Windows Phone Thoughts: Road Trip Revolutions: The MyGuide 500 Navigation System Reviewed

Road Trip


Figure 12: A basic map view with icons.

Figure 12 shows one view of the map while navigating. Your position is indicated by the green triangle and the map scrolls continuously as you drive. The map is set to orient in driving direction, meaning that your position will always point up. As an alternative, you can specify that north is always up, in which case the green triangle will, for example, point right when you’re driving west.

Screen icons are displayed in this view, allowing you to change north orientation and zoom level, among other things. If you want a more expansive view, tap on the “icons” icon (the little orange dot) to hide them.


Figure 13: Hiding the icons gives you a bit more breathing room.

Figure 13 shows the screen with the icons hidden. Hiding the icons also enables autozoom, which automatically changes the zoom level based on speed (zooms in as you slow down, zooms out as you speed up). With the icons hidden, the info bar also expands; it's shown here with the additional values of estimated time of arrival, time to destination and distance to destination. You can configure the values that are displayed through the settings.


Figure 14: Approaching a turn.

In Figure 14, we’re approaching a turn. Note the two street/highway names displayed at the bottom of the screen. The top street name is the street onto which you’re going to turn, while the bottom name is the street or highway that you’re currently on. A graphic representing the turn with an arrow is displayed on the left.


Figure 15: Autozoom brings you up close and personal.

Figure 15 illustrates the autozoom. I was about to make a right turn and I was stopped at a stop sign. As you can see, OCN has increased the zoom level significantly from the previous figure.


Figure 16: The ubiquitous 3D view.

Of course, OCN provides a 3D map view for those who prefer it.


Figure 17: Lots of options.

The menu in Figure 17 comes up with a brief tap on the screen. Useful options on this screen include mute, night mode and block road. With the latter, you select a value to tell OCN approximately how long the road closure is, and it will navigate around it to get back to your route.

The excellent voice instructions are retained from the previous version. A very clear female voice delivers the instructions very politely… all instructions are preceded by the word “please”. When traveling on a highway, OCN will warn you about two miles in advance of the next turn to allow you to get in the correct lane. Then it warns you again as you close in on the turn. The distance before the turn at which the warning sounds varies depending on your speed. At highway speeds, it usually warns you at about 1600 feet prior to the turn, and then gives you the final instruction right at the turn.

My only beef with the instructions is that OCN sometimes instructs you, for example, to turn right when you’re really only “bearing right”. An example would be where a two lane highway with no median splits into a four lane highway with a median. At the split, OCN instructed me to turn right when I was only bearing right very slightly. Such instructions can be a bit confusing.

Rerouting is virtually instantaneous, so you can feel free to deviate from the recommended route at any time. OCN will handle the changes quickly and efficiently.