Nokia City Lens comes out of beta

Published by Pino Bonetti on September 10, 2012

Last week we were talking about all the new features of Nokia Maps for the Nokia Lumia 920 and Nokia Lumia 820. Nokia Maps is going to work completely offline, offer voice guided turn-by-turn navigation and venue maps. What is even more revolutionary is that the new Nokia Lumia 920 and Nokia Lumia 820 are going to get a GPS or GLONASS fix within seconds even without being assisted by network connection.

Along with that, we have introduced Nokia City Lens last May with a beta programme to collect your precious feedback and your improvement suggestions. Your response has been overwhelmingly positive and we are proud to have officially released our augmented reality app to the Windows Phone Marketplace for Nokia Lumia 900, Nokia Lumia 800 and Nokia Lumia 710. And we also have a specific version for the newest Nokia Lumia 920 and Nokia Lumia 820 in the works.

What is Nokia City Lens?

Download Nokia City Lens nowCity Lens QR code

  1. Press the Search button on your Nokia Lumia and then tap Vision
  2. Scan the barcode
  3. Tap on the link when it appears on the screen
  4. Install the application from the Windows Phone Marketplace

For those who haven’t tested the beta, Nokia City Lens is Nokia’s location-based augmented reality application. Using the phone’s camera viewfinder, Nokia City Lens provides an augmented reality overlay view of buildings and instantly highlights places of interest.

It basically turns sight into the next interface for searching the world around you. The app then provides information about each building or landmark in the area giving the user an at-a-glance understanding of what restaurants, museums, shops and others places of interest are nearby. Seeing a place of interest through augmented reality provides a wealth of information not available with the naked eye, allowing you to see the world around you using your smartphone instead of having to perform web searches.

You can download Nokia City Lens now for your Nokia Lumia 900, Nokia Lumia 800 and Nokia Lumia 710 now, following the instructions above.

Nokia City Lens on Windows Phone 7.5

More features in the Windows Phone 8 version

We are not only developing Nokia City Lens for Nokia Lumia 900, Nokia Lumia 800 and Nokia Lumia 710, but we are also going to release the app for the new Windows Phone 8 smartphones Nokia Lumia 920 and Nokia Lumia 820, introduced last week. The new mobile operating system, powered by the Nokia Location Platform, is allowing us to introduce some very cool new features.

Nokia City Lens on Windows Phone 8

The first to be introduced will be a new 3D icons layout, which is going to make the augmented reality experience look even more realistic. We are also going to fix a common problem of augmented reality apps. If you don’t see a place in real life, because it’s hidden behind a building, you might want to see it or not among nearby search results. We give you the choice: you will be able to filter search results so that only those in the line of sights are visible.

The upcoming version of Nokia City Lens for Nokia Lumia 920 and Nokia Lumia 820 is also going to make more use of Windows Phone unique features. For instance you will be able to pin to start any category tile, to find faster what you are looking for, anywhere you are. You can also customize the Nokia City Lens menu by adding your own favorite searches. Last but not least you can also use Nokia City Lens in both landscape and portrait mode.

Comments

  • Salvatore_Carr0zzini

    New features only for Lumia WP8. Not for Lumia 900, 800, 710. Correct?

    • Nokiagadgets

      Those 3D icons and such are going to be on the older Lumia’s if i got this right?

      • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

        Hi @Salvatore_Carr0zzini:disqus and @Nokiagadgets:disqus we have not yet announced anything about upcoming Nokia City Lens features for Windows Phone 7.5.

        • Salvatore_Carr0zzini

          Thanks. We’ll wait new info.

    • http://www.facebook.com/rashidayyash990 Rashid Rashed Ayyash

      no, is for lumia 900, 800, and 710

    • MasterMuffin

      Read before asking!

      • Salvatore_Carr0zzini

        I’ve read and isn’t clear. I hope the new features of Lumia WP8 version will be available also for WP 7.5 devices

  • TheVULGAR

    Wow, good news.. Im ready to jump in..

  • http://www.facebook.com/tomislav.curkovic Tomislav Curkovic

    What cities are supported? Where does it get its database from?

    • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

      Hi @facebook-561040425:disqus Nokia City Lens is built on top of the Nokia Location Platform, just like all our location-based apps. This means that shares the same database as, e.g., Nokia Maps. We have data in over 190 countries and I’m quite sure yours is one of them.

      • http://twitter.com/McfeetersM monica s mcfeeters

        Hopefully it will happen for the amazing 808 I recently got…I love it! I’ll try the liveview app someone mentioned though. Love my Nokia 808!

        • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

          Hi @twitter-753205339:disqus unfortunately Nokia City Lens is not available for Nokia 808 PureView.

  • Nikke Knatterton

    I feel rather pessimistic about this, but anyway, do you have any plans on releasing this for Symbian Belle FP1?

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000154885738 Galoise Encore

      Was initially released for Belle… Then belle Refresh came out & City Lens stopped working. Despite the many complains Nokia developers havent even bothered to address the concern!

      • Nikke Knatterton

        I see. A pity that I haven’t been paying attention, since I’ve had a 701 since release. But ignoring higher-end Symbian phones boggles the mind, when their top camera phone is running FP1.

  • skarbaaz

    Right Now I’m Using Nokia N8
    Is That Any option To Used This App In N8

    • MasterMuffin

      Nokia uses symbian so NO

  • samking

    everything is going to lumia!!! i have 808, the new pureview phone and im sad because i cant have this app on my phone! I HATE LUMIA!!!!

    • irfanullahjan

      They are making one for 808, I think.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003530045713 Vinci Agapito

      But You are the one who chose to have the nokia 808 Pureview.
      So I recommend that you should hate yourself instead of hating the Greatness of Lumia.

    • http://www.facebook.com/sanjay15111969 Sanjay Rao

      search for it in nokia app store and you will get it..

  • http://mobilecrazies.com/ Anirudh Sharma

    this is truly a great application. kudos! @ Pino – does it work globally?

    • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

      Hi @gomcoite:disqus our location based apps are all built on the same platform. This means that e.g. Nokia Maps and Nokia City Lens work in the same countries. Over 190, btw.

      • http://mobilecrazies.com/ Anirudh Sharma

        awesome….!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001543722207 Максим Кулаковский

    Use lens on 710. Not bad, but sometimes it works very slow. Using edge. Live in Ukraine

  • Austin

    So this information is provided based on the location.

    • irfanullahjan

      Yes, it uses your location info and phone’s camera.

  • Bilal Rafiq

    amazing application. it has made my life easy. I got it on lumia 800 :)

  • 123321

    THIS is actually the best app ever.

  • http://www.facebook.com/paula.gerendasiamato Paula Gerendasi-Amato

    I need it in miles and not km, how do I change it?

    • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

      Hi @facebook-1420255274:disqus when you open Nokia City Lens you can tap on the contextual menu and then on settings. There you can choose whether you want to use km or mi.

  • Bart

    Please, would you confirm, that Nokia City Lens will work offline on the Lumia 920 like Nokia Maps, Drive, etc?!
    Looks like great work so far and I guess, I’ll be one of the first customers.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003530045713 Vinci Agapito

      Yes , I got this from the Global Site of Nokia
      GPS and navigation
      Navigation features and services
      Nokia Maps
      Nokia Drive
      Nokia City Lens
      Nokia Transport
      Positioning features
      Magnetometer
      A-GPS
      WLAN Network Positioning
      Glonass
      Offline maps
      Speed limit warnings
      Online and offline favorites
      Turn-by-turn voice guided navigation

      • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

        Hi @disqus_OWhd1wp3wb:disqus and @facebook-100003530045713:disqus Nokia City Lens is an app that use our extended POI database. This can only be always fresh and up-to-date if available online. Only a small set of POI can be saved offline.

  • http://www.facebook.com/nucu.rainhold Rainhold Nucu

    cool app .. nokia the best phone ever invented…

  • ellen villanueva

    i like nokia n8

  • http://www.facebook.com/sunnysingh2299 Sunny Singh

    u dont have to hate lumia, i have 808 nd i m using city lense with other name i.e liveview. try to find liveview app, its just d same like city lense……

  • Peter Vine

    Hi Pino! Lens is an excellent app but would suggest if there is an option to reset the compass via the figure-o-eight method as I didn’t really do it properly so the compass gets a bit sticky if that makes sense. Doesn’t ruin the experience for me though.

    On an unrelated note was wondering if lane guidance notes would come to Nokia Drive for WP7 and/or 8 in the future? Bought a Lumia 800 and like it enough to make an investment in an 820 next year!

    Keep up the good work!

    • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

      Thank you @google-232f31dcd402fb215b8ab78fba50e34f:disqus we will look into the compass issue, but currently there is no way to recalibrate it unless you restart Nokia City Lens.

      We are currently porting several features of Nokia Drive for Symbian over to Windows Phone. Just follow Nokia Conversations to know more about future releases.

  • rags

    The app works like a charm and loving it… But my house is showing as a restaurant.. I think the previous onwer of the house has this as the owners address….If you get the feed from somewhere.. Can you point me to how it gets corrected ?

    • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

      Oops, that shouldn’t happen, thanks for letting us know @disqus_teIk0XDQAi:disqus
      You can report incorrect data at mapreporter.navteq.com

  • Hardik Patel

    Why Nokia City Lens apps. not install in Lumia 610 ? Nokia update his status now in Lumia 610 update with 7.8 then city lens work in it…But still not available ?

    QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ

    • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

      Hi @google-7441e5db074870cc2089a37c84eaf593:disqus Nokia Lumia 610 doesn’t have a compass, necessary for Nokia City Lens to work. This is the reason why Nokia City Lens isn’t available for your smartphone.

  • brian chee

    I love it but please do updates promptly. Apparently a few restaurants already open for business in front of my house 2 years back but their locations do not appeared on the search.

  • zanele

    You mustn’t hate the Nokia lumia cause we love it so u must hate yo self cause U buy 808 yo self no one who can push U