It looks like Ovi Maps is back on the Nokia Beta Labs with the latest 3.06 update, which brings some great improvements including public transport overlay, and live traffic updates. I just with they made this available before I went to Europe for the weekend, would have loved to give it a real try on a 900+mile round trip car journey (UK to Netherlands to Brussels and back to UK!). Will give it a test to work though which is still 100 miles of driving!

Improvements

  • Visually refreshed main menu and icons
  • New maps with public transport lines (as a new map layer) for subways, trams and trains in 80+ cities around the world. Just click the map toolbox icon and select Transit lines
  • Improved search experience – find places and addresses around you – or anywhere in the world – fast and easily. Browse places or enter a keyword in the search box. Now with suggestions and “did you mean?” functionality
  • New place pages with description, reviews, pictures and places nearby. Interact with places in a whole new way – you can check in, contact, navigate, save, rate, share, report or see place on the map
  • Sare a place – send a place to your friends via SMS or Email. The SMS contains the address and a link to the place page with description, ratings, contact, URL and a mini map. The link opens up on the mobile browser (also on non-Nokia devices),
  • Check in – keep your friends up-to-date with where you are and what you’re up to. Check in to places and share it with your friends on Facebook and many more social networks. See places you’ve been to in your check in history,
  • New Drive assistance mode with live traffic flow – after clicking Drive, you’re instantly in drive assistance mode with live traffic flow and more. Once you start moving, get safety camera alerts and speed limit warnings,
  • More folder with many rich content services relevant to your location. Personalise your Ovi Maps by selecting the services you’d like to keep on your main menu for instant access.

Live Traffic over 24 hours in London

Check in for Ovi Maps

To get it for yourself, head over to Nokia Beta Labs (Don’t forget it is still in beta so probably has some bugs, and you need to login/register to download!)