Nokia makes Ovi Maps free, goes head-on with Google Navigation
January 21st, 2010 by Annkur
When Google launched its turn-by-turn maps navigation for Android, it made the Droid a whole lot powerful with a superb GPS software. Having the Google search for GPS was amazing. And today Nokia has went free with navigation services via its own Ovi Maps. Coming to 10 S60 handsets to begin with the Ovi Maps navigation would also be brought to Maemo and S40 series models along with being preloaded on Nokia devices from March 2010.
This is certainly a bold move by Nokia and increases its competitiveness in the smartphone race. While the free Google navigation is available only in the US for now, the Nokia Ovi will give you worldwide access (detailed maps for more than 180 countries). Not just that, the Nokia Maps can be downloaded and loaded on to your handset for a Internet free navigation. This is unlike Google Navigation that requires an active data connection on your smartphone to do all the magic.
Further Nokia Ovi Maps gives you turn-by-turn voice guidance in 74 countries (46 languages) and also traffic info in 10 countries. Nokia Ovi Maps navigation can be downloaded here for 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 83 million GPS devices being shipped by Nokia in 2009 alone, this service can have a huge userbase if rolled out properly.
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Categories: Google, Softwares, nokia, smartphones | Tags: free gps navigation, gps, gps maps, maps, navigation, ovi maps
Hi,
yeh that are great news. I just bought a nokia 6700 classic. This is a S40 symbian device. I would love to use this feature right away, but hey march isn’t far away.
Anyway can I somewhere find that news direct from nokia? Most websites just mention the support for s60 devices, not s40 and that’s irritating me.
Do I get a free navigation or not?
[...] competing with the Wave protocol (he reveals that they have indeed been talking to IBM), to Nokia’s now free Navigator and on working on an equivalent to the BCC and Forward options in email. He also talked about life [...]
[...] GPS on phone is now something very common and just one of the things the smartphone boom has brought to us. As much as these mobiles threat digital camera market, navigation devices are now facing the heat. Till recently software and hardware for GPS navigation was a separate business, but over the last few months the dynamics of this market has changed. Google made its big announcement by throwing in its free navigation software on the android, engadget pointed out the sharp fall TomTom and XYZ took. The google app wasn’t really a killer though it had its own charm and goodness. But the requirement of a continuous Internet connection (atleast in the current beta form) sinks it. Add to that only US support for now. We know that Google maps come together from as many as 6 teams coming together and they would certainly do better things in time to come, but what has really acted as a catalyst to the entire situation is the entry of Ovi maps to the scene. [...]