Nokia Ovi services go live in MENA

Nokia users in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait will now be able to receive voiceguided navigation and maps direct from their handsets in more than 30 languages.

Part of the new services offered by Nokia’s Ovi mobile Internet services for the Middle East and north Africa region, Maps 2.0 is an updated version of the Finnish manufacturer’s mapping software that provides access to maps for almost anywhere in the world, as well as car navigation, pedestrian navigation and satellite images. Tommi Mustonen, vice president of services and software said Ovi aims to empower and enable Nokia device owners to realise the full potential of the Internet.

“We are now delivering navigation, gaming and music services for Nokia users in MENA and we will continue to roll out new user interface elements, service suites and web communities and bring them together in a single offering,” Mustonen said.

The newly launched N-Gage mobile games services allows users to find, try and buy high quality made-formobile games directly from many Nseries handsets and aims to offer exclusive online community features and enhanced graphical displays never seen before on a mobile device.

The third service launched by Ovi is the Nokia Music PC client, which includes a music player, music management and simple tools to help users transfer music from their PC to mobile devices.

The PC client allows CDs to be ripped using the most efficient codec – eAAC+ – which means listeners can fit more music on their phone, while the ‘Rip n’ Go’ feature allows the quickest possible CD transfer to a device.