Nokia advances Ovi with Mail, Maps and Messaging

Nokia Corp. continued to build out its Ovi service with new e-mail and instant messaging solutions as well as an enhanced mapping offering.
The handset-maker-cum-Internet-services-company unveiled Mail on Ovi, an online portal that offers 1GB of storage space and spam filters for Ovi e-mail account holders. A beta version of the service is slated for global rollout later this year in 12 languages including English, Spanish, Portuguese and French; a Web version will launch in February.
Another new service, Nokia Messaging, will allow instant messaging users to access services such as AOL Mail, Google Talk, Gmail, Windows Live Hotmail and Yahoo Mail and Messenger. Nokia Messaging will launch in the first quarter of next year in Australia, Singapore, Venezuela and five European countries through a free, limited-period beta trial.
Nokia also upgraded its navigation service, adding features such as high-resolution aerial images, 3-D landmarks and a route overview. The combination of Nokia Maps and Ovi enables users to plan journeys at home on desktop computers and synch them with mobile handsets.
“Nokia has clearly increased the usability of maps, and now with the integration of Ovi services, the functionality of this service can also be seen,” said Michael Halbherr, VP of location-based experiences at Nokia.
The Finnish firm announced the new services at Nokia World in Barcelona, Spain, alongside the unveiling of the new N97 handset. Ovi, which was introduced last year, comprises a host of consumer-facing offerings including games, social networking sites, mapping and music.