Send Sat Nav routes as messages with the Nokia 6110

The Nokia 6110 Navigator has a GPS satellite receiver built in that enables the phone to be used as a full satellite navigation system. The 6110 comes with satellite navigation software supplied by Route 66 that allows users to identify their precise location, plan routes and get step-by-step navigation instructions onscreen and by voice.

The Sat Nav software onboard offers a variety of search options for selecting locations. Users can choose to search through a variety of categories for locations; they can search using postcodes or addresses, too.

Among the varied categories and thousands of point of interest stored in the software are options to browse nearby locations (banks, businesses, attractions, entertainments, eating and drinking and so on), plus historical sites, and owner-defined landmarks. It can even find locations by using addresses in the phone's contacts lists.

Nokia 6110 Navigator owners can plan routes and store them on their phone, just like with a standalone in-car Sat Nav system. But in addition, the mobile connectivity enables users to send step-by-step navigation instructions to other mobile users, using text messaging and MMS multimedia messaging.

As well as being able to send some onscreen maps to others as MMS messages (see article How to send Sat Nav maps to other mobiles with the Nokia 6110), written instructions for routes can be sent as simple text messages or MMS.

You can send routes you have already created and saved in the Sat Nav memory. You can also search for directions to a location from where you are and send those quickly to another mobile.

Activating Sat Nav
First, you must switch on your Nokia 6110 Navigator's satellite navigation system. Press the Navigator button at the bottom of the closed phone, just below the main navigation pad; it's marked with a compass-shaped icon (Figure 1). Alternatively, you can also activate this function via the main menu.

Your 6110 will take a few seconds to load the software. The screen will display the earth, and then swiftly home in to your location. This could take under a minute or several minutes, depending on how quickly the GPS receiver can lock onto signals from sufficient satellites.

Once your position has been found, a map of your current location will be displayed onscreen (Figure 2).

Sending stored routes as text or MMS messages
If you have used the satellite navigation software before, you may have already saved a route you've looked up into the phone's Trips folder.

Press Options. Scroll down to Trips (Figure 3) and select. You will be presented with the list of routes you have already created and stored. Scroll to the one you want to use and press select (Figure 4).

You can now see details of the Departure and Destination points for your route (Figure 5). Press Options and scroll down to highlight Send route (Figure 6). Press select.

You can now choose whether to send the message as a text message, multimedia MMS message or e-mail. Longer routes will be split into multiple text messages, whereas just one MMS can contain all the instructions. In this example, we're going to send the message by MMS. Select Via Multimedia (Figure 7) and press select.

The step-by-step navigation instructions are copied into standard MMS message (Figure 8). To add a contact click on the To: bar at the top of the page, highlight a person in your contacts list (Figure 9) and press OK.

The MMS will now have a contact attached and will be ready to send (Figure 10). Press Options, and press Send to send the message (Figure 11).

Sending a route you've just looked up

Press the Options softkey and select Search (Figure 12).

You can now choose one of several ways to search for a location. You can choose to search by address, nearby points of interest, historical points of interest, your own predefined landmarks or an address from your list of contacts in the phone. You can also use the Free text option to search for a location by typing bits of a name of address.

Highlight Free text and press select (Figure 13). Type in the name of the location, or part of the name, and press select (Figure 14). You will be presented with various options listed onscreen. Select the location you want to be mapped and select (Figure 15).

Several options appear onscreen. Highlight Navigate to and press select (Figure 16).

The Sat Nav system calculates the route you need to take.

To send directions for this route to someone as a text message or MMS, select Options, then scroll down to Send (Figure 17) and press select. Highlight Trip and select (Figure 18). Choose the Via multimedia option and press select (Figure 19).

Your Nokia 6110 will create an MMS message with the directions listed (Figure 20). Send the message by selecting a contact (or typing in a number). Press the central navigation key to bring up your contacts list, and select the one you want (Figure 21). Select OK to add the recipient.

Once you have selected the recipient for the message, select Options and then press Send (Figure 22). The message with the route directions will now be sent.