Do Here Maps work on Asha 501 without GPS ? Yup, It does
Lot of you asked if Nokia Asha 501 has the Nokia’s propriety mapping service and if they work on it. Now I do understand your concern because Asha 501 does not have hardware for GPS. Good news is that yes the Here Maps is available and it does work. So how does this work on a phone which does not have a GPS ?
Let me take this opportunity and explain you a bit about how location service work. There are two ways to pin point your location. First is the GPS itself and second is the triangulation method which phone’s operating system uses. GPS being heavily dependent on satellites, consumes lot of power and difficult to find enough signal to reach the source, triangulation method is used which instead of using satellite signals, determines location by using cell towers which you are always connected to.
Asha 501 uses the later method as the GPS is missing. Does that mean you don’t need internet? Sadly no. Problem is offline map feature is yet to come on Asha 501 and to my finding, Here Maps uses both Internet and Cellular network to exactly pin point your location. Internet is required to load the maps while cellular network is required to find your location. Below is quick demo of the same.
Another concern which comes in mind is the data network supported on Asha 501 which is only limited to 2G or 2.5G. Even though the app is pretty light weight and works when both Internet and SIM are available, it will not be a fast solution.
Related Reading : Review of Nokia Asha 501 Software and OS
What does the Here Maps Offer on Nokia Asha 501:
- Search Location.
- Satellite, Public Transport and Traffic view along with normal map.
- Zoom
- Metrics or Imperial
- Turn by Turn Directions Walking, Public Transport and by Car
- Search for Food, Services and places to roam around.
The best part of the app is it used the same Here Maps service and hence results are same as you see on any other Windows Phone device using it. I am expecting an offline support for this application which will improved the overall experience a lot. Mobile data is still a costly business in India.
To download the app, look for Here Maps in Nokia Store. The app is currently in beta phase.
