Sophisticated Web-and-Mobile Mapping Service for Nokia

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Nokia’s upcoming Maps on Ovi service will let you do your planning on a desktop browser and automatically sync everything to your GPS-enabled Nokia handset.Part 1 of a special five-part series.

Owners of Nokia GPS-enabled cell phones will have access to a highly integrated Web-and-mobile mapping service later this year when Nokia rolls out Maps on Ovi.

In a demo on the eve of a formal presentation set for Tuesday at the Where 2.0 conference in Burlingame, California, Nokia representatives said the service would add a robust Web component to its already capable handset navigation

Like other cell phone navigation services, Nokia Maps 2.0 provides turn-by-turn voice navigation, as well as a huge points-of-interest (POI) database. However, unlike most carrier-based services, which are server-based and require network access to function, Nokia Maps keeps its software on the handset, so the phone can work as a personal navigation device even when it’s out of cellular network range.

You do need network access to download maps and to purchase licenses for the service, which is available on a region-by-region basis for limited durations ranging from 30 days to one year. For example, you might purchase access to service in Europe for a month for about $14.

In an interesting innovation, Nokia also will offer a sparer version of the service for pedestrian directions only, which for the same month in Europe would cost about $8 or $9.

You’d have to pay another $14 to license walking/driving software for 30 days in North America or another region, but at least you’d have the option. Most U.S. navigation services on cell phones don’t work at all overseas, even if the handset itself can support international roaming for data and voice.

Nokia will bill customers directly via credit card–another difference between its service and carrier alternatives, which submit charges through your usual cell phone bill. This is why Nokia’s minimum license is for 30 days; while carriers can afford to add small charges for single-day access to their bills, the credit card overhead would kill Nokia’s profits if it were to try the same approach.