Nokia today announced that it would make full GPS navigation available to all users of its current mobile handsets worldwide, with a new version of its Ovi Maps application.
Although mapping services are common on mobile devices such as the iPhone, BlackBerry and Nokia’s own smartphones, this is the first time that turn-by-turn voice navigation, normally a feature of dedicated GPS units, has been made available for free by any handset manufacturer.
Nokia claims that the new version of Ovi Maps will include all essential car and pedestrian navigation features for 74 countries in 46 languages, and traffic information for over 10 countries, as well as detailed maps for over 180 countries. Users will pay data charges to their mobile carrier for GPS usage, but Nokia itself will not levy any charges.
“We want to make using your mobile for navigation as familiar as using it to send a text or take a picture,” Anssi Vanjoki, the Executive Vice President of Nokia, said. “We believe that making the best maps with voice guided navigation available for free will be the catalyst to do this. We can help you get around almost any city in the world, whether you’re on foot or driving.”
Nokia’s move is the latest step in the trend for convergence, as all manner of digital content, from music and photos to video, e-mail and now maps can be stored on one device rather than a selection of separate machines.
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For now, Nokia is the only device manufacturer to offer such a service. Others, however, will surely follow.
This in turn raises questions about the long-term future for stand-alone GPS devices, such as those manufactured by Tom Tom and Garmin.
“In the short term, this will make Nokia devices more attractive to consumers,” Thomas Husson of Forrester Research told The Times. “Both phone makers and GPS makers will need to react. A couple of car-phones offer compelling in-car solutions already, but the market does not yet really overlap.”
One of Nokia’s key offerings, Mr Husson said, could prove to be the pedestrian satnav its GPS system offers, rather than its in-car options. “I position this as Nokia’s play against Google Maps and Google’s intention to make that free on Android devices,” he said.