Nokia launches free satellite navigation for smartphones

Previously Nokia charged for its Ovi Maps satellite navigation service.

Ovi Maps is immediately available to download for 10 Nokia smartphones including the Nokia N97 mini, Nokia 5800 XPressMusic and Nokia E72. The company promised that more smartphones will be added 'in the coming weeks'.

Nokia's move is likely to raise the bar for competing phone suppliers as customers come to expect satellite navigation as standard.

'This is a game changing move. 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,' said Nokia VP, Anssi Vanjoki.

'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.'
But Nokia was not the first to offer free sat nav.

Last year, Google started offering free satellite navigation for US owners of the Android-based Motorla Droid.

However, Nokia claimed its offering is superior and more comprehensive.

'Compared with Google Maps, our service is ten times more effective in satellite positioning. According to measurements, with our system navigating through a 20km distance with our traffic updates takes 200kb of information, as opposed to 2Mb with Google’s corresponding service. This means that navigation with Google’s system is more expensive and takes up more battery power,' said a Nokia spokesperson.

He added that as some network operators charge for data transfers above a certain threshold, Nokia's data efficient system offers a cost advantage.

Nokia's free walk and drive satellite navigation service covers 74 countries and 46 languages. The sevice covers 28 million miles of roads and includes streetmaps of 650,000 towns and cities.