In our previous How-To article on Nokia Maps, we showed you the main functions that you can perform in your daily travel routine. In this article, we’ll take a step further and show you the road to empowering your mobile device with Nokia’s very own Guides and Map Loader.

Nokia caters to the globetrotter who’s always on the move with the Guides purchasing option, found within Nokia Maps. Similar to printed guides such as Lonely Planet or The Rough Guide, the purchasable guides within Nokia Maps provide you with various recommendations and details to the sights and sounds of the city, ranging from food joints to places of interest.

Mentioned briefly in our previous How-To article for Nokia Maps, purchasing the guide of a specific locality is similar to how you would purchase the add-on voice navigation. Enter Nokia Maps, click on Options > Extra Services > Guides.

By chance, if you have not started a network connection or have disabled it, click on Options > Settings > Network. Ensure When Needed is chosen under Use network, and select the network connection of your choice under Default access point.

Note that you will have to utilize an active Internet connection to update the list of guides available, as prompted here.

After clicking Yes, a list of the most updated guides close to your country of origin will be retrieved and cataloged onto your device, with an option to browse for more Guides under Browse catalogue.

Following which, you may purchase the guide of your choice as illustrated here. An additional option is present for you to enter your license code, should you have purchased the guide earlier on.

On most navigational devices, maps are a form of commodity that requires you to make additional purchases. In contrast, you’ll get a nice treat from Nokia: Free maps, with the help of the Nokia Map Loader.

Nokia Map Loader essentially downloads the latest maps from Nokia, transfers it right onto your Nokia device. Your first step, is to download the Nokia Map Loader application for your PC here: http://europe.nokia.com/A4509291

Run the installer next, and before you start the Nokia Map Loader application, connect your mobile device onto your PC and select Data Transfer/Mass Storage as your mode of connection.

Start your Nokia Map Loader application, and you should be greeted with this screen:

Notice there are two tabs available for selection, namely Maps and Voices. Let’s take a peek at Maps first.

With Nokia Map Loader, you are provided with a variety of maps that encompasses virtually the whole world. Firstly, identify which map you wish to download, select on the specific continent. The arrow sign as seen above indicates that there are more choices available for that specific continent or country. Choose your map, click on the + sign as indicated above, and you’ll have the list of maps to be downloaded ready, as seen here.

As you might have surmised, downloaded maps require a certain amount of storage space, which is highlighted as in the illustration above. You’ll be able to monitor the amount of space required for the selected maps, and the remaining capacity on your mass storage device.

Once you’ve made your final selection, click on Download to initialize the map download and transfer onto your Nokia device.

The Voices tab provides you with an alternative language for the voice guided navigation that you might have purchased earlier on. Multiple languages are available, and the downloading step is similar to what you have done for your maps downloading.

To alternate to a different voice language, click on Menu > Maps > Settings > General and select the Voice guidance field.

As we have seen, Nokia Maps is not just about maps. It’s about navigation, direction, and most of all, precision. Though having a full fledged GPS enabled Nokia device would bring out the full prowess of this mapping application, Nokia Maps, Nokia Map Loader and City Guides are still as useful even without its GPS functionality, as a map that brings you to the places you wish to go, at no hassle.