Nokia responds to Google with free maps on all its phones

Finnish mobile manufacturer Nokia has announced plans to make free maps available on its phones in all of the 74 countries and 46 languages where they're available.  The new service will allow Nokia to steal a march on Google in Europe, whose free Maps Navigation service is currently only available in the US.

It's becoming increasingly clear that a lot of people want to get involved in the market for navigation tools on mobile phones.  Nokia's latest announcement is a response to the challenge laid down by Google which made waves a few weeks ago when it said it would offer free navigation.  By making its Ovi Maps service free (it used to cost around £50 a month), the world's biggest mobile manufacturer has just upped the ante in what is already a very competitive area.

Nokia steals the limelight from Google--and thows down a challenge to traditional manufacturers

In particular, companies whose primary market is producing GPS-based navigation devices, like TomTom, Garmin and CoPoliot--which have all succeeded in diversifying by selling iPhone apps--might feel threatened, as might subscription-based services offered by some mobile phone networks and manufacturers like Motorola.  The threat was quantified on the stock market this morning, when the share price of the two world leaders in this field, TomTom and Garmin, fell following Nokia's announcement.

Nokia, which acquired Navteq in 2008, is attacking Google head on: both companies have realised that smartphone owners think they are already paying enough for their services.  As well as being immediately available worldwide, Ovi Maps will have the advantage of being included on all of Nokia's future GPS-compatible handsets, which, for the time being at least, far outnumber the number of phones running Android.

Right now, ten Nokia models are available, but, oddly, the top-of-the range N97 and N900 won't get the new features.  They will be available without going online though, as you can load the maps on to your phone's memory card.

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