Nokia reportedly targeting Apple to buy its HERE Maps division
 

http://www.idownloadblog.com/2015/04...maps-division/

Looks like they want out of the business, at quite a loss too, a $5 billion discount from what they paid.

Just think of the (roaming) data you'll save.

And no, the APP isn't humungous - the maps are, as are the detailed TTS voices.

When you get new maps for your car, they'll come on 1 or 2 DVD's, and even an update for my Garmin unit is often 4GB or more.

Used Here maps with the Cuba map for the past 3 weeks for offline navigation (or showing where I was). Wasn't too bad but there are database inaccuracies (must use the same database at MS does for the Map app in WP 8.1)

It does not. Microsoft uses Bing Maps for their apps and services.

Which both use Here as their source for maps, so yes - they do use the same mapping database. It is even right there in the bottom right: (C) Nokia.

Bing maps has been being Navteq/Nokia maps for many years.

Easiest way to confirm is to go to maps.bing.com and look at the copyright logo in the bottom right corner - (C) Nokia (C) Microsoft Corporation

you can go to maps.here.com and set up routes/destinations also.

I use it a bit for work trips so I have back up of where i need to be/go.

Anyone using Here that has also used Navigator Free? I just came back from ten days in Ireland and found Nav Free better than the Garmin 205 that I bought several years ago for the UK/Ireland that has lifetime maps. After this trip, I'll just leave the Garmin at home and use my phone, because Nav Free was both more accurate and relatively useful without requiring a data connection. I'm not married to Nav Free though, and if Here looks like a better app, I'm happy to switch.

I've downloaded it to try it out, but any useful comparisons would be appreciated because I'll only want to keep one of the two apps given the storage requirements for each.

I have used both Nav Free (or what ever its now called) and Here maps on holiday in the USA and found Here to be slightly better.

Here maps seem great, but there seems to be some notable exceptions under the downloadable maps for Asia. Namely, I can't find China, Korea, or Japan. Is this normal, or am I missing something?

Thanks. I've been playing around with Here for the last 24 hours and can make some initial observations--with the caveat that I've used the app on roads with which I'm very familiar while my most recent Nav Free experience in Ireland was on some roads that I've never been on in five previous trips. I figure withdrawing the threat of truly getting lost along with the somewhat higher degree of difficulty on Irish roads (default in the US: if you're on a road, you can mostly count on that road not changing names; default in Ireland: if you're on a road, you can count on that road changing names, perhaps multiple times in several miles) means I'm probably comparing oranges to tangerines.

Since I am so familiar with the roads I used Here on in the last 24 hours, I made it a point to ignore directions every so often to see how the app would handle it. I was very impressed with how quickly Here generally rerouted me. At one point, in fact, Here suggested a rerouting that essentially amounted to a U-turn by going off the street I was on and going through a parking lot in the business park where I work--a valid routing that I've never seen any other app suggest.

I also appreciated that Here does not seem to nag as much as Nav Free--more than once on my Irish trip, Nav Free would tell me, almost in one continuous direction, "in a quarter-mile, carry on straight ahead, carry on straight ahead, in a half-mile, carry on straight ahead." Here seems to presume you don't need as many oral directions.

The visual display and hi-fi voices are also a pleasure. Here packs a lot of information into the bottom of the screen, including warnings that you're exceeding the speed limit. Nav Free does this as well (as does my Garmin), but it seems easier to understand the information Here presents. I've never gotten that information from Google Maps.

Another advantage of Here and Nav Free over Google Maps, as discussed in this thread, is the ability to search when off line. The Here app again seemed simpler to use in comparison with Nav Free.

I wish I had seen this thread during my trip to Ireland because I would have tried Here while there, but I'm happy with my early experience. Both Nav Free and Here render my old Garmin unit obsolete for my trips to the UK and Ireland.

China is in my Asia download list, but Korea and Japan are not.

Odd, mine jumps straight from Brunei to India on iOS.

Mine's the Android version. This is odd because iOS and Android both use the SQLite database manager, so I would have thought the two versions would use the same database files.

Comparison to MAPS.ME?
 

On my Android phone I have MAPS.ME, which uses free open-source maps and is said to provide routing (although I haven't tried that aspect). Is there a comparison between MAPS.ME and Here?