Nokia , the world's most successful mobile phone manufacturer, is to launch a new free service offering free downloadable maps to customers with Nokia phones. The smart2go platform allows for mapping and routing in over 150 countries, and has support for full turn-by-turn satellite navigation in over 30 countries.
The application allows people to view where they are on a map, search for points-of-interests nearby and create routes to get there, free of charge.
Nokia intends to start offering the smart2go application on 10 February for selected Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile 5.0 devices, initially. It has plans to roll out support for most of the major mobile OS platforms including Nokia S60, Series 40, PocketPC, Linux and other Windows Mobile devices.
Pre-installed
Nokia proposes to pre-install the smart2go mapping and navigation application on all future Nokia Nseries multimedia computers under the name 'Nokia Maps'. Current owners of Nokia devices may also download Nokia Maps to their supported devices.
"People will trust and use maps if they have those maps with them when they need them, and smart2go allows consumers the full freedom of which maps they want to carry with them. By offering Nokia Maps and smart2go for free on your mobile device, cost is no longer a barrier for anyone to enjoy the convenience of maps and routing on-the-go," said Ralph Eric Kunz, vice-president at Nokia.
"Nokia is on track to build the world's most connected location based platform for mobile devices which also opens up interesting opportunities for future services."
