Geekery

Nokia tells over a million people where to go

Posted on 03. Feb, 2010 by Jake.

For quite a while now, the rise of the GPS device has provided a solution for the eternally lost motorist. But what about those particularly loskop types who can’t even find their way when on foot? Nokia, with the launch of Ovi Maps, a downloadable phone app boasting free walk and drive navigation, came to the rescue in January.  Now, thanks to the good people of Moral Fibre, I now know that there have already been over a million downloads of Nokia’s latest initiative.  Which means over a million people are going to be too busy watching their phones to keep their eyes on where they’re going, whether by car or on foot. Motorists and pedestrians alike are advised to be on the alert.

Just to put into perspective exactly how much of these babies have been downloaded since the launch in Jan, Nokia’s Executive Vice President, Anssi Vanjoki tells us that “we’re averaging a download a second, 24 hours a day,” That’s a lot, he said, stating the obvious.

Good news for those too silly to work out how to download something is that next month all new Nokia GPS-enabled smartphones will include the new version of Ovi Maps, pre-loaded with local country map data, with high-end walk and drive navigation and access to Lonely Planet and Michelin travel guides at no extra cost.

Ovi Maps is pretty comprehensive, covering more than 180 countries with car and pedestrian navigation for 74 countries, in 46 languages, and traffic information for more than 10 countries. There are more than 6000 3D landmarks for 200 cities around the world.  Lonely Planet and Michelin guides have information on more than 1,000 destinations globally.

All of this means that I, a Nokia user, may never get lost again. Unless I lose my phone, in which case I will have to sit on the pavement drooling on myself until someone with Ovi Maps (or, although less likely, a sense of direction) tells me where to go.

Check out the full press release here.

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