The battle for differentiation in mobile is at fever pitch. iPhone has the app store, BlackBerry has cut-rate, unlimited internet access, Android has… well… Google and Nokia has a mounting collection of services that includes an extensive, and now entirely free, mapping solution.

Nokia Maps was an early play from the Finnish mobile giant that has put it ahead of the pack when it comes to affordable mapping and navigation on your phone.

The service has been mostly free for some time, offering maps of the world and their updates to Nokia users for gratis. Voice navigation and a few other bits and pieces were levied via subscription, however – but these are now free as part of the re-branded Ovi Maps product announced by Nokia this week. (more…)

There are some things every car should have – besides for an engine and other obvious bits and pieces like wheels. One of these additional musts is USB ports. Another is high-speed internet connectivity. Alcatel-Lucent is taking us closer to the latter via its ng Connect initiative that creates an ecosystem of partners, including content providers, gaming companies and others, to develop solutions based on LTE mobile broadband. (more…)