Nokia Lumia and Asha phones benefit from superior HERE location services

Nokia has outlined the vision and strategy behind its mapping and location business, rebranded HERE. For Kenyan consumers, HERE offers the most accurate, up-to-date and comprehensive maps and navigation services available in the local market.

The only automotive grade maps available for Kenya, HERE map data is field verified by a team based in-country. This is an enormous advantage over competitor map data, which is often purchased internationally and not regularly refreshed, or collected anonymously by users, but not verified. This approach globally has led to four out of every five integrated in-dash navigation systems being powered by HERE.

The local HERE team for Kenya is supported on ground by an extended community of volunteer experts that use the Map Creator app to make real time amendments to the maps. They add thousands of updates and new points of interest each year. This means that a temporary road closure in Nairobi can be easily shown with an alternative route until the road maintenance is completed, increasing the accuracy of the local maps. 

“Our map data for East Africa is world class,” says Bruce Howe, general manager for Nokia East Africa. “For Kenya alone, we have around 68,000 kilometres of road and 37,000 points of interest, all field verified. This data, combined with our HERE services – Maps, Drive and City Lens – bring an enriched experience and consumer value to our Nokia Lumia and Asha smartphones.”

HERE map data also provides a great opportunity for 3^rd party applications that rely on location. We have seen innovative integration of HERE with services like Bing and Foursquare to enable new features. This is in line with the vision of HERE, which strives to capture information, index real life and make sense of the patterns through computing. In so doing, HERE is able to create experiences that are meaningful and have an impact on the lives of people.

“Nokia is traditionally recognised for its strength in mobile devices, so many people have asked how our focus on location based services fits into the Company’s strategy,” adds Howe. “We believe that a winning location experience makes all devices more powerful, whether it’s in a car, smartphone or any other mobile device. The future of the Internet is dependent on having location deeply embedded within all our mobile devices and experiences, and this is where HERE plays a crucial role in Nokia’s future.”