GLOBAL – For users of current Nokia smartphones, it’s all-too-easy to load up a location-based app on your phone to find out about something around you. But what if you’re using a Series 40 or a Series 60 phone that doesn’t have Maps or even GPS? Nokia Nearby – from Beta Labs – is at hand to help solve that problem. We’ve got all the details, after the jump.

Nokia Nearby is a hyper-local search app that does exactly that. It searches for venues that are in your immediate vicinity using the Internet on your phone, rather than a GPS receiver.

Once you’ve loaded Nokia Nearby, you’ll be shown a list of categories to search within: Eat and Drink; Entertainment; Shopping; Transport; Sight Seeing; Business and Services; and Facilities. Clicking on one of those categories will begin a search that concentrates on where you’re currently situated. A list then populates, showing you the nearest venue first, scrolling down to the furthest away.

Let’s say you’re searching for somewhere to eat, have searched within the Eat and Drink category and have found the venue you’d like to spend the evening. Selecting the venue name from within the app will provide you details, such as the address and the phone number. But what’s more useful, is that you can phone that venue right from the app itself by simply pressing the call option.

If you’re planning on meeting a friend there, you can also share that venue details with them by pressing options and then share. After you’ve enjoyed your night out, you can add the restaurant to your favourites list or even save the details to your phonebook making booking a table easier and quicker next time.

Here’s a video from Beta Labs, showing Nokia Nearby in action.

It’s probably worth noting that this app doesn’t actually guide you or provide you with a map of how to get to the venue, it just provides you with the details. A bit like a modern Yellow Pages. But easier to carry around when you’re wandering the streets.

Primarily, this is aimed at the emerging markets where always-connected smartphones are often too costly or impractical to own, so it’s mostly built to run on Series 40 phones. However, it does work on Series 60 and we’ve even had it running on the Nokia N8.

Remember, this is a Beta Labs app, which means it’s open to the public for tests, so it might be a little rough around the edges. The team at Beta Labs are very keen to know what you think of Nokia Nearby as they want to understand what people search for the most. So, leave some comments here or at their forum page to let them know.

Image credit: magnusfranklin