Whenever I meet Nokia people , one of the questions I have is OVI Maps for Pakistan .  OVI Maps had been a very useful tool for me whenever I go abroad and lack of mapping for Pakistan was always felt  by many .

Today I was browsing through NAVTEQ site and checking maps out and to my surprise , NAVTEQ now has much updated maps of Karachi , sorry don’t know much about streets in other cities so was not able to check.

Now OVI Maps use NAVTEQ data and if NAVTEQ has almost up to date maps of Karachi , it means we can expect OVI Maps for Pakistan to be launched soon . 

Yeah I live in one of the few countries in the world where OVI Maps does not have a presence ,all it shows the major highways and big yellow spaces , for a person like me who is on the move in the city but still baffled by finding places my live saver is Garmin XT which works amazingly well on my Nokia N8.

The latest version of Garmin XT for Nokia Smartphones ( S60v3 and above ) can be downloaded from here <Garmin XT v5.00.50>  and costs a mere USD 100 , a small price to pay for lifetime of free Navigation in Pakistan .  For maps try the freeware maps of Karachi and whole of Pakistan available at PkMaps ( Registration required maps for major cities of Pakistan are free ) which are made by enthusiast cartographers and are updated every 3 –6 months .

The good thing about Garmin XT is that it offers search in categories as set by the map makers and for Karachi it includes amusement parks to eateries .  For now PKMaps forum is giving out their pro version for free which also has limited house number search capability .  Garmin Xt also offers turn by turn navigation with voice guidance which makes it easy to find the way while driving.

With Nokia N8 , Garmin XT is a perfect match as Nokia N8 features A-GPS which connects to GPS satellites in seconds , beside with it’s video out capabilities even through composite cable , I can easily hook it up with my car’s video in system and get a large screen navigation experience .

Just Like Nokia’s Own Voice , Garmin also offers a Voice Making software for free which can be used to change voice navigation in your own language or your kid’s voice , even the car on the navigation screen can be changed from standard blue sedan to a speeding rocket or what ever you want from a vast library available on the net .

We are waiting for Nokia to release their OVI Maps in Pakistan so we can do a head on comparison with Garmin XT and see who wins .

E71 , the best QWERTY every sold , and it’s younger sibling E66 today joins the OVI Maps Free Navigation lineup , after Nokia N97, Nokia N97 mini, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, Nokia 5800 Navigation Edition, Nokia E52, Nokia E55, Nokia E72, Nokia 5230, Nokia 6710 Navigator, Nokia 6730 classic, Nokia X6, and Nokia N86 8MP.

To get the free upgrade ,

• Download the OVI Maps application (sisx file ) from www.nokia.com/maps on the PC
• Install the application through OVI Suite or PC Suite and start using maps .

and as Nokia point outs if you don’t install the new OVI Maps , you have to pay the yearly Navigation fee of Euro 9.99 per year for start and walk Navigation feature.

Nokia already has majority of country maps available on OVI Maps so even if they are not available for your country still you can use them if you are travelling anywhere else cause these maps are going to be free forever.

Not everything is as rosy as it sounds , Nokia is not going to include Guide Michelin and Lonely Planet due to backporting constraints , and E71 and E66 are the last of the S60 V3 FP1 devices to have this update , from now there will not be any , so nothing for N95 –8GB and the likes .

I was never a big OVI Maps fan , Nokia and Navteq not having detailed maps of Pakistan or even my city Karachi , one of the largest metropolis of the world with a population upward of 17 million people , OVI Maps were no use for me and I was using Garmin XT with freeware maps made by Pakistani map enthusiast .

For the past 2 days I’d been travelling extensively in interior Pakistan covering Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalpur and here I developed the respect and appreciation for OVI Maps .

While traveling between Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalpur , a 200 km plus journey I was using Gravity to update my location status on Facebook and Twitter through FourSquare however no matter how I tried , FourSquare refused to connect to GPS .

With no other solution at hand , I switched to OVI Maps , version  3.03 10 wk 01 . At first the skeptic in me was like I’m making a mistake and without maps it will be of no use , but I got nothing to loose .

To my surprise , OVI Maps was very responsive in location sharing , I already had my OVI account and FaceBook account setup on OVI Maps and location sharing with the ever present icon . To my surprise not only it was sharing my location but also allowed me to share photographs I’ve taken of the places with friends and family on FaceBook .

Mission Accomplished , not for me there were many more options to try which I never did used , so I switched to mapping and searched for Categories and Transport , I was thinking may be I’ll get hold of Bahawalpur Airport so I can mark how far is Bahawalpur is from me and it showed me the PTDC ( Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation ) Motel which was my destination in Bahawalpur , I saved the place as a favorite and continued to explore what else in Pakistan, around my location , Nokia OVI has in store .

Now what I found could start a riot over Nokia in Pakistan like it once did in India – OVI Maps were showing in description both Bahawalpur and Multan both as in India although the map showed them in Pakistan , now Multan is the city of Pakistan’s Prime Minister , you better fix it Nokia .

There wasn’t much on Categories , mostly showing me India some 100 kms away and UAE some 1700 kms away so I switched to Lonely Planet and that’s where the treasure cove of information was .

Divided in different categories comprising of

See for attraction around from Museums to renown places in the city

Shop for shopping malls and things

Eat for the eateries and restaurants

Sleep for the Hotels and Motels

General for Miscellaneous things like banks , Money Changers , Hospitals etc.

Not only did Lonely Planet got the listing of places , their description , Address , Contact number which could be dialed with one click and even Map coordinates to see their position on OVI Maps and navigate to them .

With PTDC Motel marked , I shifted to Drive Navigation , choose English as my guidance language , although also had Urdu installed , and viola it showed me over the highway , 16 Km away from my destination and running towards it at 100 kmph with OVI Maps voice navigating me .

Another nifty feature OVI Maps has is the weather information of current place along with sun set timings , it’s good to have it handy to see what the weather is currently like and what to expect in the  next few days .

Who knew one out of necessity turn of events will make me a fan of OVI Maps , still it’s of limited use  for my daily routine but when travelling it sure helps me  discovering Pakistan .

OVI Maps , Nokia’s free for all Navigation Tool is great for planning a trip  .  For me the service is of no use in Pakistan as there are no maps available , but since  the maps had been set free , whenever I or any of my colleagues travel aboard , it’s an essential tool for us to plan our trip  . 

In a few weeks , I’m planning a trip to US with family comprising of New York  City among other places .  As our plans are being made , I’m updating my OVI Maps with the point of Interests to see in New York for a 3 day trip ,  so instead of me carrying an enlarged map of NYC and looking all touristy , I can simply take out my E72 , startup OVI Maps and see where I am and where I need to go .

New York is a Jungle of humanity , a place where you can easily get lost , if you don’t know the way and for a guy like me who easily loose his bearings in an un familiar place  I could end up at Rocker Feller Center while walking to Macys .

This is how I’m planning my trip to NYC .

Our plan is to stay at Westin at Time Square as it’s in the middle of everything that is New York from Broadway to Times Square with Avenue of Americas and Macys a short walk away .

So the First POI on my list was the Westin New York , an easy find on OVI Maps Online , just searched for Westin New York and there it was

I’ve chosen as my favorite also later to be used as the starting point for my routing .

My second priority is food , being a Muslim , I just can’t enter any eatery and order a steak , my meat had to be halal  / Kosher so the next search was Halal .  Wow OVI Maps found me Five places with the nearest one only half a Km away from my hotel .

I’ve heard a lot about the Halal cart Guy standing near Hilton , so the next search was Halal Cart ,  no results so I searched for Hilton and add it to as a favorite , will find him there I was told.  I added Hilton as Halal Cart Guy to help me remember the place

As I will be going with family including my wife and two kids , Statue of Liberty  and Central Park are next on the list .

An easy find , just enter the name and OVI Maps find the place instantly .

For Statue of Liberty when I clicked Drive , OVI Maps took me all the way from New Jersey , so I’ll better stay with walk maps , and take bus .

My Wife is interested in shopping so 5th Avenue and Macys are on our list ,  again an easy find , check out the 3D rendering of Saks and Rocker Feller Plaza

The electronic junkie in me wants to find a Best Buy and it’s there on OVI Maps just 1 km away  

I was also able to find a Starbucks around the corner and Food Emporium a short walk away from my hotel for breakfasts , even Subways were shown but the search also showed Subway the Eatery although marked by their icons

As I don’t frequent clubs , for night life , I’m finding some Cinemas near my  hotel. OVI marked Lowe’s Theatre just around the corner

As Friday may come between my holidays , the holiest day of the week and I have to go for my Friday prayers , OVI Maps even found me a mosque a short walk away from my hotel.

Now I have all my favorites marked on the OVI Map on the web

Now it’s time to Sync them with OVI Maps on my Phone .  Simply click Favorites and choose Sync with OVI and within seconds , all my favorites on the web are synced with my phone . I’ve already downloaded complete maps of New York on my phone through Nokia Maps Uploader for offline search of POI’s

I have some suggestions for Nokia

While using OVI Maps on the web , it was making my starting point my last search and before checking out a new place I had to again make Westin NYC the starting point , can I simply fix a POI as a starting point and run all the searched

Can you also add Subway Maps and Bus Routes in collaboration with the concerned authorities , as when I was searching for Statue of Liberty , it took me all the way from New Jersey by drive , if there was an option I could have worked out the nearest Bus Stop or Subway station.

This is just s glimpse of what OVI Maps can do , I wanted to use it for a three day trip , I got my POI’s , with the amount of data available on the maps you can use it any way you like .

Nokia is going huge with OVI Maps , first it was the announcement that it’s Free For All

Than came the big news that it’s being downloaded once every sec so by the time you are done reading this blog hundreds of mobile phones will have OVI Maps on them and with 1.4 million plus already downloaded and hundreds of millions more phones to go OVI Map is probably the highest and fastest downloaded mobile App in the world .

Nokia is not stopping here and has launched the largest interactive  mobile sign post for OVI Maps in London , weighing 6 Tons and the size of a bus , this sign post accepts  custom messages and even rotates , in short OVI Maps and OVI Maps signposts are definitely WOW

The Video Posted on Nokia Conversations is posted below

Today , 21/1/2010 , Nokia set the Navigation free , unbound by licensing fees , Nokia users can use Drive and Walk Navigation for free in 180 countries with Voice Turn by Turn Navigation available for 74 countries , 46 Different languages and Traffic Information available for more than 10 countries all Gratis ,  for none , Zero cost , say it in any language it’s FREE .

According to Nokia’s Executive Vice President Anssi Vanjoki  “ Why have multiple devices that work with in only one country or region ? Put it all together make it free, make it global , and you almost double the potential size of the mobile navigation market “ 

According to research firm Canalys , their are currently 27 million mobile phone user using GPS on their mobile phones and with Nokia’s announcement , Nokia expects the number to grow to 50 million in a short period of time .  With having 51 % of the share of total 163 million mobile phones sold in 2009 Nokia holds the major market share and is the world’s leading GPS Units and services provider .

What Nokia will benefit by giving out Navigation Licenses for free which until yesterday were being sold on annual basis ?

What we think it’s the reach , Nokia is not only about Devices , they have also entered the services segment under the umbrella of OVI providing Free Email through OVI Mail , Free 10 GB Online storage and access to files store on computer through OVI Files , Free Cloud based data collection through OVI Contacts  , a Free Media sharing space through OVI Share   and free Communications platform on OVI Chat , only Navigation was left as a paid application and it’s also set free.

With all these services available for free , Nokia develops a user base ‘addicted’ to them and with free access actively using them as part of their daily life and making them routine , they develop a loyal customer base which are bound by OVI , Nokia wants customers to think OVI and live by OVI day and night , where ever they are what ever they are doing , Nokia wants them to be dependent on OVI.

This OVI dependency brings on new sales of OVI compatible ‘smartphones’ and with word of mouth advertising by OVI users an expected large number of converts from Apple , Blackberry and Android based devices .

Nokia is not new in this game of ‘Free’ they just improved it  ,Hotmail was the first landmark with Free email for all , followed by Yahoo and many others , than came Google , a search Engine which gave Free a new meaning , a large capacity email account , Picture sharing on Picassa , Video on Youtube and documents on Google Docs everything was free and Google made money from it too through Advertising and offering business based services .

Nokia went a step further with the Navigation , where it’s closest free competitor Google through it’s Google Maps had been providing turn by turn DIRECTIONS , Nokia is now providing turn by turn Voice based NAVIGATION

The latest Ovi Maps are available at http://maps.nokia.com/explore-services/ovi-maps/downloads-and-services#/default/

so whip out your

• X6
• N97 Mini
• E72
• E55
• E52
• 6230 Classic
• 6710 Navigator
• 5800 Xpress Music
• 5800 Navigation Edition
• 5230

yeah only 10 devices are supported for now with more to be updated later  

The download is about 7.8 mb and takes a couple of min to install , how is the new OVI Navigation on Nokia , well it works well and need a separate post for it

It all started in 2006 when Nokia realized that Navigation is going to be big given the popularity of their then flagship Nokia N95 and it’s follow-up Nokia N95 – 8 GB both of which were the first phones to feature GPS and changed the way we look at mobile phones today .

The purchasing spree started in October 2006 with acquisition of Gate5 AG , a leading supplier of mapping, routing and navigation software and services” in October 2006 . Earlier the maps were available for both WinMo and Symbian Series 60 .

In October 2007 , Nokia made another significant purchase by acquiring NAVTEQ , it’s supplier for mapping data used in Nokia Maps . These maps at their early stages were not very comprehensive especially for Pakistan (http://oure61.blogspot.com/2007/03/nokia-maps-for-pakistan-is-not-correct.html ) where I’d been using them since 2007 with my E70 and Bluetooth GPS receiver .

On July 15^th 2008 , Nokia focusing on Map based services acquired Plazes to have access to their “context-based service offering with social presence and time-based activity planning features”

On Feb 9^th 2009 , Nokia announced it’s acquisition of Bit-Side GMBH , ““Acquiring bit-side enables Nokia to offer consumers the world-leading mobile location applications, such as Maps, along with routing and navigation at an accelerated speed” was what Michael Halbherr, vice president and head of social location, Nokia had said about the acquisition (http://senseapplied.com/index.php/nokia-acquires-bit-side-gmbh/)

If that was not enough on Sep 24^th 2009 , Nokia acquired Dopplr , a social travel startup where people can discuss their travels experiences within their select group of friends , the service could be part of OVI Maps as hotel ranking / hotel booking etc.

If acquisitions were not possible , Nokia joined hands with Lonely Planet and Michelin Guide to provide travel related services to it’s OVI Maps , the reincarnated version of Nokia Maps , users.

In the latest version of OVI Maps Mobile , version 3.03 09 wk35 b07 , specifically for Nokia Series 60 v5 phones and supported by Nokia N97 and Nokia 5800 Xpress Music , Nokia has made a significant improvements in the layout .

The Maps homescreen has changed and now comes laden with features as

My Position – Shows where you currently are , very helpful if in a strange city and want to see what’s around you .

Find Places – Got lost in Estonia and don’t know the language , your personal concierge is there on your mobile to help you

Favorites : Route your map , mark the places you wish to see on OVI Maps on the web at maps.ovi.com and a simple sync will copy your plans on your phone automatically .

Drive : Navigation is what the maps are for and intelligent Navigation on OVI maps makes it more useful with voice and visual instructions , lane markers , speed limit warnings all in your own language ( I use mine with URDU )

Walk : If you want to explore a city , walk in it , in my personal experience it’s the best way to enjoy it and what better if you get a free license to walk around a city ( Qualification is a must ) with markings for pedestrian zones , shortcuts , plazas ad pathways through parks and buildings , making you walk better and efficiently and explore more in what the city has to offer.  Mark your home on the Maps and it will even guide you to reach your home .

Weather : a great addition , with 5 day forecast for any location in the world even Karachi Pakistan .

Events : borrowed from Nokia Here and Now , check out local events wherever you are with navigation systems guiding you to reach there . The database is not very extensive and will take some time to be fully functional .

Michelin and Lonely Planet: Nokia has brought together two of the premium and most sought after Travel Guides on the mobile , want to know a restaurant rating , the Michelin Guide will help you decide what about the hidden gems in a city , go loco with the Lonely planet and OVI maps will also get you there .

Beside mapping and navigation , OVI Maps Beta also come laden with additional features like

OVI Maps currently cover 64 countries extensively with navigable maps including

Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China / Hong Kong / Macau, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Kuwait, Latvia, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, USA, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Vatican.

Traffic Coverage is available for 20 countries mostly European , with Singapore , Canada and USA as an exception
Austria, Australia,Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, USA
Safety Coverage with lane markers and speed warnings are available for Europe only covering
Austria, Andorra, Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom

The Hidden Gem with OVI Maps is the OVI Maps API , now developers can download the API code and incorporate it on their websites and applications just like Lonely Planet and Michelin , one of the applications which I earlier reviewed ,  Dad’s Cab also makes use of OVI Maps and can be used for commercial usage with a little tweaking and enhancements .  OVI Maps API partners include

• Deutche Bahn ,  The German Train Network . 
• 
• Berlitz -  The leading Language trainer in the world
• Associated Press
• QYPE Radar
• Earth Comber
• Pocket Life
• Cab 4 Me
• National Geographic
• Blog TV

For now the API is in beta stage and available on approval only but once it goes open , look forward to more and more  applications incorporating OVI Maps .  The API beta program offers the following for developers

• High-level JavaScript APIs to a rich set of Ovi functionality including 3D mapping and positioning (GPS) as well as turn-by-turn Walk and Drive navigation.
• Maps Player API to incorporate  Ovi Maps functionality into website, turning it into a personalised, contextual and compelling experience. ( Like Google Latitude Widget )
• Ovi Maps Navigation Player API  to create your own maps and incorporate them into OVI Apps like Dad’s Cab

So are you in for some mapping and Navigation , do inform in comments

At the Click Here’ target=_blank>Click Here’ target=_blank>Nokia World 2009 , where Nokia talked much about the devices , they also introduced many enhancement on their already existent range of services like the OVI Maps Beta .

Recetly released in version 3.03 09 Wk 35 for their ‘Flagship’  N97 , it’s sibling Nokia N97 Mini and the bet selling touch screen phone Nokia 5800 and Nokia 5800 Navigation Edition .

So what’s so new about this OVI Maps , Nokia had been releasing updates earlier but they are all are worth crap for me in Pakistan ???

This time Nokia beside their own information services has added independent such as Lonely Planet , a leading travel site , and Michelin Guide , the premier reference for any traveller . OVI Maps has also incorporated local weather depending upon your GPS location  .

For me in Pakistan finally some content is available especially weather and also through Lonely Planets which shows the POI’s , their descriptions and their distance from my current location .

Alas still no navigation is available for Pakistan but I’m keeping my fingers crossed for it to happen soon

Finally OVI Maps is finally supporting Pakistan , well not full street by street Navigation , atleast they have begun with the POIs , no more results from 400 kms away in India when I search for a place to eat , It now shows Cafe Flo and Arizona Grill some 5 kms away from my house

Going loco , OVI maps even show Bohri Bazar Karachi

It’s just a start with POIs , hopefully Nokia will have full vector based , routable maps of Pakistan

to give it a more Desi feel I’ve installed Urdu language navigational support , now it says Aap apni manzil par pahunch chuke hain , when I’ve reached my destination in a music to the ear female voice a good change from the stern authoritarian Brit I listen to when using my Garmin XT

Posted by Wordmobi