Nokia teams up with travel information provider to launch mobile maps

According to foreign media reports, on Tuesday this week, Nokia announced that they will cooperate with the travel information company Lonely Planet to sell maps and city guides to mobile phone users.

Nokia stated that users of Nokia Maps can currently download information about over 100 famous tourist attractions provided by Lonely Planet via their phones, at a cost of 7.99 euros per download. Nokia also plans to provide more attraction information and expand user options. Nokia said: "Lonely Planet's travel guides will help tourists find ideal dining, shopping, and accommodation places, as well as introduce the environment and nightlife of famous attractions."

Lonely Planet is a company that provides global travel information, with regional headquarters in London, UK, Victoria, Australia, and Oakland, California, USA. The company has as many as 360 writers, researchers, and photographers who provide books, digital guides, wireless applications, and TV programs related to travel.

This download service can be obtained through Nokia's "Extras" catalog. The maps for Nokia Maps 2.0 are provided by Navteq and TeleAtlas.

Recently, Nokia has been committed to providing internet services to mobile phone users. They estimate that by 2010, the global online market capacity will reach 100 billion euros. Recently, Nokia has cooperated with Warner Music, Sony BMG, and Universal Music to provide music download services for mobile phone users. Last year, they also launched web-based services and mini-programs to help users play games and download music via their phones. This move is mainly aimed at competing with rivals like Apple iTunes and iPod.