Nokia opens Ovi Maps to apps

This is not exactly what we could call the “pure mobile news,” but it’s somewhat related as we’re talking about Nokia (NYSE: NOK). Anyway, the Finnish giant has released the Ovi Maps Player API, allowing website owners to embed pieces of the Ovi Maps to their website using basic JavaScript. Moreover, Nokia will also allow other companies to develop their own apps to run on top of Ovi Maps. In that sense, they are effectively opening their mapping platform and are pushing developers to give it a try. That said, Nokia also announced the “Apps on Maps” contest saying that finalists will have a chance to develop their ideas into applications and be part of shaping the developer tools, as well as see their apps distributed via the Ovi Store.

In the same press release, Nokia talks about the latest version of Ovi Maps emphasizing it’s more than any other mapping service on the web thanks to its synchronized and shared between the mobile and the web “nature.” The release goes on adding that Ovi Maps sports high resolution satellite and terrain maps in 2D and 3D, 3D landmarks for over 200 cities, rotation, tilting, night view, and fly-overs and fly-throughs. Moreover, there’s the rich POI database provided by such companies as Lonely Planet, Michelin and Wcities; as well as a comprehensive weather service.

What strikes me most is that Nokia doesn’t refer to its mapping service as Nokia Maps – Ovi Maps is the default now, and it goes in line with one of my previous articles where I argue Nokia should dump its name from the Ovi brand.

The Ovi Maps Beta on the web is accessible from here, and the mobile version can be downloaded from Nokia Betalabs. And now comes a short video demonstration of the latest version of Ovi Maps in action. Keep reading after the jump.