Figure 51: Itinerary (a.k.a. maneuvering list)

The itinerary view displays all turns along the route. Any particular maneuver can be selected (by tapping on it), and then you can either view a close-up map view of the turn by tapping on "Show", or tell the Novogo to avoid that road by tapping on "Avoid". The Mode button cycles between three views of the itinerary: Detailed Instructions (the most detailed description of each turn), Instructions (less verbose text), and Route Summary (least verbose text descriptions of each turn).

Figure 52: Avoidance

To avoid a particular road or highway, tap on the road you want to avoid in the itinerary list, and then tap on "Avoid..."

Figure 53: Avoidance Options

After tapping on "Avoid...", the Novogo asks how much of that road we want to avoid. For example, if you know there is construction on a particular road, or encounter heavy traffic on that road, you might only want to avoid that road for 1 or 2 miles. However, if you know that a given road is always busy during rush hour, you might want to steer clear of it altogether by choosing "Road".

BTW - every now and then the software that powers the Novogo shows its roots as a European-based company; notice the british spelling of maneuver in the upper left (maneuver)

8. Searching for Points of Interest

Figure 54: Finding POIs

Novogo doesn't say exactly how large the POI database is on the Novogo S Series, stating only that it ship preloaded with "millions" of POIs. I found searching for Points of Interest on the Novogo somewhat more complex than, say, Garmin or Magellan's interface.

To search for a POI, tap on Find from the main menu, then tap on POI. The Find POI screen, shown above, allows you to view your saved POI's (My POI), browse a particular POI category, browse all available POIs, or search the POI database.

Notice the "Search" and "All" buttons on the bottom of this screen. Search is used to search the entire POI database. Tapping on "All" brings up a list of the 300 closest POIs, listed in order of closeness

One of the more confusing elements of the POI interface is that the Novogo doesn't automatically adjust the search radius for POIs. For example, if you want to find a restaurant near your destination address, you must tap on "Change Ref." in the upper-right corner of this menu. From there you can set the GPS to search either near your current position, near the cursor on the map, near your destination, near a set of coordinates, or near a given street address. That's all well and good, however the next time you search for a POI (even if you're en route to a new destination), the POI reference will still be set to whatever location I last used.

For example, suppose I am driving to an address in Boston, MA and want to find a restaurant in downtown Boston. I search for POI's and set the GPS to search near my destination. A day later I am back home in a different state and want to find the closest gas station. I search the POI database for gas stations, and am puzzled to find no nearby gas stations. A closer look reveals the GPS is still set to search in downtown Boston.

In my opinion, the default reference for searching the POI should be your current location, with an option to change it. As it is currently implemented on the Novogo, it's not always obvious where you're searching for POIs.

Figure 55: Finding POIs - By Category

The second page of available POI categories are: Sports Recreation, Food & Drink, Artificial Landmark, Emergency Government, and Lodging. Personally I feel the Food & Drink should be located on the first page, as that's by far the most frequently used category.

Figure 56: Finding POIs - By Sub-Category

Tapping on "Food & Drink" as the POI category brings up a list of available cuisines. You can search for a restaurant by cuisine by tapping on the appropriate cuisine type, search the entire restaurant list by tapping on Search, or view all nearby restaurants by tapping on All.

Figure 57: POI Search Results

Once you've located a POI you want to navigate to, selecting it in the list of results brings up the details for that POI, as shown below.

Figure 58: View POI Details

The GPS contains address and telephone information for most POIs. From here, you can start navigating to the POI (restaurant, in this example) by tapping on OK. The Novogo S Series supports Bluetooth, so if you're Bluetooth compatible cell phone is linked to the GPS, you can dial the listed telephone number by tapping on Dial. The Dial button appears whether or not you've got a phone linked to the GPS. Some other GPS units are intelligent enough not to display the Dial button (or at least gray out the button) if no phone is available.

9. Using Coordinates as a Destination Address

Figure 59: Routing to Coordinates

The Novogo S700 allows you to use a set of longitude / latitude coordinates as a destination address. From the Find menu, tapping on Coordinate (instead of Address) brings up the coordinates entry page, shown below.

Figure 60: Coordinates Input

Coordinates entry is straight forward.

10. Setting the Home address

Figure 61: The Home and Work Icons

The Find Menu (shown above) includes two special addresses: Home and Work.

Figure 62: Setting the Home Address

The first time you choose either of these icons as your destination address, the S700 prompts you to save the Home (or work) address. Once saved, this is a short-cut to route to the two most frequently used addresses: home, and work.