Nokia predicts Here platform will wow on Windows Phone

Nokia believes that its partnership with Microsoft will help to make its new Here mapping platform a key feature Windows Phone handsets.

Hans Peter Brondmo, Nokia vice president and head of new product innovation for location and commerce, told V3 that the recently-unveiled mapping and navigation platform will offer its best experience when paired with the Microsoft operating system.

"We consider [Windows Phone] to be the best Here-enabled OS, and the long term goal is to maintain that."

Nokia unveiled Here earlier in the day, claiming the platform will set the stage for its next generation of mapping and locational services. Here will include a revamped 3D mapping system which will be able to render views on the fly and integrate mapping data with other services such as locational data.

Though the company plans to make Here a cross-platform offering for mobile, desktop and in-car systems, Brondmo noted that different platforms will have their own strengths and limitations.

While the company is tightly integrated with Microsoft and offers an SDK directly to Android handset vendors, Apple's tightly-controlled iOS will only get a browser-based HTML5 mapping application.

"Three or four years, ago people were arguing on whether you should even put a map on a mobile device," Brondmo said.

"In a simple way, I think it is a critical dimension to every mobile device."

Nokia believes that its partnership with Microsoft, combined with the interface features of Windows Phone 8, will allow the company, and end users, to get the most out of its mapping tools.

Though Brondmo stopped short of declaring that Here will be a "killer app" for Windows Phone, he believes that mapping will become an increasingly vital part of all mobile platforms in the coming years, forming a bridge between the real and virtual spaces.