The story of Ovi: Maps

Hello guys! My name is Surya, the new Maps Community Manager. I am very excited to have my first blog post in Ovi (yay! ) and I would like to tell you about all the cool stuff that we have been developing for location based services. Joining the Maps team ...

Hello guys! My name is Surya, the new Maps Community Manager.
I am very excited to have my first blog post in Ovi (yay! ) and I would like to tell you about all the cool stuff that we have been developing for location based services.

Joining the Maps team has been a huge eye opener for me – did you guys know that we have voice navigation in 46 languages? Having grown up in a non-English speaking culture, I really appreciate how the Maps team is reaching out to everybody in the world, and to not just those who speak English.
But why do we add so many languages? Because we are the undisputed leader in mobile navigation, that’s why. We have free Walk and Drive navigation available in 78 countries at the last count, and we are continuously extending the list.

On a bit more academic note, our users are spread across the world, and they are a lively bunch who loves traveling – so much so that every day, the total maps usage is equivalent of driving around the world 80 times. Is there any vehicle that can cover that much distance in a day? I think not.

Recently, we introduced a cool new beta version of Maps which you all seem to love.
And after listening to you on this blog and via our Twitter and Facebook channels, we decided to refresh the nokia.com/maps page.
Now it’s easier to find lot of tips and how-to about Maps. They are so easy that even my grand dad can understand them!

My most favorite section in nokia.com/maps is the Videos. I can spend a lot of time watching them again and again – probably, my most favorite one is the Own Voice video added below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

So cute, isn’t it? I should get my friends to try this out. So many of them are young parents who travel a fair bit and this would be a wonderful way for them to feel that their little ones are near them.
If you would like to check out Own Voice, you can download it from here, here or here.

An average Maps user has 11 sessions in a month. Compare this with an average Facebook user, who has 19 sessions in a month. Not bad, eh?
Talking of Facebook, one of the nicest features in Maps is the option to share where you are with your social network – whether at the movies, in the train, in the park or chilling at home… Or may be doing something unusual like Pino in this video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Oh. My. Gawd. I got vertigo just from watching it. That was… awesome and scary.
House running  apart, Checking in via Maps helps me to share my location and what I am doing with my friends on Facebook and twitter. And I often find that my friends have their own stories and comments to share about those experiences, and so that brings us all a bit more closer even if we do not meet regularly.

Nokia, as a company is very environmentally conscious – so much so that Greenpeace has rated us as the greenest Electronics company in the world. So obviously we in the Maps team are also very conscious of ways and means to help you to reduce your carbon footprint.
Hence, we have Walk navigation and we are debuting Public Transportation lines in 80 cities across the world in our new beta version of Maps. We do not yet have a video about Public Transportation lines in nokia.com/maps, but we do have one on Walk navigation, which is another favorite video of mine (and I love Jerome’s accent! )

Click here to view the embedded video.

Whenever I travel, I enjoy exploring cities and new locations on foot. I love that fact that Maps Walk navigation is so human, finding out all the shortcuts, pathways and parks; helping us reach out destination in the shortest possible time. It even navigates us through malls, something that I really appreciate in the Helsinki winters.

But while we are talking about the mobile version of Maps, our friends at maps.ovi.com have also been working hard. The map loads much faster, and you can now add your favorite places in your neighborhood or a cozy little pastry shop (mmmm… pastry) that you discovered in your travels, to the Maps database. How cool is that?

Now, what is the point of me telling you all this if you do not check out these features yourself?
You can find the latest commercial version of Maps (and other cool add-ons like Own Voice) here. In case if you wonder which all Nokia phones are compatible with the latest Maps, you can find the list here. And check out Maps for web here.
When the next release of Maps goes out of beta (which may happen sooner than you think), we will add more information about the newer and cooler stuff with more videos and information.
Till then, check out Maps both on your Nokia and online and let us know what you like about the nokia.com/maps in the comments section below!

Source : http://blog.ovi.com/2010/10/07/the-story-of-ovi-ma...