In order drum up interest from licensees, Nokia were demonstrating the potential of the service with a concept app running on a Windows Phone powered Lumia 800. The app shows a location aware map, with nearby car parks marked by a pin. Tapping on a pin shows information about size restrictions, parking fees, and real-time information about the number of available spaces, for the car park in question. Also included in the concept app is commerce integration, allowing any parking fees to be paid from within the app.
However, it is important to note that Nokia does not intend to release this stand alone app itself. Instead experiences, similar to that showcased in the concept app, would be made available through the products of Nokia's licensees. Engadget offer the example of a parking app provided by a city council, but also note that car manufacturers could opt to integrate the service into their in-car systems.
Either way it could be some time before we see the service widely available in consumer products. A good analogous example is the pedestrian and public transport routing and information service, which was first launched more than four years ago (as NAVTEQ Discover Cities), but the full extent of which has only became widely available in end-consumer products in the last few years.
Here's a video, from Engadget, which introduces the product and shows off a demo on the Windows Phone concept app:
And here's how Engadget explain the operation of the concept app:
Using GPS coordinates the service determines all available parking nearby. Parking garages have information about their size represented, including minimum heights that could be problematic if you're of the SUV persuasion. But, even more exciting, the app also tracks, in real-time, available spaces just waiting for you to show off those parallel parking skills that earned you a reluctant smile from the judge on your drivers license test.