All I can say is that it's about time. Back in January it was announced that new Nokia smartphones would come with free voice navigation in the Ovi Maps application. The E71 was not on that list. The N97 and E72 was initially included, along with a few other devices. This pissed off a lot of E71 users because it is such a popular device.
Just a few minutes ago I was checking my rss feeds and came across this post by the official Ovi blog, announcing that Ovi Maps with free navigation is now available for the Nokia E71 and E66. This is huge news for readers of this blog. You now can rely on Ovi Maps for turn by turn navigation. Prior to this I would only use Google Maps on my E71, but that didn't include voice navigation like Ovi Maps does.
From the Ovi Blog...
The latest Ovi Maps with free walk and drive navigation is now available for Nokia E71 and Nokia E66. Download it now for your Nokia GPS phone at
nokia.com/maps...
...After listening to your overwhelmingly positive feedback and feeling your love for your favourite mobile phone, we have now created a custom version that works on Nokia E71 and Nokia E66. However, because of technical constraints, it isn’t possible to offer premium content such as Michelin and Lonely Planet guides on these devices.
Although these two devices will also be the last of our S60 3.1 and older devices to
sport this version of Ovi Maps, all upcoming Nokia GPS phones will get free walk
and drive navigation. But we are already feeling your excitement: grab your Ovi Maps with free navigation now at nokia.com/maps!
Rafe from All About Symbian has some comments on this new version of Ovi Maps 3.3 running on the E71, with a handy tip about free memory...
Ovi Maps is a relatively large install and will be placed on the C: drive, so you will need to ensure that you have enough free disk space (recommended 10MB or more) before installing the new version. It will replace any existing version
of Ovi Maps or Nokia Maps that is installed on the device.
In usage there are occasions, as with earlier version on the Nokia E71, when Ovi Maps can feel somewhat sluggish compared to more recent devices. However the streamlined user interface is a significant improvement and the new version is a recommended install for all E71 and E66 users, not least for the availability of free car and pedestrian navigation.
For those of you who don't know much about Ovi Maps or haven't tried it I would tell you to give it a shot. I compared it to my sister's TomTom and I prefer Ovi Maps a little more. The directions are more clear and you have more views and layouts to choose from.
Don't forget that you can load up maps to your memory card when the phone is connected to a computer using Nokia Maps Loader. I highly recommend this to save time and data usage. Now the E71 won't have to connect to the web everytime you open Ovi Maps.
Visit nokia.com/maps to download Ovi Maps for the Nokia E71. Be sure to let us know your thoughts on this and your experience with this new version.
