Windows Phone 8 users have another reason to cheer about. Nokia has announced the availability of 'Nokia Drive" for all Windows Phone 8 devices irrespective of brands. Nokia Drive service is known for the turn-by-turn voice navigation service it provides.
Nokia representatives in an official statement were quoted as saying, “Today, we are making Nokia Drive available to other Windows Phone 8 partners to offer a turn-by-turn navigation experience for people in over 110 countries". However it is still not clear whether Nokia will provide it in the form of a free app from the Windows Store or whether it will leave it to the smartphone manufacturers to pre-install it on their devices.
Nokia Drive has the reputation of offering the best navigational experience for users even during offline modes without any internet connection. But users will have to ensure the availability of the downloaded Maps on their respective devices.
The service offers voice instructions in more than 50 languages globally. Some of the popular Indian languages such as Hindi and Marathi are also included in the list. The service is popular in India with many users already claiming it to be providing effective real-time traffic updates in metropolitan cities such as Mumbai and Delhi. The new inclusion of Nokia Drive service on Windows Phone 8 devices is considered by many analysts as a differentiating factor that will enhance the feature list of Windows Phone 8 devices.
It is only recently that Microsoft launched Windows Phone 8 operating system designed for smartphones and tablets, along with Windows 8 operating system for PCs. Microsoft claims Windows Phone 8 to be the most efficient touch based operating system that has ever been released in to the market.
Some of the key features of Windows Phone 8 include:
- People Hub Rooms for enhanced social connectivity with friends and family
- DataSense feature similar to Data Usage feature in Android ICS
- Kids Corner with parental controls
- Xbox Music for fun-filled music entertainment
