Nokia announces Here, a new maps service coming to iOS

Apple's already had plenty of maps-related woes, and here comes what might be even more trouble. At an event in San Francisco, Nokia has announced a brand-new maps service called Here, and in addition to releasing across Nokia's usual platforms, the service also has an iOS app that's already been submitted to Apple and should be available soon.

Nokia has also acquired a mapping company named Earthmine that specializes in street-level 3D mapping, so presumably it will be putting them to work on mapping out street locations all over the world for Here. There are also some big pushes to include user-submitted data (including a "Map Creator"), and Nokia will also provide live traffic information and directions (including for mass transit) as needed.

The Next Web has a quick run through of Here, although it is not without its own flaws. There's an API for Android, providing a new mapping resource for developers, but the iOS app will actually be an HTML5-based app. Nokia has said its working with Mozilla to bring its maps to Firefox OS, but if you want to sample what is available now, you can check out Here.net in your browser right now.

So here's a big push by Nokia on a market that even Apple has floundered in lately. This is a big bet, but it's possible that Nokia, of all companies, could end up filling in with a great maps solution where Apple's own system has had a few missteps.

[via Engadget]