By Allen Tsai | Thu Jan 21, 2010 6:25 am |
Nokia began offering free navigation software on 10 of its smartphones, matching a move by Google and putting more pressure on mapping leaders Garmin and TomTom.
The Finnish phone maker said the offer, which is completely free, lets consumers use navigation services in handsets without Internet connections and includes features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice prompts and even travel guides."It will help us to sell smartphones," said Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia's head of marketing. "It will serve as a defence to our product prices." The move is an attempt by Nokia to boost sales of its smartphones and stem the slide of its market share to rivals Apple's iPhone and Research in Motion's BlackBerry devices. But many analysts also see it as a defensive to Google, which began giving away its own mapping software on the Motorola Droid and later all smartphones using its Android operating system. Nokia's actions may cause a new wave of acquisitions from Samsung, RIM and Microsoft, as consumers start to expect free navigation software to be a standard option on smartphones. It also hurts key players on the global navigation market such as TomTom, which sells navigation software on the iPhone for $70. Nokia said users can download Ovi Maps from its Web site for free.
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Thu Jan 26, 2012 2:39 pm | By
Nokia's recent loss in profits highlights the company's difficult transition, as it shifts towards Windows phones and gears up for big changes in this year.
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Thu Jan 26, 2012 11:14 am | By
Nokia's Windows Phone-powered Lumia 900 will sell for $100 when it launches at AT&T later this year, according to reports, in a move that will raise the profiles of the maker and the OS.
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Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:30 am | By
Nokia shipped more than one million Lumia handsets last year, analysts estimate, signaling early success for the company's critical Microsoft partnership.
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Thu Jan 12, 2012 1:02 pm | By
Analysts predict a surge of sales for the Windows Phone platform, as Nokia and Microsoft head into the smartphone market in 2012 with updated hardware and plans for heavy promotion.
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