Nokia Drive rides high on the Windows Phone 8 road

Windows Phone 8 (WP8) has hit feeds all over the internet and netizens are abuzz about all it can and cannot do. One of the biggest downers about the OS is the fact that it is an all new operating system and not an upgrade to the existing WP7 platform. This means that Nokia’s current Lumia devices and other WP7 handsets will be slightly outdated when the new OS hits the mainstream. 

One of the better features associated with Nokia and their Lumia range or their Symbian models is Nokia Drive. The location-based service from Nokia is designed to be optimised for smartphones that are compatible with the mapping application and is offered free of charge. With regards to Windows 8 however, Nokia’s Blog recently posted that the Finnish company will be focusing on location-based services and to extend the same services to across other industries.

With the launch of Windows Phone 8 and Nokia being one of the manufacturers (naturally) to be building devices for the OS, the company will be making Nokia Drive available to other Windows Phone 8 partners. They intend to offer the service of their turn-by-turn navigation software to people in over 110 countries. 

Coming to a WP8 handset near you

What this means is that Nokia Drive will be a standard feature to the WP8 feature set under GPS navigation apps. The blog said - Nokia’s Location platform will be central to the Windows Phone 8 experience, with the intention of developing smartphones that bring advanced location experiences. Windows Phone 8 partners and developers will be able to use our location assets to build location-based apps and experiences of superior quality.

Nokia currently has one of the highest stakes in providing quality location data when compared to other smartphone manufacturers in the market. The option to use the service offline also enhances its overall appeal. The software has been designed to offer fast client-side map rendering (50 fps) and only requires 10 per cent of the bandwidth when compared to traditional server-side map platforms.

Their location platform offers -

• Maps data for more than 190 countries in more than 50 languages and navigation in more than 110 countries. 
• It collects information from Nokia Drive users and local authorities to provide traffic alerts in 26 countries, and also allows dynamic rerouting
• The company also provides venue maps in over 5,000 shopping malls, train stations, airport, sports venues, etc. in 35 countries
• Nokia Drive also supports multi-modal routing: by car, on foot (including footpaths, shortcuts, etc. in over 400 cities) and by public transportation (over 100 cities)

Nokia’s current trend has been a steady decline in its work force and stocks but with better mapping integration on WP8 devices and the recent launch of their 41MP camera phone, the 808 Pureview, perhaps things will get better for the once king of the mobile domain.