Ovi Maps 3.0 (the former Nokia Maps) finished beta testing, and you can get it without using Nokia Maps Updater

After a long time of beta testing, Ovi Maps 3.0 is now ready for the masses. Ovi Maps is the new name of Nokia Maps, and the old Nokia Map Loader is replaced by Nokia Maps Updater.

The good news is that Ovi Maps 3.0 works. Many of the bugs that made the older beta test versions unusable have been killed. There are still plenty of bugs left, but on most phones these won't be worse than the bugs that remain in the old Nokia Maps 2.0.

Reasons to switch to Ovi Maps 3.0: weather, events, and movie info, faster zooming and panning, newer maps, and traffic info for North America. And the maps for India in Ovi Maps 3.0 are better than those of the old Nokia Maps (but still not good enough if you're outside the major cities).

The bad news is that Nokia managed to do something incredibly stupid: they won't let you download Ovi Maps directly. Instead, you'll have to get it through Nokia Maps Updater, and this program only works on PCs with Windows XP or Vista. There's no Mac version, and nobody knows how long it will take before one gets available. If you run Linux, if your computer specs are below the requirements of Nokia Maps Updater, or if you want to download and install Ovi Maps 3.0 straight on your phone, Nokia won't let you.

Fortunately Ovi Maps has been liberated from Nokia Maps Updater, and you can download the maps for Ovi Maps 3.0 with the Map Loader Alternative. Just check the links below.

Ovi Maps 3.0 won't work on older Symbian S60 phones. Check the Ovi Maps site to see if your phone model will run Ovi aps 3.0 or if you'll have to stick with Nokia Maps 2.0.

• Ovi Maps and Nokia Maps Updater from nokia.com

Ovi Maps without Nokia Maps Updater at MediaFire:

• Ovi Maps 3.0 for S60 3rd ed. Feature Pack 1 (N82, N95, etc., check this list of FP1 phones)
• Ovi Maps 3.0 for S60 3rd ed. Feature Pack 2 (N78, N79, etc., check this list of FP2 phones)
• Ovi Maps 3.0 for S60 5th ed. (Nokia 5800XM, N97)

Load maps on your phone without Nokia Maps Updater:

• Nokia Map Loader and Nokia Maps Updater Alternative

If you've installed Ovi Maps 3.0 and you want to go back to Nokia Maps 2.0:

• archived copy of Nokia Maps 2.0