Nokia’s Ovi Map is widely popular in China and the mobile maker giant is eyeing to provide location-based service in China through its partnership with local Internet giants Tencent and Sina.
The new location-based service will be built on top of Ovi Map and set to launch during the first quarter of this year, according to Sina.
It will allow users to upload location-based content such as recommendations and comment on restaurants or shops. Both Tencent and Sina’s services will also be integrated with the application. For example, users are able to check-in and share their locations on Sina Weibo (China’s Twitter).
“We have wanted do business with local partners for along time, especially the big names [referring to Tencent and Sina], because we know that foreign companies usually move more slowly and are less adept than local companies,” said An Jun, Chairman of Nokia Alliance Internet Services Company.
There are more than 250 million Nokia mobile phone users in China and most of the phones were installed with Ovi Maps. In other words, the new location-based services could potentially have 250 million users. Of course, it will be too naïve to assume that. But any percentage of adoption rate will translate to sizable users. With Nokia coming into the China location-based market, it will pose a strong challenge to Jiepang, China’s Foursquare clone.
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