Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Vietnam and Saigon map for GPS and Nokia E71

So its seems to be a challenge: I have my brand new Nokia E71 and one of the reasons to buy it was the GPS feature. I think Location Based Services are the next big thing in the net, so I want to be at least technically be prepared.
The problem is: There is Vietmap available, what I did not manage to install yet. You can buy this software for 70 USD, sometimes the reduce it to 35 USD if you buy it with a new phone.

So I searched around and found Free Garmin. Someone said they might have the best maps for Vietnam. Might be, but when it comes to the cities, look at that list:
Hoi An
Can Tho
Hanoi (with Street names)
Hue
Vinh
Danang
Vung Tau
Mai Chau

No Ho Chi MinhCity ????

Ok, next search result leads me to http://www.gps-navigation.at.tf/. again Garmin based, with now downloads to offer and not one single word about City Maps.

Lonely planet has a discussion about GPS and maps in Vietnam.
I found a nice workaround there:
I have a PDA based GPS but to get maps I've been scanning paper maps then using the Pathaway software:
http://www.pathaway.com/
to calibrate them and give me a moving map.


There are some maps on http://www.sjvietnam.org/map/, free for volunteers and internationl organizaions, made with a mapscanner. You need the www.oziexplorer.com software for this.

so, it seems only Vietmap is a sufficient solution. As their website is only in Vietnamese, I need offline help to go through. Will post my further experiences here...


.. to be continued

4 comments:

vnbusinessnews said...

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Anonymous said...

Hi,
Do you have any update on this ? I have the same issue !

Unknown said...

Hi,

maybe you didnot look right. The maps on http://www.gps-navigation.at.tf DO INCLUDE CITIES in high-accuracy details.

And this is also mentioned on the homepage, here an excerpt: "... In city areas detailled map is provided for Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Nha Trang, Hoi An, Da Lat and other cities."

Please also take attentions on the screenshots on the homepage.

Best Regard,
Paul

Linh Lan said...

Hi Thomas

You can upload your phone software
with Nokia Ovimap, it better now.
or access www.gpsclub.vn to download mapdata for Garmin device & Mobile XT software (compatible with E71)
:)

Nguyen