• Ovi Maps Get Free Turn-by-Turn Navigation

    Ovi Maps Get Free Turn-by-Turn Navigation

    Techtree News Staff, Jan 21, 2010 1711 hrs IST

    Will come in all new GPS-enabled Nokia smartphones from March 2010

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Nokia has announced the launch of a new version of Ovi Maps that would support walk and drive navigation, a feature, which is as of now, supported only by premium software. The new version of Ovi maps, now available for download, is aimed at users who would want turn by turn GPS Navigation on their phones at no extra cost.

Nokia's new version of Ovi Maps boasts of features such as turn-by-turn voice guidance for 74 countries, in 46 languages, and traffic information for more than 10 countries, as well as detailed maps for more than 180 countries. All new GPS-enabled Nokia smartphones from March 2010 will come with this fresh version of Ovi Maps installed and existing users can download it on to their phones from the Ovi Maps website any time. Currently, only few devices feature in the "supported phones" list. This includes the Nokia N97 mini, 5800 XpressMusic, 5800 Navigation Edition, E52, E55, E72, 5230, 6710 Navigator, 6730 classic and X6. The N97 is conspicuous by its absence in the list. However, we're told that it will soon be added to the official list of supported devices soon.

With this major announcement, Nokia aims to increase the number of people using GPS navigation on their mobile phones from 27 million in 2009, to 50 million by the end of this year. Nokia is leveraging the acquisition of NAVTEQ it had made a few months ago to the best possible use. Ovi Maps is special owing to the fact that it uses hybrid vector maps that are far less data-heavy than typical map images. This translates to faster updating and response times on the phone. Also, unlike competition Google Maps, Ovi Maps doesn't need a network connection to function.

If you happen to own one of the supported devices listed above, you might want to start using it again. Fore download and other details, head here.

A video of the new Ovi Maps at work:

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Ovi maps Ovi Nokia smartphones GPS-enabled Nokia smartphones



Discussion Board
(7) Comments
kush
,mumbai, on Jun 16, 2010 06:55 PM
on e 72 my digital compass stopped working after upgrading from nokia maps to ovi maps
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werner
,dubai, on Apr 16, 2010 08:42 AM
i just bought a E 71 and load the ovi maps, but i cant we the map itself only see a small red spot as my position , but no streets or map..... i can zoom . what do i have to do ?
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d_t_a
,Manila, on Jan 22, 2010 09:59 PM
I just downloaded the new Ovi Maps 3.03 on my Nokia E72. The voice guidance now works. (Previously, there was a free 10-day-only voice navigation available for the E72, which has to be activated within 3 months of purchase of the phone. I actually haven't tried the voice guidance since I haven't planned to travel somewhere needing guidance.) But after installing the latest update, activating voice guidance now doesn't prompt me to "Use 0/10 days free navigation?" and now features voice guidance automatically (in fact, the previous "license" settings is nowhere to be found on the new Ovi Maps 3.03, since it's presumably now included free lifetime). Another new feature is that the voice guidance now includes speaking the street names (turn left on xxx street). One has to download new voice files from Nokia site to activate this new voice guidance with street names (As of today, the street name voice guidance is available only in English, Finnish and German. Likely they'll add more languages as it becomes available.) One thing that seems to not be working is the compass though. Where in the previous Ovi Maps, the compass shows a red/yellow/green indicator (indicating that the compass is working). Right now, the compass doesn't seem to automatically orient to where I'm facing (even after doing the figure-8 calibration procedure). It does seem to orient when one is navigating though (most likely based on the Sat-Nav position calculation, instead of the built-in digital compass). Hoping the digital compass will work in next update.
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LIndian
,Pune, on Jan 22, 2010 12:48 PM
As written on Nokia website, Free navigation is for the lifetime of the phone. So I beleive that its free Forever
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M,J,Sam
,Nagercoil, on Jan 21, 2010 07:55 PM
I have N72 can I use Ovi Maps G
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renjuz
,tvm, on Jan 21, 2010 07:27 PM
yep,thats for 3 months nly,aftr dat u hav to pay,if u r having nokia maps,it ll be changed to ovi maps,anyway update the fon with ovi suite,not pc suite,and hav 3 months navigation with voice guidance free
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swikaar chopra
,faridabad, on Jan 21, 2010 05:36 PM
you mean that all these devices will get free nokia's navigation? which was not available before, i.e. we needed to pay extra cost for that..?????? kindly guide what to do if we dont have the listed device.. i am concerned about my N79 right now..
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