An update to Nokia Maps, version 1.3, is now available from the Windows Phone Marketplace. The new version adds support for favourites (saved) places and includes the ability to share routes via email or social networks. The app is currently only available for Lumia handsets, though Nokia have indicated it will be available for all Windows Phone handsets in due course.
Nokia Drive 2.0 is now available to download from the Windows Phone Marketplace. The updated version enables full offline functionality, which means not only can you pre-load maps, you can now also plan your route (and be rerouted) without using a data connection. Other new features include speed alerts, a redesigned navigation dashboard and improved access to previously entered locations.
Creative Studio is a free app released by Nokia exclusively for its Lumia Windows Phone devices. It is a photo creation and manipulation suite that allows you to apply effects (filters), carry out basic editing tasks and capture panoramic images. Effects can be applied to existing images (from albums), but there's also a live camera mode, which shows the effect applied in real-time before you capture an image.
Following its announcement at Mobile World Congress, Nokia Transport has been made available for the Lumia range via Nokia Beta Labs. The service currently provides transport information for 512 cities across 46 countries – the USA enjoys the lion's share of coverage. While Nokia Drive provides in-car navigation, Nokia Transport has been made to help you plan a journey via public transport. For example, when planning a trip across London, the application will advise you which underground lines to take, and which parts of the journey require you to walk. The walking parts of a journey are complemented by a deep-link to pedestrian navigation in Nokia Maps.
More than 70,000 apps have now been published in the Windows Phone Marketplace. Content is currently being added at the rate of 250 items per day. At the time of writing, 70,784 items have been published. Of these, 28,503 were added in the last 90 days and 6,936 were added in the last 30 days. These items come from 17,303 different publishers. Read on for more stats and charts.
We're pleased to announced that the official AAWP (All About Windows Phone) app is now available to download free from the Windows Phone Marketplace and aims to make it easy to access all of our content directly on your Windows Phone device. You can view our latest content, browse or search for content by section, and stream episodes of the podcast.
The product barcode recognition portion of Windows Phone's Bing Vision service is now available in the UK. Bing Vision using the phone's camera to perform visual searches. Previously, in the UK, the service would only recognise Microsoft Tags and QR codes, but it will now recognise barcodes on books, CDs and DVDs. Once an item has been identified Bing Vision provides a link to Ciao, a price comparison website.
At CES Nokia is showing off two new applications, Nokia Transport and Nokia City Lens, which have been developed by its location and commerce division. Both applications show case Nokia's expertise and experience in location and routing related services and information, which is one of the key assets the company brings to its partnership with Microsoft.
The roll out for a minor update for Windows Phone, version 7.10.8107.79, commenced last week. Microsoft has delivered the 8107 update to all manufacturers and operators, but it is optional, which means it may not be made available for all devices. The update fixes a number of bugs including the one that occasionally caused the keyboard to disappear when entering text. In addition Microsoft has made some changes to the way it will be communicating about the delivery of future minor updates.
The Windows Phone Marketplace has now passed the 50,000 app and games submission mark. Content is being added at the rate of 265 items per day. At the time of writing, 50,126 items have been published. Of these, 17,276 were added in the last 90 days and 8,010 were added in the last 30 days. These items come from 13,002 different publishers.
The 50,000 mark, which has been reached sooner than we estimated, is a key milestone, but more important is the accelerating growth of the Marketplace. It took just over a year to get to 40,000 apps, but just 40 days to add the next 10,000 apps. That bodes well for Windows Phone in 2012.
