Don't the people at Google know where Malaysia is?

Recently, a lot of site visits are coming from Malaysia.  However, when I look at the little map Google presents, it shows Singapore instead.

You can see the little dark spot between China and Australia.  That's not Malaysia, as Malaysia exists partly on the continent and partly on the island of Borneo, an island it shares with Indonesia.

I realize that a lot of people don't look outside their own country for anything, but given that Google maps everything, they should be a bit more aware of the rest of the world.

Waze is cutesy mapping and navigation

Crowdsourcing is something fairly new.  It requires everyday people to help supply information.  Waze, the maps and navigation utility app, uses crowdsourcing to get the job done.

Since I've been on a trip from Eastern Indiana to the Orlando, Florida area, I thought I'd try the app on iOS.  A lot of people raved about it before Apple brought their new maps to iOS, and since then, the suggestions have become a call to arms, virtually.

So, here I was on a trip I estimated at about 1000 miles one way.  I've driven it probably 12 times and lived in the Orlando area for 11 years, so there was hardly a chance of being truly lost, and that's a good time to try something new.

I was somewhat amused by the marshmallow like character with the teething device to show a newbie.  There are many different levels of users.

As I drove from my town to Hamilton, OH a couple of times, and then, to Cincinnati, it was somewhat helpful.  Of course, the maps will allow you to see the roads ahead, so you can make wiser decisions about lane changes before you try to cross 3 lanes full of traffic to make your turn on time.

I noticed a couple of problems:

• At an intersection, it will sometime ask you if you're in traffic, when you're stopped at a red light "We detected a slowdown.  Are you in traffic?"  They need a red light button to tap.
• It often changes the orientation 90 degrees and then, to 180 degrees from your actual orientation, showing you headed from whence you came.  Of course, it flips you back when you start to move.  It's rather dis-orienting.

Driving from Cincinnati, OH on the trip to Chattanooga, TN, I didn't notice much of a problem.  You can warn of objects on the road, on the side of the road, and also warn of police.  Considering shredded tires and cars slightly off to the side, this can be advantageous, especially in pouring rain and darkness.  I've noticed that the police are sometime not where it says that they are, so maybe the police are using the app too?

Most of my experience from Chattanooga to Orlando, FL was similar until I left I-75.  I had not lived in the area for four years, and I wasn't sure that the tolls hadn't increased a great deal.  Remembering that they didn't take bills over $20, I decided to go toll free, even at a longer ride.

When I tried the navigation, just outside Orlando near Ocoee, it gave me two options: use Florida's Turnpike or use Florida's Turnpike.  I didn't investigate further for the same reason.  It never gave me an option to take a local road, and I couldn't just tap "No tolls" or "Local roads only" because there was no such option.  You can go into settings and choose to not use toll roads.  That will work fine in Florida but getting across Pennsylvania is tough without the PA Turnpike.

I asked a question in the forums, especially after I ended up taking the toll road partway and it was directing me toward an exit that was marked electronic tolls only.  The first answer I got was rude, like "It's not an auto pilot.  You need to use your brain."  That's a great first impression.  (My second impression of him was worse.)  I've been using navigation apps for 6 years and someone (who was an area Waze manager), tells me I'm an idiot for expecting an app not to give me ridiculous information.  I guess because it's free, I should give it more latitude?  Telenav gave me bad advice and I had to ignore it also, since I was going in the correct direction.  (Why does Telenav always start by telling me to "turn around"?)  In any case, had I no clue about Florida's Turnpike, I might have trusted the app.  Instead, I took an exit I knew to be safe.

If this is all about the people, and there are so many smartasses using the app, I think there isn't much reason to expect real help.

I was interested but now, seeing that it's cute and amateur-ish, I'm inclined to just use Telenav again, regardless of their issues.  There are other alternatives also like Garmin, TomTom (suppliers of maps/map components to Telenav and Apple), and since yesterday, Nokia's Navteq mapping solution Here.  Eventually, Apple's data-conscious maps will work just fine.  Google's maps are still available through a browser, if I want to be at the wrong block on the wrong side of the road, wondering why the road name doesn't match.

I've tried Nokia's Here and it's not here yet.  I can't access my contacts and that makes it more difficult.  Obviously, nothing is great.

Update 2014.12.05: I've used Waze from coast to coast and it is good enough, especially after it was acquired by Google.  It has become better in searching for businesses, for navigation.  Reporting problems has become more useful.  I'm amused that it asks me if there is a slowdown when I'm at a stop light that is red.

iOS 6.0 or how lost am I?

It's time to poke a bit of fun at Apple, the saviours of the universe.

I've been fooled in the past to update as soon as possible.  When you're running Mac OS X, it usually becomes reasonably steady at the 10.x.4 version and iOS at the x.2 version, which never happened for version 5.

I feel for all of those who were enthusiastic enough to wait for the appropriate time and started downloading the update.  Of course, all of them are having some sort of problem now.  When 6.0.1 arrives (3 weeks from now?), I'm sure I'll be having some sort of problem because I'll probably be tired of waiting and want to download it.  (Update 2012.10.18: No 6.0.1 so far.)

Of course, if there are security updates, we on version 5 won't see them, will we?  That's a !@#$ shame because our devices are just as valuable, and mine (iPhone 4S) is still being sold in a modified form.  When I updated my second generation iPod touch to version 4.1, I only did it because of the security updates.  It certainly wasn't because I wanted decreased performance.  Version 4.2.1 more-or-less resolved things but not well.

I've seen all sorts of talk about the maps being a problem.  Strange, isn't it?  I didn't really have any good luck with Google maps on Android and Apple's app to access Google's maps was no prize either.  Mapquest and Telenav have my interest but Telenav's app is problematic compared to the app on my last 4 feature phones.  However, Google puts things on the wrong block or on the other side of the road, so what's worse? (Update 2012.10.18: I've learned that Apple are using vector graphics and only about 10 % of the data to accomplish their maps, giving us all a chance in areas with no 3G access.)  Update 2012.12.04: I tried the Maps application during a trip to Florida recently and was amused to see I-75 turned into some local road.  Waze was not really good, either.  If I'm sitting at a red light, am I "in traffic"?

I downloaded the YouTube app a while back and it works well, so I expect the Google maps app will work equally well.  (Update 2013.10.29: the Google maps app works reasonably well.  I've only used it once for navigation, although it made some odd decisions. Apple's maps app has been good, though confused in more dense areas.)  According to some Google big wig today (Sept. 25), they aren't planning any app.  That goes against what another said weeks ago.  They could have killed it but to say that it wasn't planned?  Apple's stock price is being hammered on the news.  It's sad that Apple are developing more and more like their competitors.  I appreciated the company for its fit and finish.  Throwing rubbish onto the street and hoping we like it is nonsense, and it stinks.

Were you in line today to buy an iPhone 5?  I read that someone in Australia bought the first one available in a brick-and-mortar store already.  I really don't see the reason to wait in line, especially hours or days.  It's a phone.

I also got the e-mail from Apple, and I saw their press release about amazing pre-order sales figures the first weekend.  Good for them.  When the iPhone 5S arrives, I'll take a look at that, as my contract will be nearing completion.  By then, the iPhone 5 features will be settled and the performance will be improved.  Maybe, it will actually be shock resistant, so I don't need a case to make it 4 times as thick, just to not have it break on a fall. (My Otterbox Defender did a great job when the phone tumbled out of my hand, leaving my motel room.)

Funny how none of my flip phones ever died from a fall and the worst was the Motorola Star Tac with a crack around the antenna housing, but apparently, they all did that.

Seeing what HTC has put out recently, I might buy another Android-based phone, if I can find a display around 4" maximum.  I really don't want to buy a bag of some sort to hold the thing.  I want it on a holster in my pocket.  Of course, if it's only half as thick as the Otterbox Defender case I have, I might be able to handle a longer phone.

Good luck to all of the phone makers, but more than that, good luck to the consumers.

Update 2014.12.05: Here I am with iOS 8.1.1 and there are still navigation issues.

I believe that the TomTom maps need a lot of improvement, even in the San Francisco Bay Area.  I often use navigation from a distance to return to stores I already know, but would have it help me avoid traffic backups.  By the time I'm close, I can generally quit navigation because almost certainly, it will tell me to make a U-turn, even though there is a proper entrance to a strip mall.

I can't speak to any of the other map vendors, but I remember using Telenav's app on my flip phones and it had me take a few U-turns that were unnecessary.

The one problem I still have with my iPhone (5c instead of the 4s now but the 4s did it also) is compass confusion.  It will turn the map at an intersection when I'm stopped.