Nokia got everyone’s panties wet when they invited several journalists and bloggers from all around the world to attend a virtual press event related to Ovi. We all thought Nokia was going to fix their troubled, border line retarded, Ovi Store, or better integrate their various scattered Ovi services, but we were all wrong. Nokia introduced a new version of Ovi Maps, with free pedestrian and car navigation, available immediately at nokia.com/maps for a select number of devices. This new version of Ovi Maps supports the Nokia X6, Nokia N97 Mini, E72, E55, E52, 6730 classic, 6710 Navigator, 5800, and 5230, but it will not run on Nokia’s flagship N97 nor the Maemo 5 powered Nokia N900 as of today.
Engadget spoke to Michael Halbherr, Vice President of Social Location at Nokia, to find out why Nokia’s highest end devices can’t run Ovi Maps and he said that putting the new version on the N97 was a “software logistics issue”, and that N900 users will not be receiving the update, instead they’ll have to purchase the next device in the Maemo lineup. A Nokia employee who goes by the alias “cbidlake” confirmed in an official Nokia discussion board that Nokia N97 users will be getting the new Ovi Maps on January 28, via the built in software update client.
In other news, Pocket Lint was briefed by Mark Loughran at the London press event and told that Nokia would be releasing a new device on January 26, one day before Apple’s event. Feel free to speculate all you want about what form factor and price point it will be, because it, along with any other announcement, will be cast out the public’s eye once Apple fever kicks in.
Read the wordy press release, chock full of quotes, here.