Nokia updates Nokia Maps, adds Israel and other countries

Nokia has updated its mapping application using new techniques and the hard work of local experts. The Finnish handset manufacturer says that it has added Israel and Serbia to Nokia Maps and users can now calculate routes and search for places in both countries. Turn-by-turn navigation for the pair will be available soon using Nokia Drive. In addition, Nokia has been working on making its maps more realistic and has focused on clarity and improved representation. The details on Nokia Maps has improved so much, the company says that you won't need to look at satellite images any more.

The updated maps have more precise shapes with better details of roads, streams and coastlines. More information about wooded areas has been collected in Russia, Norway and Sweden. For those who like to walk, pedestrian paths now have improved coverage including maps of lesser-known paths. Less populated areas of Greece, France and Ireland are now covered by Nokia Maps. In Italy, Nokia has added the tunnel under Roma Tiburtina and in Germany, the roads to the future main airport in Berlin have already been included.

To illustrate the painstaking work that has gone on in the last 18 months with Nokia Maps, during that time period 133,000 km of roads have been added or updated just in the U.K. alone. Mapping applications received a lot of coverage by us last year, and not all of it was for positive reasons. But hearing about this update has to make Nokia users feel better. Well, except maybe for those in Japan which is still nothing but a black spot on Nokia Maps.

source: Nokia via WMPoweruser