HTC Releases Offline Nav-Maps for WP, Set to Rival Nokia Drive (Not Really)

Yep, what you’re seeing above is HTCs latest weapon added to the arsenal of it’s 16MP titanII; Free offline Navigation support to all HTC WP- or is it?

I won’t go around hating on the service itself since-

• A- I haven’t tried it- it’s possible that it’s slightly good.
• B- Looking past the fact that they’re trying to mimic Nokia services for Lumia phones this IS a good thing because it will offer more services to WP as a whole (be it HTC or Nokia, it makes WP look more desirable = More users = More developers). As well as the fact that it can be used to draw attention to Nokia Drive/Maps (and be used against HTC; getting to that in a second).

So why can this be used for Nokia’s favor? Simply because these maps aren’t truly free- tiny handwriting in the app explains that it’s free for the first month (depending on location I think) after which you have to buy Navigation maps for each country ($30 per map I think?)- similar to the navigation services nokia was offering about 2 years ago before they did away with the charges (I remember a glitch in my 5800 where buying the nav through Visa/Mastercard would cost $100 but through Mobile credit it only deducted $3- so I had no problems with that). Anyways; if Nokia chooses to do so they can advertise Nokia maps as the only TRULY FREE NAVIGATION FOR LIFE or embaress/pressure HTC into making this service free which can’t hurt (refer to point “B” above).

Reminder- for those who are a bit confused why I don’t care if HTC gets more customers it’s basically because Nokia already have the largest WP market share in less than a year of releasing their products-leading in WP Is not an issue for them, getting WP TO LEAD OTHER OSes is. (refer to Q&A for more details)

VIA

Category: Nokia, Symbian, Windows Phone