![Screen shot 2010-01-21 at [ January 21 ] 1.38.16 AM](http://www.mobilecrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Screen-shot-2010-01-21-at-January-21-1.38.16-AM.png "Screen shot 2010-01-21 at [ January 21 ] 1.38.16 AM")
For the past few days, Nokia has been trying to get everyone excited about.. something. They piqued our interests by sending out press event invites (for separate events in the UK and the US, no less), then revved the hype machine with a good ol’ fashion countdown timer.
The US announcement is still a few hours away, but they just pulled back the curtain over in the UK — and while we can’t say for certain, I’m pretty sure the talk of the event will be the same on this side of the pond. The big secret? Free turn-by-turn navigation is now available for roughly 20 million Nokia handsets around the world.
To dive a bit deeper into that “20 million.. handsets” number, we’re talking about users speaking 46 different languages across 74 different countries. If Google didn’t kill the standalone GPS market when they announced free navigation for the Android platform, Nokia may very well have just pushed the knife that last inch.
Some of the features of the new, free Ovi Maps with Navigation:
- Maps are stored locally, and no continuous data connection is needed
- Traffic Information in 10 countries
- Lane assistance, speed trap warnings
- Pedestrian mode, including shortcuts only possible on foot
- Free Lonely Planet/Michelin travel guides
So why did Nokia suddenly decide to make turn-by-turn navigation free to anyone rocking a compatible handset? Besides making the somewhat antiquated S60 platform that much more competitive, it’s all a part of Nokia’s plan to snatch up a chunk of the location-based service market before things get too crowded. We had been hearing rumblings from our sources that Nokia would be putting a focus on this space, and I get the feeling this isn’t their only move – we’ll check in with our sources and see what else we can dig up.
In the mean while, anyone toting a Nokia X6, N97 mini (Note: Not the standard N97 just yet), E72, E55, E52, 6730 classic, 6710 Navigator, 5800 Xpressmusic, 5800 Navigation Edition, or 5230 can grab the new Ovi Maps with Navigation app here.
Too little too late.
Surely! Google got everyone by surprise when it launched free turn-by-turn Navigation.
Google navigation is working only in US.
and no traffic information outside US…
huge market share / numbers differences…
the world is not exactly US… and phone market is not exactly Android right now..
Google Turn By Turn is US only thing, working on how many phones? 3 models?
Oh please. Nokia still dominate the smartphone landscape.
This is a very, very shrewd move.
Shrewd move with a price – $7.7b
Which they will recoup.
that doesn’t sound all that unreasonable.
Once again, not in profit they don’t.
Really? What’s Apple’s annual profit for cellphones for 2009?
Hmm?
Plus, unless you’re a stockholder, who gives a fuck?
nope. it’s a great move. maybe it’s late but better late than never. my dad is going to love this on his nokia phone and you know the world doesn’t live in the usa. the usa is a part of the world. geez.
Nice to see Nokia come up with something innovative at-least. The way the Android Gadgets are coming in and the way iPhone apps have dominated the custom software business of phone, Nokia needs to come up with a few more.
wonder whether they will break there walled mobile garden down and start building a mobile LBS social network like:
http://bit.ly/bliinpearlextrainfo
http://bit.ly/MoveYourMovies
how can they compete with google who is rapidly taking over all sides of the fence? Wheres the brand managers at. time for a shakeup?
Google taking over?
Are you serious? Do you even know what the market shares and sales for their phones outside the US are?
Hint: it’s not a big number.
so now my “antiquated” nokia does one more thing that the iphone and all its copies can’t do and for less than half the price. Seriously why do people bother buying such stunted phones. Not sure where the 20 million number came from either but considering the range of devices covered i’d say the number of newly enabled phones is closer to 50 million or more.
Thanks nokia you saved me a few bucks on subscribing to your nav service but I would have paid anyway. Dedicated gps units suck. I know. I was about to ditch mine.
so far the new ovimaps only work on Symbian 5.0 devices. so I guess that’s where the figure came from – older devices like N96, E51 etc. are not supported… duh…
will have to stick to good ol’ Google Maps on my N96 for a while :)
Because about every single thing the “iphone and it’s copies” do, they do about 1,000 times better than the Nokia?
Aside from make calls apparently.
Woops.
Yeap.. But this is off-board so I won’t get it because I’m not rich enaugh to pay for data downloads. That’s a critical issue in Europe where for instance going to Paris I need to pay roaming fees.
I think that companies like NDrive and Copilot will stay save with their solutions on -board. You can use them not only for free (after you buy maps), but also when you don’t have any Internet access.
with new OVI maps Internet traffic is minimized – basically you can pre-load the maps onto the device, and then just go online to get directions & traffic data.
they did give some comparison figures at the presentation, and average traffic should be within 30k per route… or something like that
As mentioned a data connection isn’t required – maps can be preloaded from the Ovi Maps application and internet assisted AGPS can be disabled so only GPS is used.
There is no need for any data charges which is one of the reasons why this announcement is awesome and a significantly better offering – even in the US – than Google’s.
You don’t need internet for Nokia’s Ovi maps.
You may need internet for other social services integrated into Ovi Maps, like Nokia’s own LifeCasting service embedded in Ovi Maps, which you can always disable in settings.
Great Move by Nokia. I am sure Google and all major companies got shocked by this move!
My god, tomtom-shares are down 10% still falling… where will this end?!
18% down, still falling….
ahahaaha stop watching the markets. i used to sell stand alone gps and i finally got so tired of all the idiots i who were over paying for maps and voice over directions and touch and basically told them to get any smart phone and use google maps or any google mapping products. now it looks like everything has been integrated into android and that will be easy use for consumers. this nokia move is definately a good one.
Ovi Maps 3.03 including free turn-by-turn navigation will be made available for the N97 soon!
Check the following post for more details:
http://discussions.europe.nokia.com/discussions/board/message?board.id=navigation&thread.id=16086
First!
Good for the millions of Nokia users that are majority in the mobile handset world….
Won’t the E71 be supported?? Cuz the E72 is..
No. The version of S60 (3e) on the E71 will NOT be supported. I gather it was a technical resources issue.
Great news :D one more use for my N95 8GB :D
nice
This will be a great improvement for nokia users
Anyone knows if the new 3710 is supported?
Nokia may have lost market share in the US, but they still stand as a leader all over the world. This is an awesome technology, and its something that makes it different from other phone makers.
http://www.dumblittleblogger.com/
How widespread is cell-phone GPS usage in the US? I am wondering if this will have enough of an impact on service providers in the US that they will try to forcibly reduce Nokia’s already dismal market share here. Or will RIM, Palm, Apple, et al simply try to jump on the Google/Nokia bandwagon before it leaves town?
Smart move on Nokia’s part, now Google has to improve their free GPS offering to a global scale.
I have tested on my nokia e52. Works nicely. What they havent yet told is that, you also get the ability to upload pictures to facebook with the maps app. Thats cool.
When they said they will catch up to iPhone and Android by 2011 and didn’t gave that much of a chance but now I think they’ll make it. Symbian S^4 looks very promising and then they have Maemo 5 and 6 in the works for H2 2010. Ovi Suite 2.1 Beta works great. Ovi.com will probably get a refresh soon with a new store and PIM apps.
If one is just after maps, maps.ovi.com is the place to go to. Most beautiful interface and zero ads. Syncing with N97 works beautiful.
Nokia is a nicer brand than Apple as well. Not so sterile and smug. Great company. I never owned anything but a Nokia.
Your comment was insightful until this part “I never owned anything but a Nokia.”
Kinda hard to tell how far the rest of the market is if you’re pretty much unfamiliar with them, isn’t it? You can’t get familiar with a smartphone unless you live with it for a bit.
Side by side comparison with Google Android Navigation please! I would like more clarification on “no continuous data connection is needed!”.
You can download all the maps through Ovi Suite.
you download the maps via the ovi suite and then sync them to your phone via usb. i downloaded all the u.k. maps and navigation voices and it came in at around 2gb. you only need a network connection to use turn by turn if you want things like real time traffic updates or some of the other features like facebook location share or the in built weather app. but just for bog standard turn by turn (either drive or walk), you don’t need a data connection. i still have to say that my 5800 is my first ’smart’ phone and despite this announcement, unless nokia seriously improve symbian, i’ll be looking at either google or apple for my next device. my ipod touch is just a dream to use for internet connectivity compared to the 5800.
Good move from Nokia. This adds value to Nokia phones and might even increase the average sale price that has been falling for some time now. Why to spend 100 – 300 euros for dedicated GPS anymore when you get the same now through your phone for free?
User experience for Nokia phones are still not keeping up. Google, Apple, etc will take the market.
Bullshit. Your assumption that ‘user experience’ which translates as ’slightly more easy to use and can be learned in two minutes instead of 10′ is a hugely differntiating factor is naive.
Plus, of course, we know that Symbian’s UI is being rebuilt.
Give me a break. First impressions are critical. Also, Nokia has had years and years to change s60. How different is s60 it from 5 years ago?
Oh… right.
So by that logic Nokia’s sales volumes should be dropping and not increasing post iPhone 3G?
*Looks*
Oh dear.
10 minutes, are you serious?
I know people with Nokia phones that have owned them for *years* and still don’t know how to use some of the main features.
I think that says more about the people you know than Nokia phones.
From your posts that doesn’t surprise me either.
i have google maps for my phone and it insists on telling me i live in doncaster. which is only about, 50 miles away
The maps are free but traffic information and turn-by-turn are subscription.
Incorrect. These are free now.
From a freshly updated N95-8Gb.
Drive navigation is a premium service……. £7.95/30 days.
That doesn’t quite sound free to me.
The updated Ovi Maps software does not appear to be available for the N95 yet. At least not according to the update link provided in the OP.
As mentioned, on the handsets announced today – which include all the relevant new releases excpet the N97 (due 28 Jan) – it is.
The N95 is a three year old handset.
@Tim L. http://europe.nokia.com/support/product-support/maps-support/compatibility-and-download#/default/ N95-8Gb listed on the left. On the right it says “Ovi Maps – with free navigation. Satnav on your Nokia. For free. Forever”
That is where I got it from. When I try a rout I get the ‘pay us lotsa dosh’ message.
Maybe I should go over to a Nokia forum and find out?
Thats the past news. Now its free. But you have have ovi maps (version 3.3)
@ Paul G. Interesting. Nokia seems to have two different sets of info on their site regarding what phones the free Ovi Maps update is compatible with. The list of compatible phones on your link is quite different (and a good bit longer) than the list you see if you go (from that link you provided) to Ovi services and apps -> Maps -> Downloads.
Then if you click the link to “find Ovi Maps for other mobile devices,” it takes you back to the page you initially linked to. So there is apparently a difference between the “free forever” product that was announced today, and the “free forever” product that is compatible with your N95. If you can figure out what the difference is, you’re better at this than I am. :P
like it. Needed a navigation outside US and now Nokia does it! Did anybody compare it to google android navigation? Which one is better?
I hope Nokia will move to software/services instead of just producing hardware. they can do a lot of cool things.
thanks nokia!
Stupid question but I need to make sure I understand…
So if I have a Nokia smartphone, I can use GPS, without the internet? As in I can download the maps, and be in the middle of nowhere with no service, and still not get lost?
If so this is way better than google navigation, how much storage will the maps take?
Yes no Internet access needed to use the maps. It relies on the map data on your device along with your GPS but additional info like traffic information will need Internet access.
I can’t say for sure how much space this new version of Ovi Maps will eat.
Entire USA is about 900 MB.
Good news for international business people and spies.
I think it’s much more significant than the article suggests. Coupled to lifecasting and location aware ads, it will create a much more demanding network environment and elevate what’s expected of the OS of any phone, as well as give Nokia and its developer community plenty to run at.