Nokia Plans Improved Map Service For Ovi

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has announced plans to add a mapping service (Nokia Maps 2.0) to its Ovi portal at the end of May, unsurprisingly based on technology from its incipient acquisition of Navteq. The new version will let people get maps for routes rather than just street maps, as well as information on traffic conditions reports Information Week. Nokia sees this as "a bridge between the real and virtual world", letting people plan a route by car or on foot and have it automatically downloaded to the Nokia phone when it's connected to the internet. "People with Nokia GPS phones can also track their travels and then upload those routes to the portal. Routes can also be saved and shared with friends on Ovi."

Nokia Maps requires subscribers to "first buy the maps database, and then pay a subscription fee for updates three times a year. The initial cost varies by region, but in Europe it's priced at about 150 euros, or $233". That could significantly multiply the revenue Nokia receives for the handset.

Interestingly, Michael Halbherr, VP of Nokia's location-based services, said that "Nokia's strategy with its mapping service is not to take customers away from Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO), but to give the company's mobile phone customers no reason to use those services..."This is not about trying to take share." It sounds a lot like taking market share?even if Nokia doesn't take any customers from other mapping services but introduces new people to the service, it will still take marketshare.

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