Nokia Maps Goes Official on Android and iOS

Recently, Nokia's Maps service was said to be working on devices that run under other mobile operating systems than Symbian, and coming from other handset vendors than Nokia, and today the move was made official.

In addition to Symbian, the Nokia Maps can be accessed from Android and iOS devices as well, though only via the web browsers on those handsets.

In a recent post, Andy, who is “the product owner of Nokia’s HTML5 maps,” explains that the team behind Nokia Maps has been hard at work with the release of a web flavor of the service that would work on these devices as well.

“One of the most asked questions we get around maps is when we have them available for non-Nokia devices. Even though we did not give you a clear reply, we have been quietly working on bringing maps to all devices for you to enjoy,” Andy explains.

The web application is available today for all devices powered by Google's Android 2.2 and Android 2.3 operating system flavors, as well as for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad with iOS4.

To take advantage of Nokia Maps, users will need to fire up their browsers and head over to maps.nokia.com to access the Nokia Maps page.

A Nokia Maps (beta) version was presented a few months back, yet new features have been included into the mix in the meantime, aimed at providing mobile phone users with a better experience.

For the time being, the Nokia Maps for mobile web is still in beta, which means that not all things would be working as they should. However, more enhancements should be added into the mix soon.

Some of the main features that Nokia Maps can provide to Android and iOS users include:

- You can see where you are on the map, thanks to HTML5 support for positioning
- You can find addresses, businesses and other places of interest, anywhere in the world
- You can get to know the places: all the essential information about a place are presented on one page (pictures, user reviews, popular travel guides description, contact information)
- You can plan the fastest route to your destination by car or on foot
- You can see where the public transport lines go, and where the stops are
- You can share your favourite places with your friends via SMS, email, Facebook or Twitter.

This move also signals the upcoming availability of Nokia Maps on Windows Phone. Whether it will also be web based in the beginning, with a dedicated application set to arrive soon after, or a specific Windows Phone Nokia Maps application will be available right from the start, it remains to be seen.