Nokia to offer Smart2Go mapping services
For those not really interested in picking up a third-party GPS module / application and doing your own routing, Nokia is looking to add a mapping service of its own to handsets in order to give users turn-by-turn guidance for a fee. After acquiring Gate5 last year, Nokia decided that adding navigation capabilities was "a natural move," and its forthcoming Smart2Go system will offer up free mapping and routing services and a fee-based turn-by-turn option if you've just got to have that robotic helper bossing you around (or can't take your eyes off the road). Smart2Go customers will need a WiFi or direct PC connection to download applicable maps to their phone, and Nokia claims that it's got 100 countries and 13 million POIs already covered; folks can even search by location directly just like your average portable GPS and get phone numbers and other pertinent information, presumably gratis. No word on when Nokia plans to get this going, but if we're seeing this right, the phone giant will be offering it up on "all of its converged devices," so it looks your (read: any) Nokia is covered.
