Nokia announced today a re-branding and new push for its mapping platform. The company announced Here, a new maps service that will soon launch free dedicated apps for iOS, Android and Windows Phone. Nokia says the service will bring features such as public transport directions, turn-by-turn navigation, voice-guided walk navigation and offline capabilities.
The Finnish phone-maker is touting a “capture, compute, experience” system that combines local and cloud based computing. Nokia says it offers faster local rendering and lower bandwidth requirements that make for a far superior offline experience. These improvements don’t come without a cost though, as the Windows Phone version of the app will take up 2.2GB of your phone’s storage.
Another new feature Nokia developed is called Map Creator. The feature allows users to edit maps and add various details such as traffic direction and street names before Nokia then takes these user-submitted details and adds them into their own official maps. Nokia is also using its recent acquisition of mapping company EarthMine to create viewing features similar to Google’s StreetView.
For the consumers that have been dissapointed with the current map offerings on iOS, this news sounds pretty exciting. For the many users that have been waiting on an official Google Maps app to be released in the App Store, perhaps Nokia and Here may be able to win you over.
Here already has a web app that users can use starting today. The iOS app has already been submitted for approval and is expected to arrive in the coming weeks.
Image Credit: Engadget
