14 DAY TRIAL // Nokia's free navigation solution, Ovi Maps, has just been updated to a new version (though it remains 3.04), which moves away from the beta state available over the past few months. Ovi Maps 3.04 now offers a better experience than before, offering a wide range of Nokia phone users the possibility to enjoy free navigation straight on their devices.
“4 months ago, on Jan 21, the previous release of Ovi Maps with Free worldwide Walk & Drive navigation was made available for you to download. And your response has been amazing. More than 10.000.000 downloads in 3 months and overwhelmingly positive feedback showed us that we did the right thing. Today I would like to share what we have learned from you and how the new, just released Ovi Maps was designed to make the experience better in core areas of usage: faster, better and more personal,” a recent post on the Ovi Blog reads.
It seems that the guys behind Ovi Maps managed to optimize the positioning process to make it faster, while also adding Wi-Fi positioning into the equation. The new solution offers a faster and more accurate location, regardless the place where one is, which is complemented by an enhanced graphics performance when zooming in and out of maps, panning and tilting. The Wi-Fi positioning is set for improvements, but things are looking great already, and the below video demonstration of Ovi Maps on the new Nokia N8 will show you exactly that.
Other enhancements included in the new Ovi Maps 3.04 include the addition of more places and addresses, with more points of interest that can be found by users, consolidated from NAVTEQ, Lonely Planet, Michelin, local Yellow pages companies like Telegate in Germany, Cityvox in France, Yell in Spain and Yellow Pages in Turkey. Qype places have been added to Ovi Maps too, enabling people to access a wide range of user-generated recommendations and reviews.
And since the service has become so popular among users, customization options are also available, so as to provide a more personal experience: “With Own Voice, you can now make Drive navigation your own. Record your personal voice commands or ask a friend, your kids or your better half. And if you want, you can share it with the world. Your voice can help millions of people find their way. Isn’t this cool? Your voice on millions and millions of Nokia devices. You can also discover and use what others have created. Since launching 2 weeks ago, over 4000 voice packs were shared by you with the world via Own Voice.”
The new Ovi Maps has been already included on devices like N97, N97 mini, 6710 Navigator and X6 (which also come with a car holder and a car charger in box), and should soon be included with 5800 XpressMusic, 5230, E52 and E72 too (along with the car holder).