Nokia Previews Sophisticated Web-and-Mobile Mapping Service

sesedor

Registered
Messages
397
Nokia's upcoming Maps on Ovi service will let you do your planning on a desktop browser and automatically sync everything to your GPS-enabled Nokia handset.


Owners of Nokia GPS-enabled cell phones will have access to a highly integrated Web-and-mobile mapping service later this year when Nokia rolls out Maps on Ovi.


In a demo on the eve of a formal presentation set for Tuesday at the Where 2.0 conference in Burlingame, California, Nokia representatives said the service would add a robust Web component to its already capable handset navigation software.

Like other cell phone navigation services, Nokia Maps 2.0 provides turn-by-turn voice navigation, as well as a huge points-of-interest (POI) database. However, unlike most carrier-based services, which are server-based and require network access to function, Nokia Maps keeps its software on the handset, so the phone can work as a personal navigation device even when it's out of cellular network range.

You do need network access to download maps and to purchase licenses for the service, which is available on a region-by-region basis for limited durations ranging from 30 days to one year. For example, you might purchase access to service in Europe for a month for about $14.

In an interesting innovation, Nokia also will offer a sparer version of the service for pedestrian directions only, which for the same month in Europe would cost about $8 or $9.

You'd have to pay another $14 to license walking/driving software for 30 days in North America or another region, but at least you'd have the option. Most U.S. navigation services on cell phones don't work at all overseas, even if the handset itself can support international roaming for data and voice.

Nokia will bill customers directly via credit card--another difference between its service and carrier alternatives, which submit charges through your usual cell phone bill. This is why Nokia's minimum license is for 30 days; while carriers can afford to add small charges for single-day access to their bills, the credit card overhead would kill Nokia's profits if it were to try the same approach.
Deep Web-Mobile Integration


Ovi is Nokia's brand for Web-based services (other Ovi offerings let you share photos or buy music, for example). Maps on Ovi lets you do all your travel planning on the Web and then sync up the results to your handset (syncing does require that you have a data plan and network connectivity on the mobile device). For instance, you could search for businesses in a certain area, create a route, and save it; the service would then ship it to your handset for use later on.

You can, of course, just do searches on the handset, but it's generally easier on a desktop browser with a large display and a roomy keyboard. You can also save favorite locations and routes on Ovi.


Several recent dedicated GPS devices such as Hewlett-Packard's iPaq 310 Travel Companion and the Dash Express also offer Web integration, and a few mobile search services provide some mapping guidance with their results, but Nokia's service promises to put everything in one place. Though the Web component is free, you must pay for the handset navigation service.

Nokia says it eventually plans to offer its service to other handset vendors, but for now it is trying to promote the service on its own hardware. The service may be a bit of a hard sell in the United States since Nokia's market share in this country has been relatively small compared with those of vendors such as LG, Motorola, and Samsung. Worldwide, however, Nokia is the leader in handset sales, and it has said that it intends to improve its U.S. penetration.
 
Top