IranMap

Iranian digital map provider IWM released their latest database that includes more than 40000 new POI (Point Of Interest). The company released also new GPS map for Iran with corrections and more cities.

Iran GPS map features voice guidance and instructions in English and Persian (Farsi).
The company also publishes its GPS map activities daily on IranGPSmap web site.

Mobile navigation provider Garmin UK today issued a press release demonstrating the real cost of the “free” Google Map Navigation application – and by extension many other off-board services – when used on roaming charges. According to the experiment made by the company, a 185 mile Calais to Paris trip costs £24 to £39 in roaming charges one way, £52 to £78 return journey.

The journeys were carried out between June 19 and June 22 2010 using an Android mobile phone with an O2 UK pay as you go SIM card and an O2 UK data plan. Navigation service used was Google Maps Navigation and all other data services disabled for the journey. The test journeys did not include any speed camera data or traffic data charges, added Garmin

“We tested the route from Calais to Paris four times and each time it came up with the same results: between 12-13 megabytes of data per journey”, explained Anthony Chmarny, Garmin’s Head of Communications in United Kingdom. “On a pay as you go mobile phone this meant £36 to £39 to get from Calais to Paris – some 185 miles. On a contract plan the cost is a little less, but still equates to £24 to £26 per single journey.”

Search Engine Land reports that Rosenberg, a Los Angeles California native, is suing Google because Google Maps issued directions that told her to walk down a rural highway. She started walking down the highway–which had no sidewalk or pedestrian paths–and was struck by a car. She is suing Google for her medical expenses ($100,000), as well as punitive damages. She is also suing the driver who struck her, Patrick Harwood of Park City, Utah.

On January 19, 2010, Rosenberg was apparently trying to get from 96 Daly Street, Park City, Utah, to 1710 Prospector Avenue, Park City, Utah. She looked up the walking directions using Google Maps on her Blackberry. Google Maps suggested a route that included a half-mile walk down “Deer Valley Drive,” which is also known as “Utah State Route 224.”

There’s not much more to say–she started walking down the middle of a highway, and a car hit her. Who wouldn’t have seen that one coming?

According to Rosenberg’s complaint filing:

“As a direct and proximate cause of Defendant Google’s careless, reckless and negligent providing of unsafe directions, Plaintiff Lauren Rosenberg was led onto a dangerous highway, and was thereby stricken by a motor vehicle, causing her to suffer sever permanent physical, emotional, and mental injuries, including pain and suffering.”

Google actually does offer up a warning about its walking directions–if you view Google Maps on a computer, it gives you the following message: “Walking directions are in beta. Use caution–This route may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths.”
This warning does not show up in PDA’s and cell phones.