Reader Basem sent me the following informative and interesting comment on my original GPS article:

Electronic GIS based maps with detailed streets and POIs (points of interest) are available for virtually all corners of the earth… if you are willing to pay the price that is!

a decent 25 meter clutter map (meaning that the level of map details is sampled every 25m, can be obtained for Jordan for a hefty USD 25k.

The big players in the GPS market –such as Garmin- should take the initiative to produce subsidized digital maps for Jordan should we also add Arabized and other regions, but with the lack of a solid business case to make such maps accessible to the paying consumer – yet alone the general public- the uptake of GPS is dependant on the GPS pioneers of Jordan

Until then, Point-to-Point navigation is good enough, given that you have a wealth of potential GPS users who have not yet exploited the GPS feature of their phones, chiefly, XPress users as all XPress phones are GPS enabled, with the top models have Java-based navigation software.

To the credit of a Jordanian GPS entrepreneur, a startup company called GPSJordan bitten the bust 2 years ago did a great job in field surveys, and have in their database almost every corner of Jordan and especially greater Amman (including the odd falafel shaq in eastern Amman that everyone seems to think he made a novel discovery for finding the place). where is this data? if I was the guy behind the company I’ll be kind enough to publish the data in it’s crude form for the general public (easy to say given I have not invested thousands collecting the data in the first place).

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4 responses to “More info on Jordan’s GPS situation”

  1. Omarello Avatar
    Omarello

    Hey,

    Actually you will be surprised at the amount of data that some companies have about Jordan, specially Amman.

    I once had a demo showcasing Street maps of Amman, that can tell you how long the street you are leaving in is, and the number of Mattabat on that street.

    But I am not sure if it is even legal to give away this info….

  2. Irshaid Avatar
    Irshaid

    Salam,
    Well I as a gadget lover love GPS . My first real GPS encounter was in a renualt laguna in germany. Now I’d love to buy one for my car but with a budget not over 600USD as am a unversity student . But of jordan thats seems to be quite a hard one . It would be ggreat to have a map of jordan , Palestine & most of the region cause … ie. When I go to irpid a have an 8% cahnce of gettin lost . East Amman 99% cahnce & so so a GPS would be great specialy that I’m buyin the i-teq bond PDA which with a prober reciever I think is gonna be awsome .

    For any advice , ajk_x (AT) hotmail (DOT) com
    @ .

  3. Neil Avatar
    Neil

    I’ve been trying to find something for the Garmin StreetPilot. The only thing I managed to find on the internet was a free GPS map of a few tourism sites. http://www.travelbygps.com/premium/jordan/jordan.php

    The funniest part of the Garmin MapSource is that Jordan road maps are not included in both the City Navigator Middle East v3 and of the Europe version, both products of Garmin. Funny how the entire region could be excluded.

    Still looking… if anyone has any links please supply them to me at /neildsouza/at/gmail/./com/

  4. Timur Avatar
    Timur

    Well, that’s odd. I have found road, and street maps of Amman on Google Maps. They are very clear. I don’t see why people don’t use them for GPS.