Maps 2.0 -- Engadget Mobile

maps 2.0 posts

Nokia Maps 2.0 goes gold, lost pedestrians rejoice

by Chris Ziegler posted May 22nd 2008 @ 6:37PM

After a pleasingly brief public beta, Nokia's glazing its Maps 2.0 navigation app with a thick coating of gold and sending it off into a waiting world of S60-toting fiends to fend for itself. The new version underpins the GPS receivers in Nokia's 2008 smartphones but is also available as a free download for a variety of existing devices, offering key improvements that make it a totally viable nav system -- satellite view, traffic data, and a significantly retooled UI, most importantly, plus the addition of a dedicated pedestrian mode for those times when geographical confusion strikes while on foot. Optional packs add goodies like city guides and the all-important voice guided car navigation and ultimately make Maps 2.0 a non-free venture, but really, no full-featured nav system is -- and the initial download does quite a bit out of the box. Hit the read link to kick off the download.

[Via All About Symbian]

Nokia goes public with Maps 2.0 beta, plans Series 40 version

by Chris Ziegler posted Feb 11th 2008 @ 4:15AM

Previously available only to a select group, Nokia is turning the beta version of its Maps 2.0 navigation app onto the masses. In addition to the car mode existing users will be familiar with, 2.0 adds "Walk," a new mode tailored to pedestrian use. Another new feature is the ability to purchase "multimedia guides" for destinations that hook you up with photo, video, and audio streams that detail places to go and things to see on your magical journey. As we'd previously mentioned, 2.0 also adds real-time traffic information and hybrid satellite views, both features that help to bring Maps in line with Google Maps for Mobile. The beta is available immediately, while a final cut is expected to be available in the second quarter of the year.

Separately, Nokia has announced that it'll be bringing its Maps franchise to Series 40, swinging open the door to high-function navigation on the company's mass-market, non-smartphone handsets. It'll be ready in the first half of 2008, though no plans have yet been outed regarding availability on specific Series 40 devices.

Nokia Maps 2.0 in beta

by Chris Ziegler posted Feb 9th 2008 @ 12:32PM

Though the refresh late last year was a welcome bonus, Nokia's Maps app that gets bundled with many of its S60 devices still lags Google Maps for Mobile in several key areas -- real-time traffic and satellite view, just to name a couple. Great news, though: Nokia's been hard at work crafting its next-gen navigation client, and it looks like it's shaping up to be a real gem. The software has been seeded to a few key folks in the public domain (but isn't yet available for download to the masses) so we're starting to see some first impressions trickle in, and in short, it looks like everything's better than it was before. The auto navigation screen is clearer and uses translucency to prevent large swaths of the map from being concealed, there's a new pedestrian mode, and satellite views and traffic data are now both available. There's no word yet on when the beta or the final version might go public, so we'll all have to be satisfied with the previews for the time being.