A 3D view of the Singapore Esplanade as viewed from Nokia's Ovi Maps.

CORP TALK: So Nokia’s gone and announced a new version of Ovi Maps, which is incidentally free for life. Yes, you heard that right. Where Nokia used to charge a certain amount for voice navigation either daily, weekly, monthly and so forth, you now get it free of charge.

A screenshot from the Lonely Planet guide that comes with Ovi Maps.

Better yet, it’s free in 74 countries and in 46 languages. There’s more: Nokia’s also throwing in free detailed maps for all 180 countries they support (via Navteq), with 10 of those countries having traffic information.

This looks like an intentional shot across the bow of personal navigation device (PND) makers such as Garmin, as Nokia plans to roll out the new Ovi Maps across their entire lineup of GPS-enabled mobile devices, past and present.

All the way back to the venerable Nokia N95, Nokia has shipped approximately 83 million GPS-enabled devices since; that’s no small number.

With Nokia deciding to throw in their maps for free is also quite stunning, especially if you consider that many PND vendors make a business out of selling maps of different countries to their customer base.

Before the break, here’s a video highlighting features from Ovi Maps:

Monitor the latest traffic information in over 10 countries across four continents.

A landscape view of Nokia Ovi Maps.

This is made even more significant by the fact that Ovi Maps can now run without the need for an active data connection, where users can simply launch voice navigation, so long as a GPS signal can be found, as well as assuming the proper maps have been downloaded beforehand.

For example, one could turn on voice navigation for when driving in Singapore, and as he or she goes on holiday in Berlin, would still be able to turn on voice navigation for walking just as easily, providing the maps for Germany were loaded prior.

A screenshot of a weather forecast from Nokia Ovi Maps.

If you’ve been worried about roaming data charges from map data downloads, that’s one less worry to consider.

For Ovi Maps users in Singapore, they’ll get access to the Lonely Planet travel guides (all for free), the HungryGoWhere restaurant guide, Wcities events guide, and weather information.

Singapore consumers will also have access to free Live Traffic information by the Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA) on their mobile, allowing for re-routing/alternative routes when there are traffic incidences. Other downloadable location-based applications and widgets available are Fashion Asia by FJ Benjamin, Driving@SG, and the IS magazine guide.

The current list of compatible Nokia devices are as follows: 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.

For the latest list of supported devices, you can check here.

Eagle-eyed individuals might notice that the Nokia N97 is missing from the list. Word on the street is that the N97’s current firmware doesn’t support the new version of Ovi Maps, and as such, N97 users should expect a firmware update in the next few days (or weeks), that will come with the new Ovi Maps built in.