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Nokia's new Ovi Maps races past 1.4m downloads

Stuart Dredge
Nokia's new Ovi Maps races past 1.4m downloads

Free navigation clearly a point of interest for users.

Nokia has announced that more than 1.4 million people have downloaded its new version of Ovi Maps in the week since it was made available on 21st January.

The application includes free navigation functionality, which explains the rush. "We're averaging a download a second, 24 hours a day," says EVP Anssi Vanjoki.

"When we announced free walk & drive navigation we knew it would be a game-changer. The number of people now using their Nokia for navigation, and as a result looking for more location-aware software, is growing faster than even we predicted."

Nokia's move followed Google's release of its own Google Maps Navigation on Android. However, that was only available on one handset initially, whereas Nokia's was available for multiple phones.

Ovi Maps passed one million downloads just a week after the new version launched. Vanjoki says it's good news for developers and operators alike.

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Within a matter of days there is an installed base of more than one million active users all potentially hungry for new and innovative location-aware apps," he says.

"For the operators too there is a growing opportunity to sell more data-plans and a complete navigation package to existing and new customers."

Intriguingly, the most popular country in terms of downloads of the new version is China, says Nokia - followed by Italy, the UK, Germany and Spain. The 5800 XpressMusic is the most popular handset.

Nokia says that from next month, it will preload the new version on all its GPS-capable phones, including local country map data.

Tags: ovi store , Nokia