Ovi Maps 3 with free navigation launched for Nokia E71 & E66

April 6th, 2010 by Ben Smith

In January Nokia announced Ovi Maps 3 including free turn-by-turn navigation, Lonely Planet and Michelin guides. At launch it was available on 10 handsets and will be pre-installed on all devices launched in future. The move impressed many and made a noticeable dent in the share price of a leading Sat Nav device manufacturer.

However, despite subsequently adding support for the N97 and N86 (missing at launch), users of some older devices - especially the popular E71 - complained they were left out. Today, Nokia has responded making Ovi Maps 3 - available for the E71 and E66 too.

The Nokia Conversations blog has the full announcement:

People will be able to use Ovi Suite to side load the latest country maps onto their devices so they can enjoy offline map browsing alongside free navigation. The process of making the latest version of Ovi Maps available for existing devices is quite involved, but the team managed to include complete navigation functionality. Due to technical constraints in back porting the app to existing devices, unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to offer further premium content such as Guide Michelin and Lonely Planet guides. These two devices will also be the last of our S60 3.1 and older devices to sport this version of Ovi Maps. But every upcoming Nokia Smartphone will come with free walk and drive navigation out of the box.

This is a smart move by Nokia - the original announcement ‘added value’ to the firm’s newest handsets by bundling an additional service and all the indications are it’s been a success. However, today’s news is a tactical move to show the firm is listening to feedback… With a huge range of devices and markets, supporting every combination with new software was never realistic (or affordable), but customers’ reactions have clearly been noted and the challenges of deploying to these 2 year old devices overcome. It won’t upset Nokia if these customers get hooked on the service before their next handset upgrade either.

Demonstrating Ovi Maps 3's new lane-assist feature at the launch event

I’ve been testing Ovi Maps 3 on a 5800 for all my in-car navigation since January. Performance, even without pre-loading any maps, has been impressive. The guide content has been useful, but its omission seems acceptable sacrifice to get support for these older devices to me. A full write-up’s on the way, but if you have an E71 or an E66 do give it a try… Why wouldn’t you? It’s free.

Download Ovi Maps from Nokia.com/maps or the Ovi Store.

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  • David Carrington
    I'm undecided which satnav software I prefer.

    I was mightily unimpressed when using the N97's FM transmitter to listen to music in the car while using Ovi Maps. Guess where the voice navigation comes out? The phone's speakers, while muting but not pausing my music. Interestingy enough, Garmin Mobile XT has no trouble at all using the phone's FM transmitter.

    Still, it's good news when they support more handsets :)
  • I used the 5800 in-car and it worked well direct from the phone speakers. Miss the TomTom's ability to adjust volume based on speed (and hence road noise) but I suspect that's trivial to do and coming in a future update.
  • Abul
    The 5800 has very good and loud speakers, so it works perfectly. Overall impressed with it.
  • Abul
    Nice to see some of the older models getting some love. OVI maps is absolutely frickin awesome. Just picked up a 5800xm and it worked flawless the other night.
  • Now I'm starting to feel really bad for switching my E71 for a really flawed E72.
  • I'm yet to try the E72 (although a certain be-heeled member of the Really Mobile team is trying one out at the moment), what are the flaws you've noticed?
  • Ok, here we go:
    1 - if typing fast, the letters on the number keys don't always work. Guess it's because you're likely to press two keys at the same time. I'm an ex Blackberry addict, so yes, I type fast on a small QWERTY if you give me one.
    2 - apps crash constantly: the built-in Messaging is a pain, as are themes from the Ovi Store (Earth by Pizzaro made me *#7370# it a few times).
    3 - the space bar thing
    4 - RAM issues especially with Opera Mobile. I prefer Mobile to Mini because of the smoother interface and the fact that I can actually use Gmail properly.
    5 - True multitasking (Email + Nimbuzz + Gravity + Spotify + Opera Mobile) is a loooong way away.
    6 - Battery is not perfect (sometimes it drains way too fast) - especially if you forget some app open.

    And it's nothing I hate the most then the whole 'it's buggy' sensation it gives me when playing with it.

    And these are just the big ones. Hoping Nokia will wake up soon, otherwise I'm switching to Android (if Palm goes tits up and doesn't launch Pre Plus GSM). Hope it helps :)

    Cheers.
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