If you’ve ever watched Lonely Planet on TV, you’d know that it’s a great show.  Give a couple of animated travellers minimal travel supplies and then send them off to check out the coolest sights in some of the world’s most attractive destinations.  Of course, it’s more than just a TV show-it’s a travel information company, one that publishes books, digital travel guides, maps, and more.

Now, in an interesting partnership, Nokia will distribute Lonely Planet content via its Nokia Maps service.  Over 100 destinations are now available for which travellers can download guidebooks that’ll help them navigate to local hotspots in whatever city they happen to be in.

Lonely Planet’s CEO Stephen Palmer calls the deal “genuinely transformational” and it is, taking Nokia Maps’ location-awareness and making it ‘hyperlocal‘ rendering it more functional for users.  For Lonely Planet, it takes a traditional media company’s business model and removes all the time, space, and place boundaries giving the company a super-targeted syndication platform.  I’m genuinely impressed.

Business models are designed to make money though.  Individual guidebooks will set you back EUR 7.99 each and are found under the Guide section of the Extras menu of Nokia Maps 2.0.  If you don’t yet have Nokia Maps 2.0, it’s freely downloadable here.

via nokia

India is a market in which GPS is set to explode and one of the biggest companies behind location’s incredible growth in the country is Nokia. By penetrating the country with their mobile handsets where they currently boast a 63% market share, Nokia has set up India to the Eastern world’s Silicon Valley of location-based innovation. That said, it was no surprise that Nokia unveiled their GPS-enabled Nokia 6210 Navigator with Nokia Maps 2.0 in Bangalore. Not only does Nokia Maps 2.0 offer real-time voice and visual guidance, but the 6210 Navigator also features a built-in compass for quick pedestrian navigation.

Upon its release, the India 6210 Navigator will have built-in maps of 8 Indian metropolitan areas including Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Delhi (NCR), Hyderabad, Jaipur, Mumbai and Pune. Gradually more cities and towns will be added after clearance from the country’s defense ministry and the surveyor general.

Rather than charging a fee for the phone, Nokia is supplying the phone for free as an introductory offer with an agreement to download 200 maps over 6 months for which user’s will pay a license fee. Of course, downloads require data transfer and service provider’s will charge for this. Post-introductory offer, expect to pay Rs. 18, 000 for the Nokia 6210 Navigator, or about $427.50US.

via thaindian

Nokia Maps 2.0 is ready to graduate from beta with a whole new list of features added to the service all thanks to tester suggestions and feedback.  Some of the new features include a “My Licenses” category to see what licenses you’ve purchased, the addition of 7-digit postal codes in the UK, a flat menu structure for simplified route planning, increased GPS frequency, manual zoom, and the addition of latitude and longitude coordinates under the Details menu.  The flagship feature added in the beta phase is network-based positioning which will position you within 5-10 seconds on a map using a pink circle.  Once the GPS position is locked the pink circle disappears and the GPS position is used instead because it’s more accurate.  This feature works on all AGPS-enabled devices, but users of the Nokia E90 mobile phone will require a software update that will be released in the near future.  And for residents of New Zealand, Venezuela and Chile: you’ll be happy to know Nokia Maps 2.0 now works in your countries as well.

via nokia beta labs

Come end of May, Nokia will be adding a new mapping service to its Ovi portal based on technology gained through the company’s acquisition of NAVTEQ.  Dubbed Nokia Maps 2.0, users will be able to get maps of routes rather than just streets as well as info regarding traffic conditions.  Calling it a “bridge between the real and virtual world”, Nokia Maps 2.0 allows Nokia phone users to plan a vehicle or pedestrian route online and have it automatically downloaded to their phone once connected to the internet.  Planned routes can also be uploaded to the Ovi database and shared with friends, giving the new service a social networking flavor.

It’ll be pricey though.  First, users will have to purchase the database which costs about $233US in Europe right now and then will have to pay a subscription fee 3 times per year.

via moconews

Nokia Maps 2.0 Navigation Interface

Nokia Maps will soon be releasing its second (2.0) version to the public with some nifty new features and upgrades.  The driving navigation interface is new and improved with transparent panels and proper turn indicators and a new pedestrian mode uses “breadcrumbs” to show where you have been walking so you can see which direction you should be taking.  Satellite maps, via Google Maps, are now accessible for 200 major cities worldwide and air downloaded over the air and saved so you can access them immediately the next time you want to use them.  Other features include improved search, the capability to bookmark and organize favorite places, upgrade facilities to upgrade licenses, and real-time traffic info for 18 European countries.

Nokia Maps 2.0 is in semi-public beta currently, but is not available for general download.  We’ll let you know when a full public beta happens.

Via allaboutsymbian.com