If they put Here into the Google Play Store
I'd gladly buy it*.
* Assuming Google would allow Here Maps into the Google Play store.
For Nokia, getting Samsung – the world’s biggest smartphone manufacturer – to use its HERE Maps is a huge win. Unfortunately it’s not Samsung throwing Google Maps out of its smartphones but rather a realisation that Google isn’t going to rush to port maps to Samsung's home-grown operating system, Tizen. The “HERE for Gear” …
Be careful what you wish for. When they launched for iOS all we got was a hastily knocked-up web view with a reasonably unresponsive web site within it, showing content at a quarter of the resolution of the screen (i.e. non-retina content only, if you must use Apple nomenclature).
Possibly the very best bit about the current crop of Nokia phones this, and a major reason to consider WinPho. I wonder how much of HERE not being available on Android is down to Google wanting people to use Google Maps, and how much is down to Microsoft not wanting to let a strong WinPho USP slip out of their grasp.
"I wonder how much of HERE not being available on Android is down to Google wanting people to use Google Maps"
Most of it.
"how much is down to Microsoft not wanting to let a strong WinPho USP slip out of their grasp."
None - Nokia would undoubtedly license HERE Maps to Google too given the chance.
"I wonder how much of HERE not being available on Android is down to Google wanting people to use Google Maps"
"Most of it."
I would say none of it. Google don't seem to care if another map provider wishes to ply their wares in the play store. There are some excellent ones, at least as good as 'HERE'. Try Sygic for instance (paid) or one of the free openstreetmap based ones.
However, it may well be more down to people wanting to use Google Maps, or even Waze.. For many the plentiful (or unlimited) data plans combined with reasonable cell coverage and Maps' ability to cache the route makes it good enough for free. HERE would be competing with that by charging people, and when you charge quite a lot there are many alternatives in the Play store as mentioned.
I find mine gets quite warm round the back, and I need to have it on charge or drain the battery.
Whether that's the way it hammers the GPS, or is still using the data plan to grab traffic flows, I don't know. Or perhaps the case doesn't help.
But it's still a good app for giving directions.
I think it drains the battery a lot because the GPS position and map drawing occurs very often so that the position updates fast enough in town at corners and roundabouts etc. so that the "Take the next exit" prompt is reliable.
Even if the GPS is not updated too often (interpolation works pretty well in tunnels), the screen updates would definitely drain the battery, just like video games would.
For the record, mine doesn't drain while it is on (wired) charge in the car using nav.
"My relatively old S3 wouldn't even charge while doing satnav duties until I bought a chunky 2A car adapter."
You're doing wrong. I've been using <shameful sell here> Oziexplorer for nearly 15 years over a variety of laptops (including a PIII and an Atom), several WinCE devices, and three different Android phones. Although it offers an "online" map display, I've only ever used offline, and all still get used regularly on battery.
Bottom line is, if your phone gets hot, or you need a charger at all to get any reasonable charge life out of the battery, then you paid too much for your satnav application. If it was free, you especially paid too much for it. I'm sure there are other apps that do a suitable job, just not any of the ones mentioned here it seems.
My N8 has same problem and since the phone can run for several days without charge, I will point at the GPS too... even via the USB. My Toyota socket is rated 10A, so I imagine the juice is sufficient.
I understand there are external bluetooth GPS's are small, more senstive and much more power efficient.
Something about the compromises of mobiles phones I guess, can't be good at everything....!
P.