With what can only be seen as as another blow for dedicated portable navigation devices, Nokia has released an application called Own Voice for Ovi Maps. This application lets you create your own drive guidance instructions and share them with friends and family. With free voice. Our friends at AllaboutSymbian have more in-depth guide to this new app.

Another do-it-yourself solution from Nokia is the OVI app wizard, that allows you to create your own apps in minutes. The idea is great and should not only allow people to make their own customized apps, but it should open the range of apps available. OVI app wizard can be found here.

Both the Nokia E71 and E66 are getting the latest version of Ovi Maps with free walk and drive navigation. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Nokia generally has a habit of updating their most popular handsets long after their initial release. Especially the E71 is one of Nokia’s most popular device and is still a popular choice, reason enough for Nokia’s blessings in the form of this update.

E71 and E66 owners should get the latest firmware update by downloading the latest version of Nokia Software Update and than getting the latest version of OVI Maps for their devices.

Speaking of OVI Maps, isn’t there a certain Maemo 5-based device that still needs to get this update?

The Nokia N900 finally got its share of GPS navigation goodness from Sygic, with their Mobile Maps for Nokia N900. The turn-by-turn voice guided navigation application is the first to hit the Maemo platform, but does come at a steep price, especially when you consider that other Nokia devices such as the N97, E72 and now the N86 8MP all have unlimited free voice guide navigation with OVI Maps.

Currently they’re supporting Europe (59.99 EUR), US (49.99 EUR) and Canada (39.99 EUR), with more regions to follow soon. Adding it all up, we would be looking at a price of about 150 Euros. At that price I could easily get the Nokia 5230 with free OVI Maps turn-by-turn voice guided navigation. With more regions being added soon, you’d be looking at an even higher price if you go the Sygic route.

One could argue that the average user will probably stick to a single region and that buying all available regions at 150 Euros is unrealistic. That’s true until you realize that OVI Maps is offering all of those regions and MORE completely free. For this reason we can’t really recommend Sygic with their Mobile Maps for Nokia N900, unless you really want to have on the N900. We’d say skip it and simply get a second device, such as the Nokia 5230.

As for for the updated OVI Maps for the N900, we’re still getting the “We are working on extending OviMaps w/ free navigation also for other Nokia phones” from Nokia. In the mean tim I think I’ll just dream of my N900 magically getting OVI Maps with free navigation.

Are you getting the Sygic solution or would rather wait for the updated OVI Maps for the N900?

Nokia has announced that a new version of Ovi Maps for its smartphones that includes walk and drive navigation is now completely Free! Supported devices include the Nokia N97 mini, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, Nokia 5800 Navigation Edition, Nokia E52, Nokia E55, Nokia E72, Nokia 5230, Nokia 6710 Navigator, Nokia 6730 classic and Nokia X6.

Strangely missing is the N97. But we’ve been assured that “that compatibility for the N97 will be coming very soon!” The part that has not been confirmed, but what’s likely causing the delay is that a new firmware for the N97 is coming next week and that Nokia is waiting for the firmware to release the Maps update. So when they soon, this probably means next week!

What about the N900? Apparently the N900 could get it eventually, but that’s not a priority right now. According to Engadget in call with Michael Halbherr, Nokia’s VP of Social Location, they were told that: “N900 owners shouldn’t hold their breath, though, as Nokia is focusing on bringing its free navigation service to the next generation of Maemo devices. That’s not to say that the N900 won’t get it eventually, only that it’s not currently on the roadmap.”

The N900 just recently became available, yet they are focusing on “next generation of Maemo devices.” But why does a device such as the E72 get the support? This is simply unacceptable from our stand point. (Update: The N900 will get this update, but not soon)

There’s no denying that that this announcement is simply awesome, making the entire suite of OVI services a strong argument in favor of Nokia devices, but I also have to wonder how much of this was influenced by the fact that Google made walk and drive navigation free on it’s Android devices. This is also begs the question how this will affect the sales of dedicated GPS devices, mannufacturers like TomTom and other navigation apps on the market. It’s very convenient though to be able to just simply pick up your device and use it as a GPS unit, without ever worrying about fees or buying individual city maps.

The latest version of OVI Maps can be found here.

What do you think of today’s announcements?

Our friends at WOM World/Nokia have invited us to the OVI Daily App “Must Have App of the Year” virtual awards 2009. This award celebrates the best mobile applications of the year and invites us to vote for the best apps. The final winners will be announced live on January 6th, 2010 at Ovi Daily App.

All I can say right now is Gravity and more Gravity! Shazam is also another noteworthy app and TuneWiki for Maemo is also very impressive. What’s your app(s) of the year?

THE NOMINEES ARE…

Music App

• BandFan
• Midomi Music Identifier
• Playlist DJ
• Shazam
• TuneWiki Lyrics Search

Social Networking App

• BuddyCloud
• Facebook for Nokia
• Fring
• Nimbuzz
• ShoZu

Twitter App

• Gravity
• Tweets60
• Twittle
• Twittix
• Pixelpipe for Share

City Guides and Mapping App

• I Parked Here
• Lonely Planet Live
• PinPoints
• Trapster
• WorldMate 2009

Photo or Video App

• CellSpin
• Nokia Photo Browser
• Scalado PhotoRama
• Touchnote
• Qik

Entertainment App

• Anina Backstage Model News
• Netflix for Nokia (U.S. only)
• Dad’s Cab
• SPB TV
• Vibrate

News & Info App

• Accuweather.com Widget
• AP News Widget
• Bloomberg
• Metro News Widget
• Tech Buzz Homescreen Widget

Must-Have Games

• California Gold Rush
• Eat This!
• Farm Frenzy
• MicroPool S60
• Super KO Boxing 2

Utilities App

• What is your vote for Must-Have Utilities App?   DocScanner
• Florin Finance Tracker
• SBSH VoiceQ
• SMS Tag
• Vlingo

If you’ve looked at today’s Booklet 3G video, you’ll notice an open application that clearly looks like an OVI Application, but doesn’t appear to be OVI Suite 1.1 or 2.

What do you think of the idea of having an OVI Chat desktop client that supports AIM, Windows Live, Yahoo and Google?

Contacts

1.OVI Contacts Sync: There’s always the option to backup your contacts to your SIM, but what if your phone gets stolen? With this option you’ll always have an online backup that can be edited from any PC connected to the net. Another plus is that it’s great if you have multiple device, allowing you to sync all your contacts among your devices. I also like the fact that you can upload pictures to the OVI Contacts service and the image will be neatly added to that contact. You can always do this the other way around.

Setup is easy, but you’ll need to create a Nokia account. Once in your account, just go to Contacts and “Add a device.” Follow the instructions to get the SMS and save the sync settings.

On your phone go to Settings>Connectivity>Data Transfer>Sync. Once there go into Options and choose “Change Active Profile” and choose OVI.com. Press Options again and choose Synchronise. Your device should now be synced with OVI contacts! Only downside I could find to this method is that it doesn’t provide auto-sync. The process of syncing has to be done manually, but it works as advertised.

2.Google Sync: A service similar to OVI Contacts, but with one big difference: In just a few minutes changes will automatically show on your computer. The same can be said about changes made on the web.

For this service to work you will need to install Mail for Exchange. But once that’s done it’s simply a matter of heading to m.google.com/sync from your desktop and follow the instructions. If you already have Mail for Exchange installed you can skip to Set up Google Sync.

Files

3.Files on OVI: Backup for many meant emailing files to yourself, there are more useful ways of doing backup and access file stored online or your computer. Previously a paid service, Files on OVI is now completely free. Be sure to login into your account on your PC and and install the Files Connector. Now for the mobile client, point your mobile browser to https://files.ovi.com/wrt/fl/downloadw (Thanks to Steve at AllAboutsymbian) and you’re good to go.

4. Windows Live SkyDrive: Similar to Files, but without the remote access to files on your PC, basically 25GB of online storage accessible from the mobile browser. A major plus over Files is that it offers more than twice the amount of storage. On your mobile browser head on to http://skydrive.live.com/. Off course also accessible from the PC.

5.Windows Live Mesh: Live Mesh is like the previous two services combined, but on steroids. With online storage, remote file access from multiple computers at a time, a virtual desktop and even history showing what files were added and from what device, this service is clearly better the best. Only thing lacking is a native Symbian application.

Applications

6.Backup Memory Card/Mass Memory: Nokia devices sometimes come with apps preinstalled with no way of getting them back, good examples of this are Panoman for the N82 and Guitar Rock Band for the N97.As We’ve indicated earlier backup the content  of your Mass Memory or Memory card should be one of the first things you do when you get a new phone.

7:Backup using PC Suite/OVI Suite: Probably one of the earlier ways of backing up your Nokia smartphones but an important one nonetheless. If all else fails, a great way to backup everything from phone memory, mass memory, memory card, contacts, calendar, notes, messages, bookmarks and settings and to store them on a good old fasion CD-R/W and DVD-R/W +R/RW.

What’s your method of choice when it comes to backup? What methods do you use that’s not on the list?

This was a guest post by Ritchie a remote backup expert

Files on OVI, Nokia’s service that allows you access files on your computer from any remote PC (via Web browser) or mobile device, used to cost:

- 10GB Monthly: €6.99
- 10GB Annual: €49.99
- 30GB Monthly: €12.99
- 30GB Annual: €99.99

but as of today, the service is now completely free!. If you currently have a paid subscription, you will receive a refund for the remaining portion of your subscription. Why make it free? Nokia says that: “On-the-go file access is a basic component of a complete mobile lifestyle offering. Providing Ovi Files for free enables Nokia to connect more people to Ovi and accelerate the creation of even more advanced Files and Ovi features.”

Yesterday, in the early parts of the day our house was robbed, including my Nokia N800, N810, N95 8GB and a trial N81 8GB device I had in my room. One of the devices, a N91 8GB must have fallen underneath a pillow and was left behind by the robbers. Besides loosing my devices, I was worried about loosing all of my contacts information. All worried, I sat to think how I was going to get all my contact information back. The thought about loosing all of this data I had built up over the year was a scary one, definitely one I didn’t want to consider. But hey, I had to. Normally, I would use PC Suite or OVI Suite to sync this info with my notebook PC, but sadly even that was taken.

It wasn’t until a few hours later I realized that I had setup OVI Sync on my N95 8GB and had synced everything with the online OVI Sync service. All of my appointments, notes and contacts were safely stored online, ready to be access from any PC and sync with any new Nseries device I would purchase in the future. I could also remove the old device right from the online service and add the new one. This can be a handy feature for especially businessman, where literally the contacts are more important than the device itself, but hey it can be useful for anyone, in my case a life saver. This also proves the power of “Cloud Computing”, the idea of having all your data safely stored online, ready to be accessed from any PC and put on your next device.

Has OVI sync proven to be useful for you? Do you think Nokia should go for an entirely online (browser-based) phone management software?