Introduction

A couple of months ago I was informed by Sygic that they had developed a version of their successful Mobile Maps turn by turn satellite navigation software for Googles' new Android mobile phone operating system. This added to the versions already released at that time for Windows Mobile and Symbian and the iPhone version released since. Last week they finally released Mobile Maps 9, initally for Europe, Australia & New Zealand and USA, Canada & Mexico on their new e-shop - finally providing somewhere to purchase SMM in the UK. The product is supplied as a download so time needs to be allowed for the large (1.8GB for Europe) download size. In this download you also get the application for Windows Mobile and Symbian as well as Android.

Sygic Mobile Maps 9 is essentially the Sygic branded version of the software TeleAtlas sold as McGuider 2009 (availability of which has resumed at TeleAtlas - October 09). It uses the same interface and same map version (2008.10) so should be easy for anyone who has used McGuider or Sygic Drive in the past to pick up. The maps though are quite out of date for a new product release, being nearly 12 months old now.

Download and Installation

Once the product is purchased from the Sygic e-shop you will receive an email with a link to download the installer and a product code to be used to activate the maps once installed on your device. As previously noted, this download can take a long time as the download is large (Europe is 1.8MB and took me nearly 1.5 hours on a 7Mb ADSL line). The download is available as an executable suitable for Windows client PCs and also a ZIP archive suited to other operating systems. The Windows exe installs the Sygic Assistant which is used to copy all files across to your device (the SD card needs to be seen as a mass storage device - this is the default for the SD card once mounted for USB file transfer) as well as installing updates as they are released (at present there are none). It is possible with this utility to install just the maps and voices you need so space is not wasted with maps for countries you do not visit or voices in a language you do not understand. What this does not do though is actually install the application on your device. Also the installtion user guide (available through the Sygic Assistant) fails to mention Android at all. To help those less technically minded, you need to install a file explorer (there are plenty of free ones in the Android Market), turn on 'Unknown Sources' application installs in Settings/Application and launch SetupAndroid.apk on your device. It is then possible to add a shortcut link to your Android screen for quick access or open Sygic Mobile Maps from the applications list.
Oddly I have noticed that even though I have installed the UK & Irl maps and English British voice, sometimes the Sygic Assistant shows no installed maps when run. I suspect this to be a bug in how Sygic Assistant checks for installed maps etc.

The on device installer guides you through some initial setup questions for language and units as well as offering quick links to some guides explaining how to use the product (these can be accessed at a later date from the settings menu). After this you are presented with an almost working system - the in built GPS unit is automatically detected and on the Android version tested it is not possible to configure this at all (unlike the WM and Symbian versions where GPS can be configured). All that is left is to select the map from the menu and to activate it. As long as you have an internet connection on your phone and the product code this can be done automatically and almost instantly.