We’ve already been more than a little impressed by the turn-by-turn directions offered by Ovi Maps 3.03, but it can be a little tricky to operate depending on the size of your Nokia’s screen and the location you put your Nokia in when driving. As such, the announcement that Nokia has teamed up with Alpine to offer in-car navigation is a positive one, and could shake up the sat-nav market even more. Read on after the jump…
We’ve been trying out Ovi Maps 3.03 as an in-car satellite navigation device on our Nokia N97 Mini for the past couple of weeks now – find out how we’ve been getting on – and it’s a great solution. The only thing we can really pick fault with is the size of the screen – when attached to the car window the Nokia N97 Mini looks very small. It’s fine for mapping and directions, but the onscreen buttons are small when at arm’s length.
The ability to sync your Nokia with your in-car entertainment system would be particular handy then, and a partnership between Nokia and Alpine is set to allow you to do just that.
Alpine is working with car manufacturers to fit high-res screens and stereos into their cars, with the ability to connect to your Nokia via Bluetooth or a USB cable. You’ll then be able to access Ovi Maps through the screen and your Nokia, with the ability to also transmit directions to the car’s speakers. With this system in place, you’ll also be able to play music from your Nokia through the car’s speakers.
A release date for the new technology hasn’t yet been announced, but according to Recombu the technology is “close to release”