NG4 Navidrive 3D Map Updates

[EDC5]

If you get an honest answer, I don't think it will make you happy. I suspect that the number of NG4 systems sold over the years was very low and maybe HERE maps charge a set fee for the development of the map updates rather than a per user fee therefore making the next update un-viable financially.

[GiveMeABreak]

I suspect it will very much be down to financial cost as you say Elis - but this is also a matter of principle and getting things right - I don't like being fobbed off with bull and at the least, I expect a proper considered response, given the previous lacklustre and worthless answer from a large manufacturer like PSA.

Hypothetically, imagine buying a bespoke PC from 'ACME computers' with a bespoke operating system from 'Carlos Fandango Software' to find out after 2 years CFS are not proving any updates or upgrades, which when queried, they say it is because ACME have not asked us to write any new software or driver updates, - sorry, but you'll have to go and buy a new PC!

It's exactly the same, PSA have to be the ones to initially request and pay for the development of a new NG4 version from HERE. But my gripe, apart from not having a new update , is that they don't seem to know their own jobs and responsibilities and have in effect lied about it by putting the responsibility with HERE.

[EDC5]

I get your point exactly, it's very disingenuous of PSA to blame HERE when it's them who are not willing to stump up the cash.

Do you happen to know the support status of the other NAV units fitted to the PSA range?

[GiveMeABreak]

MyWay is in the same boat as NG4 and it won't be too far on when RT6 support fizzles out too. This being down to the horrible touch screen affairs that they are shoving into the newer models that use mobile apps and subscription services that need 3G / 4G data to work - so if you live in the country / rural areas with limited mobile signal, yet alone any data, you are completely bu**ered.

The touch screens are bad enough and positively hideous IMHO as they are just like having a huge mobile phone stuffed into the dash - you simply have ZERO tactile ability as there are no buttons to operate just about everything on the car - so that means taking your eyes off the road and looking at the screen to adjust the heating, air flow and climate controls, the cruise control speed from the pre-selected speeds, the radio, and all the rest. No voice control on most of the units - so I really can't see how these things are legal to be honest.

[wurlycorner]

Ok, so the latest response from Here maps today - and my response to Citroen Customer Service:

Did you ever receive a response to your last email to them?

[GiveMeABreak]

Hi Iain, no they effectively ended support for the NG4 back at the time of the post, so never commissioned another update for this system from 'Here' maps since. The final official version is therefore 2016-2, which likely has data from 2015 because of the lapse in getting the release out, so 10 years old.

Some have managed to use the cartography versions for some BMW Telematics units in vehicles of the time and modified these, but it means the POIs remain the same as the 2016 version which can't be updated due to compatibility reasons.

Latest data from Citroen / Peugeot Navigation states: "This is the final map update release for your system. It will remain available while supplies last."

[wurlycorner]

Thanks
Mine has an NG4 and when I get a mo I will get around to checking what version of maps is in it - just another thing on the 'to do list' associated with that car...

[GiveMeABreak]

If you have a Smart phone - I recommend you use Sygic Navigation Iain, I use it now even though I have free maps with my built-in navigation as it's far superior. Of course you won't have CarPlay - but it will work using the phone just fine and in addition has additional features like Lane Wandering, Speed Camera Alerts, Speed Sign Recognition, Voice guidance, and even a Head Up Display. Some features are premium for about £15 a year, but the navigation and most features are free.

[ChrisRobin]

I have to say I was surprised considering the price of the NG4 system, that mapping support ended so quickly for it, maybe not enough of the units were sold to make it viable, as you know Marc we have a 308 with NG4 and it is quite difficult to find a 308 unit, lots of RCZ units so it looks to me like they fitted more to the RCZ than the 308, most of the 308's we looked at on Autotrader didn't have an NG in them and still don't as we look out of interest these days so maybe that was the driver behind the decision, who knows Manufactures do very strange things.
You would of thought that some one else would of taken up the baton as there would be money to be made there I would imagine, but I suppose with the PSA system unlike my Carminat Tom Tom yours does a system firmware update as well doesn't it on the NG4 before uploading maps, so I guess this is where the problems might occur for an aftermarket updates should someone decide to launch them, were as mine just updates maps only in the Renault.
Shame really as it is cracking system although navigation is a bit difficult to input destinations and it wont for some reason take my home address as "home" instead it drops it 4 miles away in a totally different town, I have two to choose from Abergele or Colwyn Bay none of which I live in, and trust me I have played with it for a long time and it still says no. So yes I have to say I find the NG navigation challenging at best, everything else it does brilliantly just Nav.
I know you can manufacture BMW maps to work in it, but really you shouldn't have to should you, granted you wont get endless support on them but they did cut it very short.

[wurlycorner]

If you have a Smart phone - I recommend you use Sygic Navigation Iain, I use it now even though I have free maps with my built-in navigation as it's far superior. Of course you won't have CarPlay - but it will work using the phone just fine and in addition has additional features like Lane Wandering, Speed Camera Alerts, Speed Sign Recognition, Voice guidance, and even a Head Up Display. Some features are premium for about £15 a year, but the navigation and most features are free.

Not familiar with that app - sounds like a lot of features for a smartphone app, I may look into it thanks.
I'm a waze fan tbh.
While the lack of carplay/android auto connectivity on the NG4 is *very* annoying, the thing that's *criminal* is lack of bluetooth streaming!

[GiveMeABreak]

I know, but you have to remember these devices were on the drawing board years before they came into being so the technology and protocols came along later.

I never bothered with Bluetooth streaming, I basically just bought a 32 GB micro memory stick and use this in the USB port in the centre console with literally thousands of songs that played without any problem at all.

This had the benefit that it didn’t take up any room on my smart phone in terms of memory storage and was easy enough to take out the car and update if I needed to. You could also use the SD card on the front slot if you wanted to also.

[wurlycorner]

Yep, but that is where I run into more blockers unfortunately.
I hate mp3. The only 'digital file' music I have is basically dance stuff that I have ripped from my CD collection, or buy as tracks to use with my DJ (Serato DVS) setup. I do have loads of that on my laptop and would happily stick it on an SD card, but because I'm a music quality whore, that's all in FLAC - which the NG4 doesn't support? I haven't ripped (and wouldn't buy) any of my other genre's as digital file, I only have and buy that as CD - and I'm fine with that and obviously no problem with that on the NG4, either!
More importantly than that though, I like to listen to podcasts and shows and sets on e.g. BBC Sounds etc. - and, crucially - have Waze navigation running. So that's where bluetooth streaming really comes in for me.
I have been looking into trying to sort a solution for the X7 (looking at what others have done/idea of mine etc.) but obviously (sadly) not cracked it yet and will do a separate thread about that when I get a mo, looking for input!

[GiveMeABreak]

Probably not, From the Navidrive 3D manual, but WMA is better quality supposedly at smaller sizes. I use a mixture of FLAC and MP3 (on my Aircross, as these formats are supported) , but to be honest in the car, I doubt it will be that discernable, but I appreciate you may not want to rip everything again. But you could just make copies of your FLAC files using a batch converter for the purposes of the car - job done.

The audio equipment will only play audio files with the extension ".mp3" with a speed of between 8 Kbps and 320 Kbps and the extension ".wma" with a speed of between 5 Kbps and 384 Kbps.

It also supports the VBR (Variable Bit Rate) mode. No other type of fi le (.mp4, .m3u...) can be played.

[wurlycorner]

Oh if no-one has tried and confirmed FLAC doesn't work... I'll give it a try, just to see (though unfortunately still doesn't solve the wider problem).

[GiveMeABreak]

I think it's a given FLAC will not work on the NG4 Iain (My Aircross uses a Connected NAC system, which does explicitly support FLAC) which I forgot to mention above.