News · 25 Feb 2013 · MTW Editorial Team
Today’s a big day for all Windows Phone 8 users with the start of MWC in Barcelona and Nokia’s Keynote which just ended a few minutes ago. The big news besides the introduction of the Nokia Lumia 720 and Lumia 520 is the updated and rebrand of Nokia’s mapping services which will now all sport the HERE name. This means that Nokia Maps is now Here Maps, Nokia Drive + is Here Drive + etc.
But it get’s better: they are now available to ALL Windows Phone 8 users in US, Canada, Mexico, UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain! That’s right folks, Nokia has decided to make a really bold move today to help the Windows Phone ecosystem. You no longer need to own a Nokia Lumia handset to have access to these awesome applications.
I just tried them ll out on my Lumia 920 and the first thing I noticed is that rendering performance has greatly improved in HERE Maps (formerly Nokia Maps..) which is something that I’ve been waiting for for a while. HERE City Lens is now also a lot smoother than the previous version which I noted as having really poor rendering perfs when it was released no long ago. It’s also now possible to save any POI as a favorite in every Here apps and access this favorite list from any other HERE app or service. HERE Drive + Beta aka Nokia Drive Drive has been updated with some UI tweaks and a battery icon overlay that lets you see you remaining battery life without having to exist the application.
Nokia is also going to add the Augmented Reality ( SightLine ) view to HERE Maps in an upcoming update and a new camera Lense: Nokia Place Tag
When you are taking photos with the Place Tag lens, your Lumia will capture the image and also record the Points of Interest (POIs) that are visible in the viewfinder and the name and address.
You can download all these new updates here: HERE Maps, HERE Drive, and HERE Transit.
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