Nokia takes on sat nav world with free application

Nokia has entered the competitive sat-nav market with a free download for all users of its smartphones.

The Finnish phone maker has previously offered a map function on its handsets, but they came at a cost. All new Nokia GPS-enabled smartphones will come with the Ovi-maps software pre-loaded from March, while current owners will be able to download it immediately.

Drivers heading abroad will also benefit, as Nokia is offering global maps for free instead of charging for individual countries as some sat nav makers do. In total, Ovi maps offers voice guidance for 74 countries, detailed maps for 180 countries, guidance in 46 languages and traffic information for more than 10 countries.