In car navigation systems from established brands like Navman and Mio are set to come under pressure as major phone Companies move to incorporate navigation into mobile phones and smart phones with large screens.
Nokia has launched navigation tools designed to make the paper street map obsolete for pedestrians. The firm's next generation of digital maps gives real-time walking directions on the mobile phone screen, just like sat-nav systems which guide drivers. They also plan to launch incar systems that navigate, play content and act as a message centre, and mobile phone.
"Nokia is taking navigation services out of the car so it can always be with you," said Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, president and CEO of the firm.
"Struggling with oversized paper maps will become a thing of the past."
Navigation by phone
Nokia's Maps 2.0, for its Series 60 and 40 phones, is part of the firm's push into location and context-aware technologies. Mr Kallasvuo said: "Navigation is one of the foundations of the context-aware mobile phone. We believe it will be as important as voice capability was 20 years ago.
