Nokia announced a new mapping product dubbed as “HERE” that will be available on variety of platforms in the near future, including iOS and Android. As we know iOS 6 Maps is a disaster, If you are in a country like India, Apple Maps is the last thing you want when considering maps apps. Now Nokia wants to jump into the mapping market and introduce their Maps product to more platforms.
HERE on iOS: Nokia is launching an iOS maps app that will work on iPad, iPod and iPhone, the app is based on HTML5 technologies and offers offline capabilities to the HERE maps, voice-guided walk navigation and public transport directions. The app is not yet live and it will be available as free download from Apple’s appstore in the coming weeks.
If you want to see what HERE has to offer you can try the web version of the app by going to m.here.net on you iOS device. The interface has some rough edges but it is not bad.
HERE for Firefox OS: Nokia also partnered with Mozilla to bring HERE to it’s upcoming mobile operating system, Firefox OS (formerly known as Boot to Gecko). Nokia and Mozilla are working together to bring the mobile version of the HERE maps for the Firefox OS next year.
“Mozilla is a leader in HTML5, building the Web as a platform for developing compelling applications, and location is a key part of that platform,” said Jay Sullivan, Mozilla Vice President of Products. “We are excited to work with Nokia as the combination of Firefox OS and HERE’s location platform provides rich possibilities for mobile application developers to create amazing experiences for users.”
HERE for Android: Nokia has announced an SDK toolkit for Android OEMs for creating Maps applications using HERE APIs. The Android SDK will be available in the early next year, that means we may not see an Android app for HERE in the near future, but nevertheless you can still use the mobile web version of the HERE maps.
Nokia is committed to improve the Maps product and it’s 3D capabilities, it acquired earthmine, a 3D mapping company to bring their 3D imagery platform to HERE maps, that will help Nokia to compete with Google’s Street View.
