Yup , you heard it right , Nokia’s big announcement today was to make turn by turn navigation free. No Strings Attached !
Today we made a big announcement to provide a new version of Ovi Maps, which not only include major improvements but even something bigger: the Walk and Drive navigation as well as all the premium content become at no extra cost. With 10 devices immediately, you can go ahead and download the world’s best maps and navigation service. And yes, you can get this to more devices shortly.
Navigation on your Nokia. For Free. Forever. By Ovi Maps
Yes, you heard it right – a new version of Ovi Maps with free walk and drive navigation is now available for compatible Nokia smartphones! This is big news, enabling Nokia smartphone users to navigate wherever they are in the world, as easily as if they were sending a text or taking a photo. It’s going to explode the use of mobile navigation around the world and change the concept of navigation as we know it.
Why have a mobile phone and a separate personal navigation device that only works in one region or country and stays in the car? Put the two together, make it free and global, and you have a truly useful tool that can get you around almost any city in the world on foot or by car.
Five reasons why you’ll want this:
• It has the best global reach available: The new version of Ovi Maps covers 180 countries and features turn-by-turn voice guided car and pedestrian navigation for 74 countries in 46 languages, and traffic information for over 10 countries.
• No hidden costs: It comes with all the maps and high-end, car grade drive & walk navigation features needed for free and can be kept for the life of the smartphone. No additional licenses needed for extra countries, regions or services like traffic information or city guides.
• No network connection required when navigating: To avoid expensive, battery-draining network connections, Nokia’s unique technology allows users to pre-load maps onto their Nokia smartphone and set Ovi Maps to offline mode, saving battery power, whilst the navigation system keeps working. This is particularly useful for eliminating foreign data connection fees while travelling abroad or when travelling through areas with little or no network coverage.
• Unique hybrid technology: Ovi Maps is built on an advanced technology called vector maps, which are high quality but less data intensive and allow navigation even if a network connection is lost. And unlike other mobile map providers, any downloaded map data is stored on the device for future use.
• Voice guidance & traffic information: Turn-by-turn, voice guided navigation comes free for drivers and walkers. For drivers this includes lane assistance, traffic information, safety camera and speed warnings. For walkers this includes shortcuts through parks and pedestrian-only zones for over 80 cities around the world as well as 6000 3D landmarks in over 200 cities.
Another feature that sets the new Ovi Maps with free walk and drive navigation apart from other services is the rich location-based content that helps people make the most of their journeys. Partnerships with Lonely Planet and Michelin travel guides provide thousands of sights, restaurants, hotels, shopping, nightlife and entertainment venues, so people know exactly what’s around them, wherever they are.
It’s easy to get up and running and start navigating. The new version of Ovi Maps with free walk and drive navigation is immediately available for download on 10 Nokia handsets, including the N97 mini, Nokia 5800 Express Music and Nokia E72, and it will be available for even more Nokia smartphones within a few weeks. In the meantime, current owners of Nokia smartphones that are compatible with the new OviMaps can download it free of charge from www.nokia.com/maps <http://www.nokia.com/maps> .
Last time I wrote in this blog, I told how Nokia started a revolution by connecting the telephone number to a person. Instead of dialing a number, you started to call a person. Today, 15 years later, we are again making a similar move.
Location on a map is simply a combination of two numbers: latitude and longitude. For example, the location of my office is 41°1’7’’N 73°43’28’’W. As numbers that does not mean much to anyone. Even on a map, this place is without any meaning unless you associate Nokia or me with the location. Actually, think how irrelevant a map full of roads and buildings really is, without knowing what or who is in the building? It is as irrelevant as those phone numbers back in the 90s, if they do not belong to anyone.
With our new Ovi Maps we really want to change the world and the way you can discover it. Firstly, we wanted to make maps and navigation available for everyone, secondly we wanted to make it available in any situation. In order to do that we have built our maps using advanced hybrid vector technology. This makes the maps scale in practice infinitely and it makes them available both of online and offline use. The technology consumes hugely less bandwidth than the other technologies.
With this release all the maps as well as high-end, car grade and pedestrian navigation features needed come at no extra cost and can be kept for the life of the smartphone. No additional licenses needed for extra countries, regions or services like traffic information or city guides. I can assure you this is the best offer you will get from any company for a while.
We are happy about big numbers. With this release of Ovi Maps we cover almost all the countries of the world, you navigate in 74 countries in 46 languages, navigate in pedestrian-only zones for over 80 cities around the world as well as 6000 3D landmarks in over 200 cities.
By making it as easy as possible to use to as many people as possible, using maps will become as common as sending text or snapping a photo. Connecting to places in a new way makes you to feel closer to who and what matters (instead of numbers).
Got to www.nokia.com/maps <www.nokia.com/maps> , download the new application and get going!
So lighten that load – leave those maps and travel guides at home and start making all journeys even more worthwhile!
SOURCE- Nokia