Both Nokia and the wider community have been busy with a lot of updates, some of which we summarize here.

Firstly, Nokia has updated both the Nokia Maps application for your Symbian device, but also a new Nokia Map Loader. Symbian Guru has kindly worked out the direct download links, which are Nokia Maps and Map Loader, if you don’t want to go via the normal Nokia Maps flash webpages.

Symbian Guru also points out that Python for S60 has been updated too, and is now at v1.4.4.

In other Nokia news, Mobile Web Server has been updated to v1.4, and Nokia have also released the new v7 PC Suite, and the Nokia PC Music client is now at v1.5.

Finally, the plan for Nokia to buy Navteq has now been approved by the EU, so it will be interesting to see what impact this has as the companies merge together.

Many people have speed camera databases loaded into their SatNav, and we support and recommend Pocket GPS World as one of the most accurate and regularly updated camera databases for the UK. However, up to now, if you used Nokia Maps on your Symbian phone as your primary navigation device, you were left without speed cameras. This is now resolved. If you head to this HOWTO at Pocket GPS World, they’ll explain what you have to do to get their database working on your phone.

Basically, you have to install a freeware application, and the subscribe to the Pocket GPS World site (if you aren’t already a subscriber), and download the “Nokia Speedcam” specific database from their site, and you’ll have working, and up to date speed cameras on your phone. The software has only been tested on a UK N95 with Nokia Maps v2, although there’s no reason why it shouldn’t work with every S60 3rd edition phone, and, like Nokia Maps, it supports Bluetooth GPS units if you don’t have a built in GPS.

NavNGo have announced that users who bought iGO MyWay 2006 can now upgrade to iGO MyWay 8 Europe. If you bought the European version of iGO MyWay 2006 in 2008, the upgrade is free, else it’s just £70. If you only bought a single country version, then you’ll have to wait a little longer, as the memory card supplied is too small to take the new 3D maps.  More details are available from NavNGo.

Story courtesy of Pocket GPS World.

Nokia has bought Plazes, a location based activity social networking site. It’s believed that Plazes will eventually become part of the Ovi strategy, and may even get absorbed into Nokia Maps (Nokia Maps is mainly developed by Nokia Location Service, which is the new name for Gate5, who are based in Berlin alongside Plazes’ development team). Plazes itself today is not very mobile friendly (no m.plazes.com, no mobile specific browser support, no windows mobile / symbian clients, although SMS is supported and there is an iPhone client due soon), so it will be interesting to see how quickly Nokia get those things changed. There is a Nokia Internet Tablet client, although we couldn’t even persuade it to login to plazes, let alone interact with the site.

Given Google’s Android phone OS is likely to be including a whole range of Location Based Services from day one when it ships later this year / early next year, if Nokia want to compete they will need to get a Symbian client created quickly, integrate the Plazes solution into their whole suite of online websites, and get new firmwares out for existing phones as well as their new phones (after all, if you can upgrade your current phone to support all the same features as a Google phone, the need to replace your Nokia with a non-Nokia phone will diminish, and keeping their current customers must be key to Nokia over the next few months as Google and Apple release “must have” phones).

As predicted a week ago, Nokia have announced the E66 and E71 phones.

The E71 has a built in GPS, QWERTY keyboard, a 3.2megapixel camera, is 114mm x 57mm x10mm and weighs 126g.  It should be with us in Q2 or Q3, and features a new Calendar application, which we’re certainly interested to learn more about.

The E66 is the successor to the E65, and is a slider.  It features a 2.4″ screen, but packs HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth, and also has a 3.2megapixel camera. Both phones support the latest Ovi sharing tools Nokia is promoting, ie Nokia Maps (both features A-GPS), as well as music and media sharing, features that might more traditionally have been only seen on the Nseries range of handsets.  As part of their Eseries Enterprise capabilities, both can encrypt both their internal memory and memory cards, both can access Microsoft Exchange Servers, and both feature the MobileVPN client.  Some security settings can be managed centrally as well, which will make them even more popular with large corporate customers.

Here’s a roundup of a few additional points and information that have been released since the initial launch earlier this week.

Firstly, there are rumours that O2 are going to allow the iPhone 3G to be tethered to a laptop via Bluetooth, ie you can get access to the internet from the laptop via the iPhone. This is unconfirmed, and some people have indicated that the early iPhone 2.0 firmwares do not contain this functionality, so unless Apple pull something out of the hat at the last minute, this may not happen. Of course, many people argue that the iPhone has enough capability that you won’t want or need to use your laptop at all!

On the more positive, Unlimited WiFi will be available on the iPhone 3G at 9,500 hotspots covering both The Cloud and BT’s OpenZone network, which will be added in on 11th July, the iPhone launch date.

There’s no front facing camera, despite what a few people are claiming, so no 3G video calling.  Whether this was something that was dropped from the development to meet the timescales, or whether it was a purposeful decision (after all, how many of us make regular video calls, compared to voice calls…?) we’ll never know, but for now, there’s no capability.

There’s some questions over navigation apps, with some people claiming that companies like TomTom will not be able to release SatNav software because of a clause which prevents real-time navigation apps.  We believe that this clause relates to the use of the SDK to access the Google Maps data, which, of course, TomTom will not be using.  As such, we doubt this clause will prevent a wide raft of SatNav applications becoming available.

All in all, we suspect there will be a lot more news about the iPhone between now and a month’s time.

Maplin are selling a GPS Tracker, which offers the ability to record your location as you travel around.  It can record at a variety of differing levels, providing either greater accuracy, or a greater time period the logs are recorded for.  Unlike other units, it doesn’t support external media cards, so you are limited by the internal memory, but for most people it will still easily cover a day or two of photography.  It uses the Sirf Star III chipset for greater accuracy, measures 47 x 29 x 12mm and weighs only 21g.  It’s claimed to be compatible with Google Maps and Google Earth, and is water resistant.  For £39.99, it might well be worth a look for many budding photographers…

Thanks to Mark at Automated Home for the heads up.

After Nokia extended their map coverage into 9 new countries, NavNGo have announced they are about to release maps for Argentina, Brasil and Colombia.  In combination with their 3D mapping, they are trying very hard to compete with the established players, and if they can get their iPhone application we covered before released soon, they could become even more popular.

In contrast, within hours of Apple’s iPhone 3G launch yesterday, TomTom confirmed that they have their SatNav software working on the iPhone 3G, and plan to release it soon (although they have yet to announce an actual date).

Finally, here’s an interesting picture…

This appears to be (if it’s not fake) an iPhone running Navigon’s software, so it looks likely that all the major players are planning on iPhone solutions this year.

Navigon picture courtesy of Navigadget.

No, it’s not another update to the software, this time it’s the maps; Nokia have extended their coverage and have now got maps available for Venezuela, Jordan, Phillipines, South Korea, Vietnam, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and Swaziland. These new maps are only available to the new Nokia Maps 2.0 client, so if you are still using the elder client, you won’t be able to access these maps.

Nokia have announced that if you are running the Map 2.0 beta version (ie from the Nokia Beta Labs website), then the support for satellite images within the program will finish soon. However, the solution is easy; upgrade to the full Nokia Maps 2.0 released version, and you will continue to be able to view satellite images.

Download the released version here.

Nokia Maps 2.0 has now been formally released by Nokia and is available for download from here. Although this adds little since the last beta version, all the beta versions have added lots more functionality than Nokia Maps 1.0. The main new features since 1.0 are improved car navigation and pedestrian modes, support for satellite images, much more local content, multimedia city guides, and a new user interface. Other features we should coming (as mentioned before) are near real time traffic information, and links into “Share with Ovi” for sharing POIs and routes.

One of the fixes that’s occurred between the first beta and the release is that UK 7 digit postcodes now work properly.  They’ve also added Network based positioning (similar to that used in Google Maps) for a rough location until the GPS can precisely locate you.  This works on most phones today, although the E90 will need a “software update” will should be released soon.

This all bodes well for Nokia, although they are still a little behind TomTom and Garmin with their feature range, and some people are still questioning their pricing model. It will be interesting to see how many current phones get new firmwares with this version installed by default..

Nokia have announced that Nokia Maps will link into their Ovi user content sharing platform. Maps on Ovi will allow users to plan their trips on their desktop and then synchronise (automatically or manually) this data to their smartphones. Also, users will be able to record routes and POIs whilst out travelling and upload them to Ovi to share them with their friends and family. Although not available now, Nokia hope to have this technology released around September time (missing most people’s Summer Holiday, but that might give them more time to iron out any bugs or issues before people come to rely upon it). More news over the coming months as and when we get it.

In the meantime, Nokia have recently updated the Nokia Maps 2.0 beta version, so if you are trying out the new software, we’d recommend getting the latest update.

Picture and some content courtesy of Crave.

Here’s the new HTC Touch Diamond. HTC have redesigned their TouchFlo interface, and hope that many users won’t even realise it’s Windows Mobile 6 underneath their interface. The specs are:

• Windows Mobile 6.1
• Triband GSM/GPRS/EDGE at 900/1800/1900 MHz
• Qualcomm 528 MHz CPU
• Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
• WiFi b/g
• eGPS
• FM Radio
• 128 MB RAM
• 256 MB ROM
• 4 GB flash
• 2.8″ VGA display(640×480)
• Front and rear cameras (rear 3.2 Megapixel)

O2 have confirmed they will be releasing the XDA Diamond. It’s also likely that the Touch Diamond will ship with TomTom Navigator 7, and a single downloadable City Map, with the ability to purchase further maps.

If you like the idea of a nice new interface, but already have a Windows Mobile device, or don’t want to buy a Touch Diamond, then head over to Pointui, who have produced their own interface for Windows Mobile, which may be a suitable candidate. Thanks to Mark at AutomatedHome for alerting us to this option.

Nokia have announced an agreement with ARC Transistance, the European network of automobile clubs, to provide near real time traffic data across Europe for the new Nokia Maps 2.0 software. This will allow Nokia Maps to take this data and dynamically reroute based on the traffic. ARC can provide data for 20 countries, and uses iTIS Holdings in the UK as it’s data provider. It’s not clear when this data will be available. No word on pricing yet, although we suspect it will be a similar amount that everyone charges…

TomTom have announced a range of new units over the last few weeks. Firstly, they have updated the TomTom RIDER motorcycle unit (now called RIDER 2), with MapShare, trip statistics, itinerary planning and Help Me! functionality. This functionality will also be available to existing RIDER units via a software update, and the new maps should be available in a month or two as well.

They have also announced two new ONE models, the TomTom ONE and ONE XL. These feature a new ultra slim form factor, large speaker and a unique mount solution. Known as EasyPort™, the new mount design allows it to be left attached to the device and folded against itself making it small enough to fit easily into a pocket or bag.

Some content and picture courtesy of PocketGPSWorld.

Over at Pocket GPS World, they’ve published a full and frank review of the SatMap Active 10. They’ve covered all aspects of the device, in fact the only additional “Con” we would add to the Pros and Cons is the overall cost, especially if you want a lot of OS maps on the device. Head over to read the review.

[Via Mapomatic]

This 8 megapixel is not unique, but certainly different from the standard camera you can buy. As well as the 3″ touchscreen on the rear, it includes a GPS module to record exactly where the picture was taken. The press release (pdf document) refers to their solution as a GPS Navigation solution, indicating the camera contains maps as well as the actual GPS hardware, but it’s not yet clear how good the maps are, nor which countries they will be providing mapping for. However, it’s certainly the sign of things to come, and we can expect many more cameras with GPS (or GPS addons) in the coming months.

Story and picture courtesy of NaviGadget.

There’s a nice review of Garmin’s Mobile XT over on Tracy and Matt’s Blog. The biggest drawback appears to be the fact that Garmin link the software to the serial number of the SD card, meaning you can’t move the software and maps to another larger card. Head over to read the review.

Thanks to Mark for the heads up.

Google have expanded their range of devices supported by dedicated Google Maps clients, and they now have a dedicate, native UIQ version, which is compatible with the Sony Ericsson phones with touch screens; P1, W960i, W950, M600, P990, and the Motorola Z8. Also compatible are the upcoming Sony Ericsson G700 and G900, as well as the Motorola Z10. It’s available now by pointing the browser on your UIQ phone to google.com/gmm and following the prompts.

The UK SatMap Active 10 GPS device, which offers a whole range of OS maps (at additional charge) has just received a fairly major software update. The new version, v1.15 features the following updates:

• A blue ‘You Are Here’ dot to distinguish current location from the red track dots.
• The ability to hide inactive routes to avoid ‘clutter’ on a map. (Main Menu > Settings > Routes Control)
• A battery meter that gives a more accurate indication of the power remaining, and an indication of when the unit is connected to an external power source.
• A more accurate record of the trip data.
• The ability to download the raw track data from the Active 10 onto a PC (via SatSYNC).
• The ability to display elevation data derived from the GPS system as opposed to from an in built height data set. (Main Menu > Settings > GPS Settings)
• The ability to calibrate the compass from the compass page.
• A low power mode that automatically sets up the unit up to maximise the battery life. (Main Menu > Settings > Advanced Power Control)
• The ability to reset the track and the trip log simultaneously. (Main Menu >Routes Menu > Reset Data)
• A 15 second screen off option. (Main Menu > Settings > Power Control)

“The new software also has a new power management system that significantly reduces
the overall power consumption of the Active 10, thereby improving battery
performance. It should also improve the GPS acquisition time and upgrade the signal
lock in difficult conditions such as under tree canopies.
The most obvious change is to the start-up operation: when switched on, the Active 10
(with no map card loaded), goes to the GPS status screen first. Yellow blocks appear on
the bar chart whilst the unit is picking up the satellites, which turn orange once they
have acquired the data from each one. Once a sufficient number of satellites have been
acquired, the unit locks on, and then automatically switches to the GPS Map screen.”

About the only thing missing from the SatMap website is information on how to obtain the new software…