read, Google Maps’ locator guesses where you are not only by the cell towers’ reported coordinates, but also by the signal strength reaching your phone. That can change a lot. In Manhattan the best I’ve gotten is about a block away from my real location, with a 500 meters circle range, but riding my bus around it jumps around more than you’d think, considering how many cell towers we have in the city.
Google Maps is also very sensitive to weak signals. It may crash if it cannot get one strong enough, or if the data flow is too slow. I never had that problem with Live Search on the same spots. If there was not enough signal strength the maps wouldn’t load or take a long time, but the program itself was stable.
As much as I complain about Google Maps’ issues, it’s still my favorite application to see my immediate area fast or to look up nearby businesses.
I don’t think it is signal strength issue as I noticed it right after I upgraded. Some areas are still accurate, it is mostly around my home that it is not. I guess something could have changed with the towers as well. Overall though, I do still prefer Google.