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Windows Phone Maps traffic conditions now powered by Nokia

Windows Phone Maps traffic conditions now powered by Nokia

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Microsoft has started utilizing Nokia's back-end services to power expanded traffic condition results in its Maps app for Windows Phone.

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nokia lumia 800 white_640

Last month Microsoft announced that it would be taking advantage of Nokia's back-end services to provide enhanced traffic condition functionality for Bing Maps, and the company has begun rolling out the same features to Windows Phone devices as well. A post on the Windows Phone blog outlines that courtesy of Nokia, the Maps app now boasts coverage of side streets and even more highways in the US. New countries will be receiving coverage as well, with select cities in France, Germany, and the UK amongst those pinpointed to receive the enhanced functionality (the new results are already live for some countries, while others will be receiving them in the coming weeks).

It's a logical extension of Nokia and Microsoft's continued partnership, and comes as the mobile map space has increasingly become a point of competition, with both Apple and Google announcing changes to their respective services in the past few weeks. Of course, recent rumors have indicated that Microsoft will be outright replacing its own mapping app with Nokia Maps in Windows Phone 8. Whether using Nokia's back-end services is a precursor to that move, or simply a shift in strategy remains to be seen. Perhaps we'll learn more next week at Microsoft's Windows Phone summit — or at the mysterious event the company just announced for June 18th.