From March 2010, all new Nokia GPS-enabled smartphones will come installed with the new Ovi Maps application and pre-loaded with local country map data and walk and drive navigation with access to location-aware Lonely Planet and Michelin travel guides at no extra cost.
ENGADGET: Nokia offering free turn-by-turn navigation on smartphones globally (updated)
Surprising many industry observers, Nokia has convinced leading mobile operators such as Vodafone and T-Mobile to support Ovi on their handsets.
Not only will it simplify the use of turn-by-turn voice guidance from Ovi Maps, but also provide a new and easy way of accessing other content on the smartphone, such as music and delivering automotive specific applications from the Ovi Store.
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Nokia needs to pull out all the heavy artillery -- major device launches, carrier support, impressive software, and a seamless user experience -- if it wants the Ovi Store to succeed on a grand scale, and by all accounts, they're serious about making that happen with the recent integrations of MOSH and WidSets.
ENGADGET: Nokia loses carrier billing for US Ovi Store launch Mobile
Ovi is a gamble, but the 143-year-old firm has a knack for reinventing itself.
The V10.2010.19-1 bump now available in the UK (global on Wednesday) packs several enhancements including face-to-face video calling, improved Ovi Maps, and a better email experience with bundled Facebook IM Chat and the ability to accept or decline event invitations from the inbox.
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Only then, says John Delaney of IDC, a market-research firm, are consumers likely to go for Ovi, rather than picking and choosing their own set of services, as they mostly do on the internet.
And unless it can pump out the Android version before Google Navigation goes global, there won't be much motivation to download a presumably fee-based (it certainly won't be free) Ovi Maps on the platform unless Android users are willing to pay to have Nokia's localized maps on the device instead of downloading them over the air as the Google offering requires.
ENGADGET: Nokia's Ovi Maps headed to Windows Mobile and Android? (update: no way)
Nokia ( NOK - news - people ) about incorporating Zinio content into its digital storefront, known as the Ovi Store, and to U.S. operators.
Ovi Maps beta adds visibility to subways, trams and trains in 85 cities around the world, real-time traffic, safety alerts in or out of navigation mode, visibility to parking and petrol stations, and speed limit warnings.
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