The quest to make maps more precise and to map the whole world

Published by Pino Bonetti on January 25, 2013

The quest to make maps more precise and to map the whole world

We want to give people the most accurate maps and location-based information.

Innovative collection technologies (e.g. LiDAR, the recent earthmine acquisition, etc.) and a team of local experts are at the heart of this process. But only when we compute all this fresh, detailed content are we able to create close to perfect digital copies of reality.

Recently, we have updated the maps that represent the backbone for all our products, from here.com to the latest Nokia Maps on Windows Phone 8. In fact if you have downloaded maps on your Windows Phone 8 smartphone, you should have been prompted to update them and enjoy the latest improvements. If you haven’t done so yet, go to settings > applications > maps > check for updates

Here’s a rundown on some of the highlights.

Maps for Serbia and Israel

Because we are committed to extend the coverage of our detailed maps to the whole world, we have added Serbia (including Kosovo) and Israel with this release. You can now search for places and calculate precise routes in these two countries too and soon we will also introduce turn-by-turn navigation with Nokia Drive.

Serbia_map

High definition maps

Other improvements are happening under the hood, providing a better representation of the reality, more clarity and easier orientation.  Every detail of our maps has been designed to provide the best experience. This abstraction is getting so precise, that may not need to look at satellite images anymore, if this is what you used to do to better orientate yourself.

Shapes are highly precise and detailed to better represent roads, coastlines and streams.

Venice_map

In Russia, Norway and Sweden we now collect and show higher details in wooded areas, improving orientation.

Norway_map

Pedestrian paths have been extended to more areas, including lesser-known parks, providing better walk navigation.

Manchester_map

We also show more detail in less populated areas of Greece, France and Ireland.

France_map

Added or amended roads

To provide accurate and fresh maps, in the last 18 months we added or amended 133,000 km of roads only in the UK as you can see in the animation below.

Updated road 6-18 months

Similar or larger numbers are valid for many other countries too. In Italy, for example, we already added the tunnel under Roma Tiburtina or in Germany the roads to the future main Berlin airport.

That’s it for this post, but as you can see, the improvement is continual and comprehensive. Not just in the apps, but in the data that provides their lifeblood.

Image credit: vivekrajkanhangad, James Jordan

Comments

  • Emanuele

    Are you going to update also offline maps for Nokia Drive for WP 7.x?

    • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

      Hi @disqus_o3mNQR9hyu:disqus please follow @heremaps on Twitter to know when this is going to happen.

      • Emanuele

        I’ll do it! It would already be a good news that will be updated sooner or later…

  • http://twitter.com/kps91 Kunwar Preet Singh

    satellite maps for India please :(

    • http://twitter.com/kps91 Kunwar Preet Singh

      oh just checked , its there now thanks nokia :)

  • https://twitter.com/mancae90 mancae90

    I can create custom itinerary on web but on nokia maps (lumia920) I can’t see it. WHY?! How can I do?

    • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

      Hi @mancae90:disqus I assume you are talking about adding way points. This feature is not yet available in Nokia Maps for Nokia Lumia.

      • https://twitter.com/mancae90 mancae90

        Yes, I’m talking about it. Ok, I hope it will be implemented soon.

  • erfanullah

    Pakistan map please!!

  • http://www.symbiantweet.com/ Fakhre

    For Symbian devices??

    • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

      Hi @fakhre:disqus just like for Windows Phone 8, you should have got these updates few weeks ago.

      • http://www.symbiantweet.com/ Fakhre

        Thanks @haikus:disqus

        • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

          Hi @fakhre:disqus and @solarsky:disqus I have to clarify my statement a bit further. Although Symbian got new and improved maps in December, we didn’t include new countries like Serbia and Israel just yet. You have to be a bit more patient to fully enjoy all the features explained in this blog post.

          • http://www.symbiantweet.com/ Fakhre

            Thanks

      • SolarSky

        Will offline maps&nagivation for Israel on Symbian Belle FP2 be made available for download, soon?

  • maz

    For navi, nokia map/drive is still the top, though competitors come a lot closer now than five years back. (btw lane assist on windows phone please?)

    Have a feeling the map lacks of POI in where I live, user will try but not able to find what they are searching for half of the time, which prevent nokia maps to become more popular. Please open the maps for community edit and contribute the POI.

    • Nokiagadgets

      Yes this is a major problem. Even here in Finland where i would imagine the map situation is great, there’s problems with search.

      This is the one and only reason i use Google maps on my PC and tablet. On Google maps i can pretty much write anything on the search bar and it knows the place/shop i was thinking of or searching.

      This is something Nokia needs to improve a lot because if the search isn’t up to Google Maps, they wont even experience the rest of the maps before moving back to Google.

      • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

        Hi @disqus_vidIPy8YLe:disqus @Nokiagadgets:disqus we are currently working on extending the features of our mobile apps and we are also committed to improve POI quality and the search experience.

        • Harry Cohen

          I’m glad to hear it. Here Maps are lovely, far more accurate and clear than Google Maps, but I do keep going back to Gmaps to get POIs. You really need to add more POIs and better yet a facility for us to add items ourselves from our phones.

      • http://twitter.com/malcolm_clement Malcolm Clement

        Google Maps has the best search, in my experience. I love Nokia Maps for other aspects but searching and POI database, NOWHERE close to Google.

  • eddmann

    When can we have maps for Armenia?

  • jack_lo

    Japan and Korea please! ;)

  • david

    please do frontal camera in Nokia 700

  • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

    Hi @jack_lo:disqus @eddmann:disqus @erfanullah:disqus I think that what you can understand from this blog post is that we are seriously committed to continuously improve or extend our coverage. Today we are happy to announce maps for Serbia and Israel, more countries will follow.

    • eddmann

      Yes, I do understand. Thank you and nokia.
      I hope to see coverage for Armenia, soon.

  • marvel

    is this updates for windows phone 7.x?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001748587994 Oliver Ulm

    Have their been additions to the satelite Images as well? Outside of Major urban Areas Nokia Maps has far lower Resolution Images than Bing used to have on my WP7 device. :(

  • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

    Hi @disqus_o3mNQR9hyu:disqus @disqus_eD2LOPaiJX:disqus we haven’t made any announcement for Windows Phone 7.x today

  • mikelo90

    Thank you for finally adding Serbia! :)
    Pino, you promised me a year ago that maps for Serbia are coming and you’ve lived up to your word. Cheers!

  • Sebastian

    For Windows Phone 7.x users still Nokia Maps, version 2.5. Thank you very much Nokia!

  • Igor

    why is there no update for N9? i went check for updates, and no diference

    • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

      Hi @disqus_poisNnOesB:disqus we have not made any announcement about maps for Nokia N9. Please follow @heremaps on Twitter.

  • pranav rai

    @haikus:disqus :

    I may be possibly putting this up in the wrong place, but I have noticed that Drive for WP8 has a tendency to show me take a crossroad when I am still continuing with the main road. This doesnt happen when on a vehicle, but quite often (not strictly reproducible though) when walking. I’d be glad if it could be improved/fixed :)

    • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

      Hi @google-42cc4bf8b560b7bcbf29245ab313c532:disqus thanks for flagging this we will look into it while Nokia Drive is still in beta. If you are walking, consider using Nokia Maps, tho ;-)

      • pranav rai

        @haikus:disqus : Thanks for the reply :)
        Yes, I do use maps unless I need navigation. But it sometimes becomes a bit clumsy as I cannot rotate the maps. So if I’m walking down south and need to take a right, then its a left on the map and vice versa. In short, it’d be nice to be able to rotate the maps (of course not the Drive) and maybe even have a distance-scale and a small arrow-head instead of a circular dot when moving. I do a lot of walking and thats why I kinda miss these little things. :)

      • pranav rai

        And also tweak the map colors a bit. The current dark-pink vs light-pink formula doesn’t result in the major roads standing out as much as they should. IMHO, yellow/orange vs dark*er* pink vs light-pink (three colors) combination would be easier on the eye. I’m no expert in UI design, but I genuinely wish to help in whatever little way I can to improve the maps and that’s why I am posting here :)

        • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

          Thanks for your feedback @google-42cc4bf8b560b7bcbf29245ab313c532:disqus we will look into both issues and let you know.

  • oneday

    on my n8 belle there is no any update for serbia

  • http://twitter.com/dalydose Jeff Daly

    Nice. I checked and my maps are “up to date” already, so I assume that California had no changes. That’s the only one that I have downloaded for offline use.

    Might a future update allow we users to help add to the POI database directly from our mobile devices?

  • http://twitter.com/malcolm_clement Malcolm Clement

    This is great but can we update the POI database for North America? Or at least merge it with Bing Maps? The current Nokia POI database for North America is horrible, practically unusable and must be double checked with a second map source for any sort of reliability. This is not what I expect from Nokia…

  • http://twitter.com/Hdrules Hradayesh Nimavat

    Updated the installed maps on my 920……Great work guys!

  • Sebastian

    For Windows Phone 7.x users still Nokia Maps, version 2.5. Thank you very much Nokia!

  • http://twitter.com/capricotwi04 Caprico

    Great to hear that Nokia keeps improving their maps :) I don’t think there are any updates for my country (which is already covered very well). But how can I update maps on Nokia N9? Didn’t show me any updates and can’t find Israel anywhere – how can the map list be updated? And…any news about Cyprus? Keep up the good work! Thanks Nokia/HERE maps team.

  • Nigel

    Where is Israel in the download list? It doesn’t appear on my Lumia 820

    • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

      Hi @disqus_9AaSQEuLzr:disqus we are currently rolling out the maps for Israel and continuously adding features (like navigation). When the roll out is complete, you will see Israel as a download option.

  • Yoshi

    Zooming in and out in Nokia Maps is not as fluid in Apple Maps.

  • VLax

    When will it be available on Symbian?!
    Updated to the latest version and still no Serbia.

  • http://twitter.com/BlenderTom Yousuf Ali Choudhry

    Still no maps for Pakistan? :/

  • http://twitter.com/malcolm_clement Malcolm Clement

    Exactly, you never know if Nokia Drive is actually taking into account traffic information as it doesn’t show anything regarding traffic.

    • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

      Hi @twitter-46384263:disqus and @twitter-138627909:disqus Nokia Drive is taking into account traffic information only when using My Commute, which is currently available only on Windows Phone 7.

      • http://twitter.com/malcolm_clement Malcolm Clement

        @Pino Is this something that we can look forward to? Seems to be a major oversight not taking into account traffic information, especially compared to other offerings.

        • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

          Hi @twitter-138627909:disqus traffic information is very important for a daily commute, yes. This is why we have developed the My Commute feature http://conversations.nokia.com/2012/07/20/a-smoother-drive-one-commute-at-a-time/ Because we rewrote Nokia Drive for Windows Phone 8 from scratch, this feature is currently not available yet, but we are working hard on releasing it asap.

          • http://twitter.com/malcolm_clement Malcolm Clement

            @Pino No… traffic information is important for any trip where you use navigation to help guide you. That’s what it’s supposed to do, help guide you. You should EXPECT that a navigation app would take into account traffic information for ANY trip if calculates for you… is THIS feature coming to Nokia Drive?

          • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

            Hi @twitter-138627909:disqus I love answering your comments, you’re a very passionate follower. Right now we are busy refining My Commute, but we are also considering your particular use case, that we perfectly understand too.

          • http://twitter.com/malcolm_clement Malcolm Clement

            I appreciate you responding to my comments, nice to feel as though someone at Nokia is listening. However, I would love for Nokia to come out and acknowledge they are working on features to catch up to the competition. I understand keeping mum about features that would be completely new, but when the rest of the industry employs such basic features I think it is important for Nokia to explain they understand they are lacking in this area and are addressing the issue.

  • Joseph

    I’ve just switched to Lumia 620 from a E6 (and from E72 and E71), something I really miss from my days with Symbian is the ability to use a Bluetooth GPS Receiver for super accurate and rapid positioning. Nokia, please add this feature back in Map and Drive on WP8!

  • Sagiv Hadaya

    I still don’t see the update.. any ideas?

  • Sagiv Hadaya

    exactly, I see the same thing, plus no offline maps for Israel yet.

    • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

      Hi @disqus_GoiCw0cN8m:disqus and @google-af99df879d497b761b630db627d145a2:disqus high definition woodlands are significantly increasing the size of maps you have to download in your device. This is the reason why we are currently enabling this feature only on here.com.
      Maps for Israel are currently being rolled out, when this process will be completed, you will see Israel in the country list.

      • Enrico

        Thanks for your reply, but I have to say that sort of policy is quite confusing, since Austria for example is completely covered with high definition woodlands. To a person unfamiliar with your intentions, this isn’t creating the impression that you’re trying to keep map sizes smaller, which is commendable, but that your map quality is lacking.

  • SmoothGirlieGirl

    Free idea: Tag Dominican Republic as yor Caribbean beachhead and, also, map us!

  • http://www.facebook.com/smithnkole Mulenga Nkole

    I use to use google maps on my symbin phone but I decided to switch to lumia which has Nokia maps and don’t support Zambia. Is there any positive news for Zambia especially that we are hosting the united nation world tourism organisation.

  • http://twitter.com/capricotwi04 Caprico

    This article got tweeted on Twitter already several times by Conversations or Here Twitter account. But there’s still no update available…!

    • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

      Hi @twitter-344626223:disqus I probably answered this question on Twitter already. As I said before, the updates started being rolled out last December. You probably already downloaded all the updates or you currently don’t have any maps downloaded for offline use on your device.

      • http://twitter.com/capricotwi04 Caprico

        Hi, thank you for your answer. I have several maps downloaded, but I was also wondering how I could download for example Israel, since it’s not listened in my maps. Or do I have to be on Windows Phone for those updates?

        • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

          Hi @twitter-344626223:disqus maps for Israel are currently being rolled out. When the process is completed, you will also see Israel in the list of downloadable maps.

          • http://twitter.com/capricotwi04 Caprico

            Thanks again for answering my questions :) Have a good day!

  • teemulehtinen

    So where is the Cypriot Republic from the maps after all these years? I cannot believe that an EU Member State is left out from the mapping experience.

    • http://twitter.com/capricotwi04 Caprico

      Thanks to Nokia Maps I re-learned to use traditional maps while driving on Cyprus ;-) I have to say though, that was quiet a nice experience.

  • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

    Thanks for your suggestion @judazuk:disqus we might consider it for future releases. On here.com you can already search for coordinates.

  • Emiliyan

    Hallo to all,

    I am a new Lumia 820 user from Bulgaria, I like the phone, I love Nokia Maps and Nokia Drive … but … well, I live in the capital Sofia, I work just outside the city, in the logistics facility of a big international food distribution chain. In fact, the ligistics centre I work in is among the biggest in the country, used by dozens of tracks on daily basis. It is situated next to Bulgaria’s A1 highway, near a village called Ravno Pole. The facilitu has benn there since 2010, the road connecting it to the highway is very old, but they both do not exist on Nokia maps. There is simply nothing – just empty field.

    Here is a screenshot that I edited with paint (sorry for the primitive means used) to show you what I am writing about.In black I have marked the unexisting old road. In red – a new road from 2010, built for the logistics centre. X is the place of the logistics centre. Of ocurse, the drowing is not exact. Here are some coordinates:

    42.642680, 23.503200

    • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

      Thanks for your feedback @emiliyan:disqus, very useful. We will look into it.

    • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

      Hi @emiliyan:disqus we are working on this right now, thanks for your suggestion.

  • tyomach2@yahoo.com

    Is it possible to store maps on an SD card instead of phone memory? (Lumia 810)

    • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

      Hi @tyomach2yahoocom:disqus this option is currently not supported by Windows Phone 8

  • xnay

    Guys please enable Map Creator for more countries – it would be much easier to report bugs.

  • http://www.facebook.com/christian.sturzinger Christian Stürzinger

    Hi Pino

    Why can’t we download Nokia maps onto the micro SD card – instead onto the phone 8 GB HD as it is now – of e.g my Lumia 820 to use it off line in HERE Maps and HERE Drive+ Beta.

    I am a frequent traveller and downloaded many European maps > My 8 GB phone HD now is almost full, my 32 GB micro SD card is almost empty. NOKIA should provide an update to allow downloading and use of the NOKIA maps directly to and from the SD card.

    The off line use of Nokia maps is why I switched from I-Phone to Lumia 820 !!!

    mic@stuerzinger.com

    • http://twitter.com/haikus Pino

      Hi @facebook-100005515866944:disqus thanks for your suggestion to improve the location experience on your Nokia Lumia 820.
      The decision to store maps only in the internal memory has been taken by the Windows Phone team and I will make sure your feedback is forwarded to them.