Nokia Ovi Maps has added free turn-by-turn navigation to its software, effectively upgrading all web-enabled Nokias to mobile sat navs in one swoop. Follow us for more details…
The Nokia Ovi Maps update was announced this morning, and was immediately made available to all Nokia smartphones running Symbian S60 in 70 countries around the world and 46 languages. A variation for the Maemo 5-powered Nokia N900 isn’t far behind.

The move comes on the back of Nokia’s recent acquisition of mapping firm Navteq, and is a major blow to its mobile sat nav rivals. Sat nav specialist TomTom offers a paid-for iPhone app, while Google’s newly launched Nexus One comes with Google’s mapping service pre-installed. But the former is a third-party service that comes at a cost, and the latter only supports US maps at present.

The latest version of Ovi Maps now has driving and walking directions covering a total of 180 countries, and maps are stored locally on the phone so even when you’re without a web connection you’re still able to run basic searches for routes.

Up-to-date traffic information is included for 10 countries, but requires a data connection, naturally. Drivers also get lane assistance as well as safety camera and speed warnings.

Pedestrians aren’t forgotten either, with the walking mode pointing out over 6,000 3D landmarks in 200 countries around the world.

Nokia claims using the data connection only for overlaying locally-stored maps keeps data use – and battery cost – to a minimum.

All new Nokias will now be sold with local maps preinstalled, and UK phones will have maps for most of Europe already on board. If that’s not enough, however, more can be downloaded at any time.

“Why have multiple devices that work in only one country or region? Put it all together, make it free, make it global and you have something that is truly useful and can help you get round almost any city in the world whether you’re on foot or driving,” said Anssi Vanjoki, executive vice president of Nokia, at the service’s launch.

As well as turn-by-turn, voice guided navigation, drivers get features such as lane assistance, traffic information and safety camera and speed warnings.

“This is not just a product announcement,” Vanjoki announced. “This leads to our larger vision where the map is the user interface of our life.”