Yep, you read it right. Free, for life. No need to pay money. No need to crack the software. Nokia announced today that the Ovi Maps software which comes preloaded on all its GPS enabled smartphones will now offer free lifetime voice assisted navigation. Voice navigation, you know – as in that sexy female Brit voice that tells you to turn yourself on left, right, go straight, avoid that raging river, etc. It’s available globally, effective immediately and on a select number of Nokia’s devices. Strangely, the flagship N97 is left out (although its little brother, the N97 Mini, is supported) and the N900 gets no love either. That’s rather sad, I think, when your maemo and Symbian flagships are left out in the cold – boy, these two handsets must feel unwanted!
Click here to download the software if you own one of the supported devices as of the time of this post – Nokia X6, Nokia N97 mini, E72, E55, E52, Nokia 6730 classic, Nokia 6710 Navigator, Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic, Nokia 5800 Navigation Edition, Nokia 5230. If you don’t own one of these, either weep yourself to sleep, or get a Garmin personal navigation device, or just continue using the cracked Garmin Mobile XT software on your Symbian smartphone – don’t worry, life doesn’t end.
And oh, boy, that US$8.1 billion that Nokia paid to buy Navteq (whose maps and products form the basis of Ovi Maps) must look really, really expensive now. Ouch. I wonder what the shareholders will say to this…
