Figure 40: Novogo's Cockpit Map View

Once the destination address has been entered, the Novogo begins routing immediately, and displays the "Cockpit" map view.

Figure 41: Novogo's Cockpit Map View

The "Cockpit" view displays a lot of information:

1. Turn Preview displays the direction of the next maneuver
2. Distance to next turn
3. Travel & route information (distance to destination, remaining time, and estimated arrival time)
4. Tapping the menu button brings up the Find menu
5. Zoom in and out buttons
6. Tilt up and down - changes the 3D tilt aspect of the map
7. Next street
8. Map orientation - tapping this icon switched the map view between a North-up view, Track-up view, and overview mode.
9. GPS signal quality - displays GPS signal strength. A red satellite dish icon indicates weak or no GPS reception, a black satellite dish with 1 arc shown indicates a 2D position fix (a weak signal, but enough to start navigating), and a black dish icon with 2 arcs represents a 3D position fix.
10. Battery status - tapping on the battery icon oddly brings up the settings menu, NOT a battery status screen
11. Mute - enables / disables volume mute
12. Cursor menu button - the cursor menu allows you to mark waypoints, and starting and ending points on the map.

I found the 3D aspect ratio easy to read (you can even adjust the angle of the 3D'ness), and I like the fact that the remaining distance, drive time, and arrival times are all displayed. However, there's overall just too much going on with this page and the instrumentation is cluttered. For example, I don't feel it's necessary to constantly monitor the battery life, so that icon could be eliminated, nor do I feel it necessary to include icons for adjusting the 3D angle of the map (it's nice to be able to adjust it, but you don't need to keep icons on the map screen all the time).

Pressing on the cursor menu button (#12 in figure 41, above) brings up a sub-menu of options, shown below in figure 42. Each tabbed menu item is represented by an icon only, and I found it non-obvious what each icon does. Even where text accompanied the icon, it wasn't always clear what the button does. For example, to cancel a route, you have to press menu -> the tabbed menu icon that looks like a series of links, and then "Delete". That's not intuitive, and required a bit of time to figure out.

Canceling a Route

Figure 42: In-Route Menu

It took me a while to figure out how to cancel a route (actually, it took me a while to figure out how to do most things on the Novogo). To cancel an active route, tap on the Menu icon, then tap on the icon that looks like a series of links, then tap Delete.

Figure 43: Route Information Screen

Tapping on the Info button on the previous screen brings up the "Route Information" page. The line across the top of the screen shows a graphical representation of the trip, with the starting position on the left, destination on the right, and your current position as the blue triangle.

The page also displays the remaining distance, time, estimated arrival time, and the current routing method. "Fit to Screen" displays the entire trip on the map (shown below). Parameters allows you to change the desired routing preference. Notice the two red icons in the center of the page. The first icon indicates we'll be traveling on a highway for some or all of this trip. The second icon indicates we will encounter toll roads along this route.

Figure 44: Viewing the Entire Route on the Map

Tapping on "Fit to Screen" from the Route Information menu displays the entire route on a single page, as shown above.

Pressing on the Lock icon in the lower-right returns you to the map view, showing your current location instead of the entire trip. Annoyingly, there is no way to return to the previous "Route Information" screen from here. After looking at the entire route, if you want to return to the previous screen, it'll take three clicks: menu -> links -> Info. Most the other pages on the Novogo include a "Previous" arrow in the upper-left hand corner. Not sure why it's not on this screen, but it should be. I'm also not sure why they named the exit icon on this page "Lock", but it should be named something more intuitive (like "Exit", or "Return", or "Back").

Figure 45: Route Information - Highway

Tapping on the highway icon from the Route Information screen tells us exactly how many miles we'll be traveling on the highway during this trip. While this is somewhat interesting, it would be considerably more valuable if this page also included the particular highways we'll be traveling on, an option to avoid certain / all highways, or both.

Figure 46: Route Information - Tolls

Tapping on the toll roads icon from the Route Information screen tells us that we will encounter at least one toll on this route. This would be more helpful if the GPS told us exactly where the toll is, how many tolls total, and if we wanted to avoid the toll. Even better would be some information about how expensive each toll is...

Figure 47: Route Options

Tapping on Parameters from the Route Information page brings up the Route Parameters screen, shown above.

• Method: this slider allows you to set whether you want the GPS to favor route calculation speed or quality.
• Route: allows you to set the overall routing preference:
  • Fastest (quickest possible route, assuming you can travel at or near speed limits on all included roads)
  • Shortest (the smallest total distance)
  • Economical (a hybrid between Shortest & Fastest. If there is another route that only adds a bit more time but is a lot less distance, the GPS will opt for that route under the Economical setting).
• Vehicle: allows you to set the type of vehicle you're driving. Based on the selection, some of the road types will be excluded from the route. Available options are: Car, Taxi, Bus, Truck, Emergency, Pedestrian, and Bicycle

This page also allows you to set certain road types to include or exclude, such as U-turns, tolls, and unpaved roads.

Unfortunately, there is no way to set the Novogo to prompt you each time for the routing preference.

Figure 48: Cockpit Menu - Finding Addresses

Pressing the Menu button while in the Cockpit view displays the screen shown above. Notice the menu bar across the bottom of the screen. These icons are essentially tabs; each one displays different options in the area above. As I mentioned earlier in the review, I found this interface confusing at first, as it wasn't obvious how the menus were laid out, what each icon does, and what the proper order of doing things should be.

The first icon (the one that looks like a checkered flag on a map) displays options for finding addresses.

Figure 49: Cockpit Menu - Setting Map Options

The second icon (the wrench) displays options related to the map, such as toggling the mat between 3D and 2D, setting the night or day modes (by default, the Novogo will automatically enable Night Mode based on the time of day. This page allows you to force day or night mode), set the zoom and tilt level of the map, and record / view track logs.

Figure 50: Cockpit Menu - Current Route Options

The third icon on this page (the links icon) displays information related to the current route.

• Recalculate - forces the GPS to recalculate the route
• Itinerary - displays a text list of all turn in the route
• Edit - allows you to change the destination address, add additional addresses and create a multi-destination route, or optimize a multi-destination route
• Delete - cancells the current route
• Fly Over - simulates the trip in an accelerated time view
• Info - Displays the Route Information page

The right arrow in the lower-right corner returns you to the main menu.