T-Mobile USA's Nokia Nuron to preload Ovi Maps

Nokia announced that T-Mobile USA's forthcoming Nokia 5230 Nuron is its first U.S. device to arrive preloaded with its popular Ovi Maps navigation application--in addition, the smartphone is the first from a national U.S. operator to come preloaded with Nokia's Ovi Store mobile content marketplace, with T-Mobile offering carrier billing as well as credit card purchases. Alongside free turn-by-turn navigation and directions, Ovi Maps features recommendations from Lonely Planet guides, weather forecasts and Facebook-based location sharing--the 3.2-inch touchscreen Nurion device, a T-Mobile USA exclusive scheduled to ship in the next few weeks, also comes preloaded with maps for the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

During last month's Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, Nokia announced that more than 3 million consumers have downloaded the Ovi Maps application since it debuted in late January. According to Niklas Savander, the handset giant's executive vice president of services, Ovi Maps now averages more than one download per second, 24 hours a day, translating to around 100,000 downloads on a daily basis.

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