With over 240,000 downloads since being announced in February, Nokia Maps 2.0 has become official today and for many cell phones the download is free. The big changes in the Maps 2.0 software are optional car navigation, enhanced pedestrian navigation, added multimedia city guides, satellite images and of course a new sexy interface. The latter of those improvements is honestly our favorite since the existing Maps application found on devices such as the Nokia N95, is rather boring compared to Google Maps. For a little background, Nokia Maps 2.0 uses vector maps provided by Navteq and TeleAtlas and covers maps for over 200 countries, 70 of those countries are navigable. If you are looking to upgrade your Maps application to 2.0, you can download the software OTA or use the Nokia Maps Loader on a PC. The Nokia Maps Loader app is still in beta so you will have to pick that up over at Nokia Betalabs website, but otherwise we would suggest doing the OTA update in your Nokia Software Suite. Here is a breakdown of the improvements in Nokia Maps 2.0:
Drive:
- Improved optional Car Navigation equals PND-level car navigation experience with faster routing.
- Easy-to-use, updated User Interface features including a new navigation carousel with pre-defined navigation views – i.e. navigation, arrow, bird-eye.
- Top-of-the-line navigation features: signposts, multi-stop route planner
Walk:
- Optional pedestrian navigation efficiently walks you from A to B with visual guidance. It helps you to locate yourself by giving information about the surrounding buildings, streets and parks and, if the device supports it, notifies the direction you are walking.
- Nokia Maps 2.0 includes public transportation information (station entrances) data in 17 cities with localized icons for stops.
- Advanced multi-sensor positioning using A-GPS, and pedestrian orientation using the compass feature (Nokia 6210 Navigator needed for built-in compass usage)
Discover:
- Satellite images with hybrid rendering overlays for selected cities worldwide provide real aerial views on your mobile.
- Signature “one-box search” allows you to search through places, addresses, restaurants, nightlife, outdoor, accommodation.
- New premium multi-media city guides including features photos, video, audio streams.