Nokia Ovi Share demo uses Google maps

NOKIA SHOWED journalists here at the S60 Summit in Barcelona a taste of its next Ovi-branded web service which will be known simply as Nokia Share. Unfortunately this Facebook killer app was still using Google Maps.

That's doubly embarrassing given that Nokia Maps is actually the first (and launched) Ovi service. Ho hum. The chief benefit to Share, however, is the ease with which geolocational information can be added to your shared pictures.

In order to do this easily, you need GPS built into the mobile handset, of course. Nokia says that in 2008 it will ship 35 million GPS enabled handsets. That's the equivalent of all GPS devices sold in 2007.

So what can you do right now? One option is to acquire a Nokia N78 which already has geo-tagging built in. Alternatively you can download Nokia's beta geo-tagger called location manager here.

It's compatible with Nokia N95, N95 8GB, N82, E90, and N73 models but it hasn't been thoroughly tested. If your picture has the tags then a map of the exact location automatically appears against the snap. In the demo,the map was actually supplied by Google but in the real thing it will be Nokia Maps, naturally.

Aside from happily geo-tagging pics, you can utilise them in other ways such as automatically building them into a podcast or alternatively incorporating them into an RSS feed.

And last, and by no means least, it is simple to add a tag to your Share piccies on the eponymous Facebook. When available, Share should take off big time. µ