As others have mentioned, this new cheaper price seems like a pretty good deal. However what makes me worry is that Nokia is not very transparent about support cycles and device groups.
I have a S60v3FP2 device, what has been announced with regards Maps?
As I understand it one or two devices in this group have the newer Maps 3.03 available. Will this eventually spread to more devices? Or are all new features in development for Maps never going to appear on the currently unsupported devices.
Sometimes the Nokia platforms don't really feel like platforms. I know Nokia are in the business of selling devices, but they shouldn't do that by limiting software they are developing only to certain devices (I don't believe there are hardware constraints here).
Either the platform idea at Nokia is broken or not at all transparent and if the platform really isn't the problem, then I believe the limiting of service software only to newer devices is a plan that will backfire.
Announcements from Nokia explaining what devices they support for their services and why and how it will work in the future would help build trust.
in australia they have not dropped the price at all... it's still $100 for a years navigation on my N95 8gb. Screw nokia... way too much bumbling and stumbling next phone is gonna be android....
i have garmin XT on my phone, wanted to go with Ovi maps, but will continue to use old maps on the XT
Nokia doesn't have to do anything. Once it sold us our new kit, that should be it. Unless there are some dire flaws that prevent the product from keepin its promises, they needn't even provide any firmware or software updates. "PC Sync not comatable with new OS? Tough. We're busy developing new and more exciting stuff for new paying customers. Want any new technologies, features, or compatability? Buy new kit."
But then that wouldn't be Nokia.
All they would have to do is lock the back of the phone to prevent user access to battery, and we would have the iPhone er I mean the NoPhone made by a cuddly company just like a certain fruit flavoured cult.
However Nokia could take the strategy of being generous to existing customers. Even if that means forgoing a certain marginal revenue in the form of 10 - 30 USD or EUR a pop for map upgrades. By giving the maps away for all compatable devices gratis, Nokia could reward existing customers and encourage loyalty. Ultimately it is a business decision that their sales and marketing people have to make. Of course they could take the strategy of demanding payment for every software or driver update no matter how trivial, or they could even demand payment for every download of PC Suite or Ovi Suite because of the server and bandwidth costs.
However it may not be better to cheese off a few customers with such stinginess.
Finally every sales and marketing expert knows that winning a new customer is vastly more expensive than retaining an existing loyal one. Nokia risks alienating existing customers by implying too much in vague promises of free navigation and maps for life. Indeed by now we all are already so used to the asterisks and fine print that accompany so many advertising and PR claims that we hardly trust any. If Nokia surprises exisiting customers with a "free" and unanticipated upgrade, that would really reinforce customer enthusiasm and encourage product and technology evangalism for a very low cost. A pleased customer now is one that is not cheesed off in a year or two when the decision about replacement is at hand.
Just imagine this conversation, "Gee your smart phone maker is nickleing and dimeing you for every little thing; my smart phone maker just generously significantly upgraded my technology at no charge." Nokia could indeed earn a reputation of a solid company with good values by doing more than strictly contractually required under the threat of lawsuits.
But maybe all our whinging is without merit, becuase the hard working Nokia engineers too busy beavering away to make the Ovi maps free upgrades work with some of the more primitive legacy hardware to come up for air for PR and customer relations to tell us all what or when anything is coming.