Not one to be outdone, Microsoft's own web
mapping service comes under the Bing banner, and Bing Maps now uses Nokia's
back-end services for its mapping and traffic results, following the agreement
signed between the pair.
Whoever is responsible for the mapping
service, the performance of Bing Maps came into question almost directly after
loading it up. Apple Maps and Google Maps both knock it out of the park when it
comes to quick loading and seamless movement, while using the driving directions
function and generally finding your way around a map. Bing Maps, on the other
hand, fails miserably on all those levels.
Bing
Maps' traffic updates are well presented
A simple search on my current locale
created blank space on the standard road map of the streets surrounding my
house, meaning large chunks of information were literally blanked out. This
wasn't a problem on repeated viewings, but errors like this are not a welcome
sight.
Switching between the possible views -
Road, London Street Map, Ordnance Survey Map and Automatic didn't appear to
have any noticeable instant impact. Instead, I had to wait several seconds for
the change of view to occur, and in several instances the view change simply
didn't register. I did like the Ordance Survey view when it kicked into gear,
however. As for 3D, the 3D mapping feature was actually dropped by Microsoft a
couple of years ago in favour of an improved bird's eye 45º view.
There are other important bits of
information missing here too, most notably the disappointing Streetside
function, which promises to match Google's StreetView but fails spectacularly,
failing to work in any of the villages surrounding me. Indeed, Leicester as a
whole is representative of most of the UK in that there is no Streetside imagery
at all. When we did get the Streetside function to work, in Rochdale as it
happens, the imagery itself was fuzzy and well below par compared with both
Apple's and Google's. The overall performance of Streetside is similarly also
below par, proving functional rather than responsive.
New
BlackBerry Bold 9930/9990 unveiled with Bing maps integration
With no 3D mapping, the two major views
offered to users are the bird's eye and aerial (top down) views, with the
bird's eye one attempting to recreate the 45º flyover view adopted by Apple and
Google, although it feels like a cheaper, less capable rip-off.
The traffic updates are far better well
done, Nokia presenting simple but easy to understand shading across the on screen
map to give you an idea of how busy it is out there. No frills it may be, but
this aspect of the service compared well with its rivals. Mobile support
includes Windows Phone coming with it as standard and beyond that it's also
available for iOS, Android and BlackBerry (as part of the overall Bing app).
Indeed, this is the most supported among mobile platforms of any service I
tested.
Bing
Maps Will Soon Feature Nokia Branding On All Smartphones
As a Windows Phone user myself, Bing Maps
on that mobile platform is really very good, as is the case for the iOS version
I tested too. It's more responsive than the web-based version in most respects
and comes with live traffic reports and accurate driving directions.
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Details
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Manufacturer: Microsoft
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Website: www.bing.com/maps
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Required spec: Web browser, mobile access on
Windows Phone (preinstalled), iOS , Android, BlackBerry
Ratings
·
Quality: 6
·
Value: 6
·
Overall: 6
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