Nokia Maps 2.9 for Windows Phone 8

We have heard much about Windows Phone 8 and the coming apps but there is a set of apps which we have only had glimpses of. Today I was able to get a good hands on with Nokia Maps 2.9 running on the Lumia 920.

Some interesting functionality is visible, notably and options to download maps and even update those maps within the app itself. I was very keen to see how things were progressing with maps read on to hear what I found out..

About Screen

About Screen Nokia Maps 2.9..

Nokia Maps on Windows Phone 7.5 has recently introduced the synchronisation options but map performance hasn’t been the best. The Nokia Maps running on the Lumia 920 exhibited excellent performance, very very smooth and lacked the issues with drawing the map that can sometimes be seen in Windows Phone 7 version.

Downloads Nokia Maps

There are those downloads...

Clearly taking full advantage of the underlying “where” platform that Nokia embedded into Windows Phone 8 to enable these features it’s a great example of what we can expect from apps that leverage these abilities. Synchronised favourites combined with offline maps that can also update whilst on Wi-Fi is going to catapult the usefulness of mapping on Windows Phone.

Settings Nokia Maps

Settings Nokia Maps 2.9

In the brief time I had with the device at the launch event the maps experience with the large responsive screen on the Lumia 920 was quite stunning. If this is final software then its looking compelling indeed and I look forward to seeing what else is in store for the Nokia Exclusives.

Excited about the coming improvements to Windows Phone, love your mapping and want to tell us about it? Please let us know in the comments below..

Robert Brand