Vodafone, which bought navigation service Wayfinder in early 2009 and closed it down just over a year later, is now giving away the software. Wayfinder's location and navigation software can now be found on github.com and via Vodafone’s open source portal at www.betavine.net.

Satellite navigation company Garmin has warned mobile phone users about the 'hidden' costs of using smartphone sat-nav services that download maps over the mobile internet. They've calculated that users can end up with a phone bill more expensive than the cost of the fuel used for their journey.

A new research report from Berg Insight predicts that mobile location-based service revenue in Europe will grow from €220 million last year to reach €420 million (£349 million) in 2015, a compound annual growth rate of 12%.

Local search, navigation services and social networking are expected to have the highest number of users, with a third of all mobile customers in Europe expected to be using location-enhanced applications by 2015.

Yahoo! and Nokia have announced a 'worldwide strategic alliance' after five years of working together. The companies say they will use each others' strengths in email, instant messaging, maps and navigation services to provide consumers with 'world-class experiences' on PCs and mobile devices.

• Yahoo!'s maps will now be branded as "powered by Ovi", with Nokia becoming the exclusive provider of Yahoo!'s maps and navigation services.
• Ovi's chat and email services will now be provided by Yahoo! and branded as "Ovi Mail / Ovi Chat powered by Yahoo!"
• Both companies aim to eventually let consumers use a single Ovi/Yahoo! username across their services.