Nokia offers free global sat-nav alongside new Ovi Maps

by Stevie Smith - Jan 22 2010, 06:22

If you’re a Nokia smartphone owner looking to expand and improve the functionality of your GPS handset – at no extra cost – you’ll be thrilled to learn that the world’s largest mobile phone maker has just what your navigational needs require.

Specifically, alongside Nokia’s glitzy new version of Ovi Maps, the Finland-based titan is also providing a selection of completely free global sat-nav features for all of its GPS-enabled smartphones – including premium guides and access to other location-savvy services such as Lonely Planet and Michelin Guides.

Available now via a simple download (and included as standard on handsets from March 2010), some of the core features offered up by Nokia’s free service include voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation, traffic information, safety camera and speed warnings, more than 6,000 3D landmarks, and coverage across 74 different countries and 46 different languages.

“We want to make using your mobile for navigation as familiar as using it to send a text of picture,” commented Anssi Vanjoki, executive vice president at Nokia. “We believe that making the best maps with voice-guided navigation available for free will be the catalyst to do this.”

“Why have multiple devices that only work in one country or region?” he added. “Put it all together, make it free, make it global and you have something that is truly useful and can help you get around almost any city in the world whether you’re on foot or driving.”

The new free sat-nav update of Ovi Maps is presently compatible with the Nokia 97 mini,5800 ExpressMusic, 5800 Navigation Edition, E52, E55, E72, 5230, 6710 Navigator, 6730 Classic, and X6. Nokia has said more platforms (including the N97) will be added in the coming weeks.

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