Nokia has decided to make walk and drive navigation free on its smartphones as part of a new version of Ovi Maps, available for download at www.nokia.com/maps. Nokia’s mapping and navigation software has been specifically designed for mobile use and is based on unique hybrid technology. The new version of Ovi Maps will include all essential car and pedestrian navigation features, such as turn-by-turn voice guidance for 74 countries in 46 languages, and traffic information for over 10 countries, as well as detailed maps for over 180 countries. The GCC nations are among those included in the navigable maps for car and pedestrian navigation.
“We want to make using your mobile for navigation as familiar as using it to send a text or take a picture. We believe that making the best maps with voice guided navigation available for free will be the catalyst to do this,” explained Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President, Nokia. “Why have multiple devices that work in only one country or region? Put it all together, make it free, make it global and you have something that is truly useful and can help you get round almost any city in the world whether you’re on foot or driving.” Nokia’s move comes after Google announced back in October that it would make available free turn-by-turn navigation for US users of Android phones. There is however an enormous difference between the two offerings. The new version of Ovi Maps will be free globally, with all the maps and high-end, car grade navigation features needed and it is licensed for the life of the smartphone. No additional licenses are needed for extra countries, regions or services such as traffic information or city guides. But beware of data charges from network operators, which will vary depending on an individual user’s data plan.
Some of those data charges can be avoided by pre-loading Ovi Maps onto a Nokia smartphone. Then the phone can be set to use Ovi Maps in offline mode, saving battery power, and the navigation system will still work. This is particularly useful to keep down data connection costs when traveling abroad or when traveling through areas with little or no network coverage. Using Ovi Maps in this manner is possible because this navigation application is built on an advanced technology called hybrid vector maps. Vector maps are high quality but less data intensive and allow users to continue to navigate even if the network connection is lost. This means that maps downloaded or updated across a network connection are about half the size of bulky bitmaps used by other mobile map providers. The hybrid technology ensures that, unlike other providers, any downloaded map data is stored on the device for future use. Turn-by-turn, voice guided navigation is free in Ovi Maps for both drivers and pedestrians. For drivers this includes lane assistance, traffic information, safety camera and speed warnings. For pedestrians this includes shortcuts through parks and pedestrian-only zones for over 100 cities around the world as well as 6000 3D landmarks in over 200 cities. Nokia has paid particular attention to the importance of the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah. Pilgrims coming to Saudi Arabia for Haj and Umrah will be able to navigate the holy sites by car or on foot simply by referring to the information provided through Ovi Maps on their Nokia handsets.
Ovi Maps is immediately available for download for 10 Nokia handsets, including the Nokia N97 mini, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, Nokia 5800 Navigation Edition, Nokia E52, Nokia E55, Nokia E72, Nokia 5230, Nokia 6710 Navigator, Nokia 6730 classic and Nokia X6 with more Nokia smartphones expected to be added in the coming weeks. Current owners of Nokia smartphones that are compatible with the new Ovi Maps can download it free of charge from www.nokia.com/maps. From March 2010, new Nokia GPS-enabled smartphones will include the new version of Ovi Maps, pre-loaded with local country map data, with high-end walk and drive navigation and access to Lonely Planet and Michelin travel guides at no extra cost. This move by Nokia is huge and the fallout to GPS service providers such as Garmin may be devastating. Nokia has been gearing up to dominate global mapping through its acquisition of Navteq and mobile mapping firm gate5. While Ovi Maps doesn’t offer some of Google’s unique mapping features such as Street View, its 3-D landmark feature does compensate to a certain extent and the global mobile coverage of Ovi Maps provides a significant advantage.
“Now that the navigation business has grown large enough and is rapidly moving toward a large mass market business, Nokia’s global reach enables us to provide cost effective products with integrated solutions. We want to offer our customers an end-to-end solution that works out of the box and is ready to use. Our GPS devices going forward will provide users with the best-in-class mapping and navigation experience. We want everyone to know that Nokia is the best option for such an experience,” said Adel Sartawi, Nokia’s Communications Manager for Saudi Arabia & Yemen. “Mass market adoption also establishes a solid base for Nokia and its partners to leverage new services and features that extend the social location business and its different monetization models, including advertising, application sales and data streams.”