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:

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It's a smartphone! It's a notebook! No, it's a Booklet 3G!

SHOWCASE: Nokia has unveiled the new Windows-based Nokia Booklet 3G to the world just a few minutes ago. The mini-notebook is powered by Intel’s Atom processor, with promises of a 12-hour battery life, 1.25kg weight and a thickness slightly over 2cm.

Connections wise, it will come with 3G/HSPA and Wi-Fi (with Nokia’s broad suite of Ovi services of course), as well as HDMI, front facing camera (video conferencing), integrated Bluetooth and an SD card reader.

The display itself is 10.1-inch HD-ready while there’s an integrated A-GPS which will work with Ovi Maps gadget. Of course, expect access to millions of tracks via Nokia Music Store, and Ovi Suite to sync with your Nokia smartphones.

Here’s a quick video on Booklet 3G:

Further information, including detailed specifications, market availability and pricing, will be announced at Nokia World on September 2. Meanwhile, here are some shots of the Booklet 3G.

CORP TALK: The New York Times has released news that Microsoft and Nokia, long-time foes in the mobile phone field, have formed a partnership where Microsoft Office software will appear in Nokia cellphones soon.

According to the article, as Microsoft’s Office series toughens up against challenges from free Web-based tools from the likes of Google, putting the ubiquitous Office in the hands of the world’s largest mobile phone maker might seem a good way to slow that threat a tad. (more…)

CORP TALK: Intel Corporation and Nokia have announced a long-term relationship to develop a new class of Intel architecture-based mobile computing device and chipset architectures which will combine performance in powerful computing with high-bandwidth mobile broadband and ubiquitous Internet connectivity.

Both companies will expand their longstanding relationship by developing a new mobile platform beyond today’s smartphones, notebooks and netbooks, including collaborations to explore open source mobile Linux software projects, possibly for use in the Moblin and Maemo platforms. The relationship will also give Intel access to Nokia’s HSPA/3G modem IP license for use in future products.

The Moblin platform is an optimized open source Linux operating system for delivering visually rich Internet media experiences on Intel Atom processor-based devices while Maemo is a Linux operating system most popularly seen powering devices like the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet (an observation we talked about in a previous post here).

According to Intel’s official release, the companies expect many innovations to result from this collaboration over time.

Nokia N97 launch in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Mr. Vlasta Berka, General Manager, Nokia Singapore/Malaysia & Brunei shares the benefits of the new Nokia N97.

SHOWCASE: The country editors of HWM Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia have come together to share photos from the launch of the Nokia N97. The Malaysia/Singapore launch was held on 5 June 2009 in a Web-themed launch party at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, while Indonesia had theirs on 8 June 2009 at the Shangri-La Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia. The Philippines launch is expected for June 25.

At the Kuala Lumpur event, guests were treated to an immersive Internet experience that combined all the Nokia N97 has to offer – social networking, localized Web widgets and apps, multimedia capabilities and a personal touch that exemplifies the S60 5th edition touch experience.

The Singapore edition will give consumers the opportunity to purchase an N97 with the Comes With Music service, giving users one year’s worth of unlimited music downloads. The recommended retail price for the Nokia N97 is RM2,480 in Malaysia and S$1,028 (without Comes with Music) or S$1,228 (with Comes with Music) in Singapore. The price of the device in Indonesia is expected to be 9 million rupiah (US$896).

Here’s a video preview of the Nokia N97 when the Singapore team first had the phone on April 24, 2009:

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