“From next month, all new Nokia GPS-enabled smartphones will include the new version of Ovi Maps”

Does this include the N900 or only Symbian based phones?

More like Google cut the surface of the skin, and Nokia left a big gaping wound. Nokia has far more penetration worldwide than Google does right now…

“From next month, all new Nokia GPS-enabled smartphones will include the new version of Ovi Maps”

Does this include the N900?

They don’t specify that, but I assume it does. List of currently compatible devices is here:

http://europe.nokia.com/support/product-support/maps-support/compatibility-and-download#/default/

Any sign of something similar for iphone 3gs?

Checked this out for my own N900 – the response I gained from Nokia was – NO!

The free maps app has been developed for Symbian S60 5 OS series handsets. This means its an app for Nokia smartphones, which seems to be Nokias main area for development over the next couple of years.

The question is – are they creating a free maps app for Symbian S60 3 – my old N95 is waiting in that bottom drawer guys.

Nokia is coming back with a revenge.
As they are leading in the handset market they can rule the world just like Mircosoft did when they were late to the market (browser etc.)

The N900 is already available. Nokia will include free navigation on phones that will be announced/released starting March. So, no, the N900 won’t get free Ovi Maps anytime soon.

Free of course! :)

The free maps app is for symbian s60 5, so its for the latest Nokia smartphones.

My N900 and old N95 have to go wanting.

My N97 loves this app – walk nav with voice gives turn by turn nav – though it does have difficulty with some of the street names.

The real problem is routing – took me down some major highways and over a busy junction, rather than using walker friendly routes.

Oh, and checked the certs and licence – free for 5 years – lifetime of device?

check.

Free maps and navigation: you get what you pay for….

Techcrunch rings the bell: "Nokia says the new version of Ovi Maps that includes free walk and drive navigation has been downloaded over 1.4 million times since its introduction on 21 January 2010." Bad news? Good news? You get what you p…

There are still millions of people waiting who for some reason aren’t privileged with the latest firmware update, especially for 5800XM.
This free Ovi maps requires at least a V31 firmware, while most of 5800 mobiles here in India (5800XM is as popular as say iPhone here) are still stuck at V30 with no further updates available. I have no clue why that should happen.

Free maps and navigation? You get what you pay for – http://bit.ly/a6S20W

I hope you see the irony in your statement – calling Nokia the Microsoft of the handset world is less than flattering, considering that Microsoft is slowly falling behind both in the browser and software world as new players, products and paradigms enter the market, making Microsoft’s desktop monopoly irrelevant.

And while having a “free for life” maps solution is really nice, I would hardly call it a “revenge”. It’s an attempt to grab some media attention in an iPhone-obsessed world.

Meanwhile, Nokia is sitting on a bizarre pile of handset models and has several operating systems and UIs to maintain. All this diversification costs money and resources, it confuses the hell out of customers, and even after their long reign, I don’t see the market leader come up with something as innovative and interesting as Apple’s App Store. Ovi? Please.

Now don’t get me wrong. I have a Nokia phone, I like it like an old sweater, and my next phone will be a Nokia, too, because I simply don’t want to pay the ridiculous monthly fees T-Online charges for the iPhone and its flatrate her in Germany.

But from a business perspective, I think Nokia is a dinosaur. I guess they will survive – but both Android and the iPhone OS are running circles around their dated software and UIs.

Nokia have pissed of a LOT of existing customers due to the lack of backward compatibility.

There are hundreds of complaining posts in the Nokia forums due to the lack of clarity about which phones are/will/will not be able to run this. Many are voicing their disgust and proposing a move to Android.

Nokia are not forthcoming with information that many of the posters are asking about.

Check out http://www.vidteq.com. Provides Video Directions for Bangalore City, India. First ones to come up with this concept. Ideal for developing countries like India where you rarely find street names. Do provide your comments.

David, if Nokia are a dinosaur then…

1) Why have they increased marketshare in the smartphone segment from 35% to 40% last quarter despite having no presence in one of the fatsest growing regions (the US)?
2) How come Ovi gets over a million downloads a day? The growth rate was 50% month on month recently although probably is less now.
3) Can you explain why Microsoft just posted record profits and have the fastest selling OS in history? They’re also still utterly, utterly dominant in this space.

Paradigm is so last year. You need to use a new buzzword like ‘mindshare’.

The assumption that people really, really care if it takes 5 minutes of 15 to pick up a UI on a phone they will have for the next 18 months is quite bizarre.

Yes, let’s move to Android where voice navigation is free.

If you live in the US and have an always on data connection.

OK.

Great, buy a google phone with their crappy navigation if you are one of those 304M people living in USA, but if you belong to the rest of 6.4BILLION people living in the planet which Nokia has 40% of the smartphones market, you have the option to buy a Nokia smartphone with the best map and navigation application! I’m not even mentioning the Apple dumb phones that has nothing even near what Nokia offers.

Master Stroke!!

Really well done, Nokia. 1.4million downloads in less than month, nice!

Is this Chandra the circus attraction from JooJoo? Are you one of the cavemen from the Geico commercials?

Are you sure about the latest FW version in India?
My brother updated his 5800 in India with V40 using Nokia software updater. He had bought the phone in October 2009. The new version is also available in Nokia care centers.

Nice try!! But most people currently using maps use for driving rather than walking. Also Ovi maps has a satellite view and does not require data connection.

I am sure you will come up with more specific examples showing differences, as thats part of your marketing technic, else how can you survive your business in the world of free maps.
And i am sure, you will find most of your customers in US and you will rule the ignorant public, but not for a long time.

P.S: I am not a Nokia employee, but a Nokia user unlike u.

Nokia don´t shoot the best device you`re ever made. N900.

This is a nice summary of the FUD from the US-centric part of the web about Nokia.

“iPhone-obsessed world”? Is your “world”, North American or “planet earth”?

“bizarre pile of handset models and has several operating systems and UIs to maintain.” This is called “range”, as in range of price and models. Because you know what? One size does not fit all. And I’m not sure how that could be confusing to the average user who doesn’t really need to know which OS he/her device is running.

And about the App Store. Yes, it’s great and kudos to Apple. But it’s overrated. Once the mobile world matures, people (users and developers alike) would want more freedom. Freedom to distribute and get software whereever they want. Can you imagine a PC world where you HAVE to get your software from one single place and developers HAVE to submit their creation to that same single place? Where you can’t go to a website, click on a link, save the file, and install the software? People will want that kinda of freedom on their mobile device too. Besides, at some points, the sheer number of apps will render an app store “bloatedly” unmanageable. Oh and Ovi isn’t all that bad. Another FUD. As for innovation, well, you see what you want to see and ignore what you want to ignore. Nokia created the smartphone market and the Nokia 9210 was the first true commercial smartphone. Isn’t that innovation?

Android and iPhone OS running circles around Symbian/S60 and Maemo. Can you tell me what those former can do that the latter cannot do?

(And about MS: yeah, 6.7B$ profit in a single quarter, a 60% jump, must be a sign of their irrelevance.)

You seem to be a guy who’s just regurgitating whatever popular belief, speculation or point-of-view from blogs and editorials, which basically ride the latest trends, hype and buzzwords. Yeah, MS and Nokia are not cool companies to talk about these days but that doesn’t make them less relevant. And guess what? Their marketshare still dominates overwhelmingly.

There will always be idiots who would miss the information even if you put the text 10 inches in front of their nose.

Besides, considering there are several millions Nokia users, some complaints are to be expected. And it’s not as if Nokia owe them the free navigation service. And if you think that’s bad, think about the folks who bought the 1st gen iPhone (EDGE) roughly 2.5 years ago! LOL

The page says “*For your Nokia N900 use Mass storage mode.” at the bottom, so maybe the N900 is good to go?

Hell NO. I see many here who are stuck at V30.
Are you sure he did it using ‘Nokia software updater’?.
It’s possible to change the product code using NSS and then upgrade the firmware but that would void the warranty.

No, this is Chandra, Co-founder of VidTeq :-)

On a serious note, please do provide your feedback guys.

footnote: keep in mind the Ovi Maps are free for all S60 devices, and the N900 comes with them. It’s the primo piece, free navigation, that’s limited to S60 5th at first. So it’s time to get that N95 out of the drawer and run update ;-)

Ovi Maps (v3.03) that allowed free turn-by-turn navigation for the following cellphones (as of January 31, 2010): Nokia X6, Nokia N97 mini, E52, E55, E72, Nokia 6730 classic, Nokia 6710 Navigator, Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic

And it’s all for FREE. Something tells me, this one is a winner release from Nokia. More ovi maps details: http://bit.ly/ovi-maps-amazing-details

If you are music freak then N97 Mini Rocks with Razer Moray headphones. I have written about Razer Moray with Nokia N97 Mini, its bit pricey but excellent performance.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Razer-Moray-New-innovative-earphones

I have some techinical problems with N97 MIni and with OVi maps, i have written a blog about it
http://hubpages.com/hub/Nokia-N97-Mini

@jayv – not quite right there about the N95. Ovi Maps version 3.03 with free navigation is restricted to phones running Symbian 60 Version 3 Feature Pack 2 and S60V5. Unfortunately, the N95 is on S60V3FP1 so at the moment can’t run version 3.03 of Ovi Maps (latest seems to be 3.01).

But Nokia do say they are working on it, or are possibly working on it, so don’t throw out those N95′s just yet…

please send me a new software for my nokia e 63 mobile.Clement

need to n 95 ovi map,