ESPOO, Finland – Getting around in unfamiliar areas is now easier than ever thanks to the latest update to Ovi Maps, which brings it to version 3.04. There’s oodles more content – bringing free navigation to 77 countries and 46 languages worldwide. Also new to this version is social reviews integration and it’s faster to find you and take you where you want to go.

In brief

• Ovi Maps 3.04 brings free turn by turn
• Maps stored locally to avoid data charges
• New models supported out of the box

Ovi Maps now contains an additional 2 million kilometres of road, which should certainly be enough to take you well off the beaten track: it now covers 77 countries including the Azores, Iceland, Kenya and Malta, for example. If you are planning ahead, then 281 new 3D landmarks will let you get a feel for your destination before you arrive.

It now has extra information on more than 25 million points of interest. As well as NAVTEQ and yellow pages information, Nokia has partnered with social reviews company Qype for this release. This means that locals’ and travellers’ reviews of hotels, restaurants, shops and bars are immediately available from the map – lessening the chances of you making a bad choice when you’re in an unfamiliar city.

As well as extra data, there are a number of improvements behind the scenes. On a technical level, WiFi positioning and search have been made faster and operate more reliably in low-signal areas – meaning you’re less likely to miss the junction before the map knows where you are.

Finally, new purchasers of Nokia smartphones (specifically, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, 5800 Navigation Edition, N97, N97 mini, E52, E72, 5230, 6710 Navigator, and the Nokia X6) will find it easy to get started out of the box, with the free addition of car kits to their purchase.

Ovi Maps 3.04 is available for download from http://www.nokia.com/maps. Check out the video below to see some of the features in action in an early build.