Nokia Corp said on Thursday it would offer free navigation services globally for users of its smartphones in a drive to counter a similar move by Google Inc.
The application, with detailed maps for more than 180 countries, will also have voice guidance in 46 languages in 74 countries.
It will be immediately available for download on Nokia’s Ovi Map site, and from March all new Nokia GPS-enabled smartphones will include the new version of Ovi Maps. Users will also have free access to Lonely Planet and Michelin travel guides that have information on more than 1,000 destinations globally.
“We can now put a complete navigation system in the palm of your hand, wherever in the world you are, whenever you need it and at no extra cost,” Nokia executive vice president Anssi Vanjoki said.
“By adding cameras at no extra cost to our phones we quickly became the biggest camera manufacturer in the world. The aim of the new Ovi Maps is to enable us to do the same for navigation,” Vanjoki said.
The announcement follows a similar move by Google Inc to provide free navigation services on handsets. It also will pose a challenge for makers of personal navigational devices, like US-based Garmin Ltd and TomTom NV of Netherlands, that help car drivers plan where they want to go and how.
Nokia’s share price closed up less than 1 percent at 9.23 euros (US$12.98) on the Helsinki Stock Exchange.
The mobile phone industry has been hit hard by saturation in markets — especially in Europe — and the global financial crisis, forcing handset makers such as Nokia to increasingly turn to providing services for users, such as music and video downloads, navigational maps and games.
Nokia said that by next year, it expects about 300 million active users of its services.
Nokia said that research firm Canalys estimated that last year, about 27 million people worldwide were using the global positioning system, or GPS, on handsets.
The Finnish company’s new service could increase the number of GPS navigation users to 50 million, through a download of the new Ovi Maps available immediately, Nokia said.
“This move has the potential to nearly double the size of the current mobile navigation market,” Nokia said. “The new version of Ovi Maps includes high-end car and pedestrian navigation features, such as turn-by-turn voice guidance.”
In an US$8 billion deal, Nokia in 2008 bought US navigation-software maker Navteq Corp, a major provider of digital map data and content.
In October, Nokia reported its first quarterly loss since it became the world’s biggest handset maker in 1998 and said it would focus on smart phones, based on “user experience improvements,” to help it boost performance.
In 2008, Nokia sold 468 million handsets, up 7 percent on 2007.
It maintained its No. 1 position in the third quarter last year, with a 38 percent global market share and sales of 108.5 million handsets.
Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has died of pneumonia at the age of 48 while on a trip to Japan, where she contracted influenza during the Lunar New Year holiday, her sister confirmed today through an agent. "Our whole family came to Japan for a trip, and my dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Hsu's sister and talk show hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) said. "I was grateful to be her sister in this life and that we got to care for and spend time with each other. I will always be grateful to
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
PETITIONS: A Democratic Progressive Party official quoted President William Lai as saying that civil society groups are organizing the recall drives at the grassroots level Some civil society groups yesterday announced that they have collected enough signatures to pass the first-stage threshold to initiate a recall vote against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators in 18 constituencies nationwide, saying that they would submit the signatures to the Central Election Commission (CEC) today. They also said that they expected to pass the threshold in eight more constituencies in the coming days, meaning the number of KMT legislators facing a recall vote could reach 26. The groups set up stations to collect signatures at local marketplaces and busy commercial districts. The legislators their petition drives target include Fu