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Nokia (NOK) is Bringing HERE Maps to Windows 8.1 Devices (MSFT) (GOOG)

February 21, 2014 11:04 AM EST
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is finally providing Windows 8.1 users with a solid alternative to Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Bing Maps and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Maps.

According to a blog post made Friday, Nokia HERE Maps will be made available or all Windows 8.1 devices, including laptops, desktops and tablets. The platform is currently only available for the Lumia 2520 tablet.

From the blog post:

As with the previous version of the app it is an all-in-one mapping solution, combining vector, satellite and 3D maps, points of interest, search and route planning. Complete country maps can also be downloaded for offline use, just like you may be used to doing on Windows Phone 8 smartphones.

There’s also a long list of improvements compared to the initial version.

First of all: speed. The offline maps load as quickly as your computer can manage, of course, so it’s a lot faster than using a website for navigation. But there are also speed improvements to the online portions. City pages, for example, now load up to four times faster, thanks to the use of progressive rendering and some clever optimisations to the data transfers.

Second, you can still use your touchscreen to control HERE Maps, and now you can also use your mouse and keyboard, which is a more useful option for most desktop PC users.

Third, this release supports our latest high-resolution satellite imagery. As you can see from the ‘before and after’ image below, this makes a pretty considerable impact on visibility at high zoom levels.

And there’s more. The app will keep a record of your search history and routes you have calculated. When you see a list of places, you can sort them by their distance from you, or by their rating. The app also takes advantage of Windows 8.1 preloading, which gets the apps you use frequently ready to launch in the background for a faster start.

HERE Maps for Windows 8.1 will be rolled out over coming days for free download from the Windows Store, starting in North America and Europe.


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