Nokia Map Loader Alternative: links fixed, countries added

The latest version of Ovi Maps 3.x lets you download maps to your memory card straight from the app itself, so there's no need anymore to use Nokia's clunky Ovi Suite that won't run on Mac and Linux.

But if downloading maps straight from your phone doesn't work, there's a manual method: the Nokia Map Loader Alternative, which works with any web browser on any operating system.

Nokia changed the location of their map files, and the map loader alternative changed so that it points the right way again.

New countries added to the list: Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Iran, Kenya, Lebanon, Moçambique, Nigeria, Peru, Réunion, and the Virgin Islands

If the links stop working in the future, feel free to post a comment on this blog or click the email link on the bottom of this page.

• Nokia Map Loader and Nokia Maps Updater Alternative


Ovi Maps 3 doesn't work on older Symbian phones. Check the Ovi Maps site to see if your phone will run Ovi Maps 3. If it doesn't, try Nokia Maps 2.0 instead.

• Ovi Maps and Nokia Maps Updater from nokia.com
• archived copy of Nokia Maps 2.0 (with free voice navigation) on Mobile Castle UPDATE: This link is dead. And so is Symbian.

Idea for Nokia: Run Windows on a Symbian phone

Nokia may move to Windows, but they still expect to sell 150 million more phones running on the dying Symbian. Something just doesn't sound right here.

Would you buy a Symbian phone in the knowledge that even its maker doesn't believe in it anymore? Even if Nokia keeps updating the operating system the stream of updated 3rd party apps will dry up, and don't count on anyone making new Symbian programs in the knowledge that they'll be obsolete tomorrow.

But what if you could buy a Symbian phone, and then install Windows Phone on it when it's ready? PCs can run Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. The iPhone can run Android. And Nokia will tweak Windows to run on hardware that has been tailored for Symbian for many years. So why not offer the buyers of the 150 million Symbian phones that Nokia still expects to sell the option to switch to Windows without having to buy a new phone?

Nokia could ask 3rd party application developers to offer a free switch from a license for Symbian to a license for Windows Phone. Nokia has the power to negotiate such a deal. After all, they hold the keys to the Ovi store.

An emulator that lets you run your old Symbian apps on the new Windows system is another way to ease the transition.

Not that I really care, because I ditched my old Nokia for a new Android phone. So expect to see an Android version of this blog in the near future.

By the way, isn't it a little fishy that Nokia announces to kill Symbian after pocketing millions of tax euros from the European Union which they're supposed to spend on Symbian development? I wonder if I will get my money back.