Nokia will be using its Ovi Maps for the mapping application of Yahoo, tagged with ‘powered by Ovi’ underneath, as the Internet giant seeks to compete with their rival’s Google Maps.

In an equal move, Yahoo will take over Nokia’s Ovi chat and Ovi Mail between handsets, which means it will now be tagged as ‘powered by Yahoo’.

It also means that Ovi and Yahoo logins will be more unified, with a plan to make Ovi profiles easier to use on services of Yahoo.

“We’re enabling millions of Yahoo! customers in key markets including North America to discover the unique capabilities that Ovi Maps brings,” said Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo.

“Similarly, Yahoo!’s online expertise will bring exciting mail and messaging enhancements to millions of Ovi Mail customers across almost every country around the world, many of whom will have their first Internet experience on their mobile.”

Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz said: “We’re excited to expand the reach of our best-in-class Mail and Messenger services, bringing personalised experiences to more people across the mobile Web, particularly in emerging markets where we are seeding the next generation of Yahoo! users.”

Bartz added that they believe Nokia’s continued investment in navigation and maps will improve their existing products, enabling them to focus on the core of their business.

The Finnish company claimed that the breaches involve technology employed to boost data and speech transmission, as well as antenna advancements for compact gadgets.

The suit is the newest in a series of legal battle between the two firms.

Apple and Nokia are caught in another row that involves Apple’s iPhone.

Paul Melin, general manager of patent licensing at the Finnish company, said, ”We’ve taken this step to protect the results of our pioneering development and to put an end to continued unlawful use of Nokia’s innovation”.

Nokia said in a statement that it has spent around $5.1bn ((£34bn) in R&D and has accumulated 11,000 patents for the previous two decades.

Nokia last year filed a similar case against Apple over claims that its patents had been infringed by Apple products. Apple responded by filing a countersuit against Nokia, claiming that its smartphones had violated Apple patents.

Apple, meanwhile, is also caught up in another legal battle with the Taiwanese company, HTC – developer of Google’s Nexus One phone, which it said has violated patented technology.

The media said patent rows are widespread in the technology industry and usually conclude with some form of licensing deal.

The lawsuit filed by Nokia came on the day of Apple’s announcement of the release of iPad. The tablet computer will be offered for sale in nine nations outside the United States on 28 May.

Providing an easy step by step process, users can now provide their personal voice to 53 directions that will then be used in Nokia’s navigation service to guide the way. As simple as following the instructions and reading each direction into the device, the Own Voice sound file is saved and instantly uploaded to the same titled website where owners can download it and use in their Ovi Maps applications as soon as they wish. Meanwhile, for those who don’t wish to hear their own voice repeating direction after direction, a host of other user-generated files will be available on the website including ‘angry Charlotte’ who shouts orders, or ‘the Reaper’ who provides navigational instructions in a deathly tone.

The move from Nokia comes after a successful launch of their Ovi Maps service. Initially brought out in February it has proved popular with consumers, noting over a million downloads in its first week alone. And meanwhile, as Google look to steal some market share with the recent announcement of a free Google Maps navigation service, Nokia’s latest offering will certainly add the custom content that many individuals are looking for.

The release is an important step for the Symbian system which, until now, has lagged behind the operating systems of Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android platform. Whilst being one of the worlds most used systems, industry experts expressed that much of its attractiveness had been lost because of the other high profile platforms being discussed in the media. They added that the move was also a pivotal step to “make Nokia’s high end phones credible again.”

It also marks an important step for Symbian which became open sourced in February after the Symbian foundation recognised the importance of free software for allowing the acceleration of developments. With any organisation now able to both use and modify the code, the N8 is the first device to be launched since the February dispersal, the success of which may determine Symbian’s future.

Meanwhile the N8 will hit consumer shelves in 2010’s third quarter, featuring both multi-tasking and multi-touch. To be held as Nokia’s flagship phone, it supports HD, surround sound and allows users to connect it to home theatres. A hub for social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter can also be displayed on its home screen allowing for easy interactivity.

Patented with U.S authorities, the device which uses piezoelectric crystals to generate an electric current, could not only be used to provide battery juice for mobile phones but also music players, games consoles or even medical equipment. And whilst previous attempts at creating the crystals inside of gadgets has failed due to the high temperatures needed to form them, advances in kinetics and printing fields now mean that the required elements could be “printed” onto flexible material which is then incorporated into devices.

Under Nokia’s plans, the heavier parts of a device such as a battery or radio aerial could be connected internally to a structural frame work. Connecting piezoelectric crystals to the framework would mean that any movement of the phone, such as in an individuals pocket as the walked along, would effectively generate an electrical charge. This would then keep any battery charge constantly topped up.

Whilst Nokia declined to comment on when a possible product could appear in the marketplace, a spokesman said “Power management has been an important topic since the early days of mobile communications and so continues to be one of the areas for research, but we cannot comment on whether or when inventions described in patent applications may eventually appear in products.”

However, the last three months of the year were strong, especially after both Blackberry owners Research in Motion and Apple rivalled the firm with high competition resulting in a 5per cent fall in global sales, falling to 12bn euros from 12.6bn euros. However, new models aided a come back at the end of the year, with chief executive for Nokia, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo saying “We grew our market share in smartphones in the fourth quarter, driven by the successful launch of new touch and Qwerty models. Our performance in smartphones, combined with continuing success in the emerging markets, helped us increase sales in our devices & services unit, both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year.”

Meanwhile analysts expected that Nokia had turned an important corner after facing a touch year in 2009. Nordea analyst Marti Larjo said “It was a good set of numbers, their volumes and market share rose and smartphone markets improved. The improved profitability of the device unit promises that the profitability this year will improve from the 2009 level.”

In December 2009, Nokia filed a complaint against Apple, claiming that the American technology giant had infringed seven patents which affected “virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players and computers.” They sought a ban on all imports of MacBook products, iPod’s and iPhone’s. As it was revealed that Apple had now made a responding move to prevent the importation of Nokia phones, the Finnish company’s spokesman Mark Durrant said “Nokia will study the complaint when it is received and continue to defend itself vigorously. However this does not alter the fact that Apple has failed to agree to appropriate terms for using Nokia technology and has been seeking a free ride on Nokia’s innovation since it shipped the first iPhone in 2007.”

It is the latest complaint in a long string of accusations between the companies. Previous to the matters being brought before the ITC last October, Nokia had already filed against Apple, complaining that since the initial launch of the iPhone in 2007, wireless handset technology had been infringed.

As Apple made no comment on their latest move, mobile chief for Nokia, Rick Simonson, admitted that the company had lost its way to the smartphone but was now back on track. “Yes, we have lost ground in the smartphone space over the past 18 months, but the decline has stopped and stabilised in the second and third quarters of 2009,” he expressed.

Since the iPhone launched in 2007 Nokia protests that the popular handset has had a “free ride” on technology which was developed by them. However, as matters hot up for what could develop into a battle lasting years, Apple began a legal strike back. General counsel member and senior vice-president of Apple Bruce Sewell, whilst not revealing which technologies Nokia’s is supposed to infringed, said “Other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours.”

Meanwhile experts continue to warn that the bold move by Nokia could still end in disarray for the Finnish firm. Whilst patent suits are quite usual within the mobile sector, Nokia has a £36billion investment in development and research with 10,000 patents which, if found invalid, could backfire for the popular handset producer. A Nokia spokesperson said “This changes nothing in terms of the original complaint. Apple has been infringing our patents since 2007 and we continue to pursue that case vigorously,” explaining that they would take time to respond to the counter-suit.

Elsewhere, as news hit of Apple’s response Nokia shares grew by 27 cents, where as the US based firm lost 62 cents.

Compatible with a wide range of handsets, there are 21 Nokia mobiles which can now use the service. Whilst a number of them, including the 5320, 5530 and 5800 all have access to Nokia’s own Comes With Music service, customers will now have the option to enjoy Spotify in addition. Meanwhile, those users who own a N97 handset, the flagship device for the company, will finally be able to connect to a music streaming service after Nokia failed to connect their latest handset to their own music application.

Releasing the information on their website, Spotify said “Today we’re delighted to announce the launch of Spotify for Symbian. Symbian is the operating system used by a number of smartphones including Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung… We hope everyone enjoys this early Christmas present!” Samsung’s GT-I7110 and their i8910 Omnia HD can enjoy the service, as well as Sony Ericsson’s Satio.

Elsewhere Spotify continues to do well on both the iPhone and handsets enjoying the Android platform. As the application becomes more widespread, it is likely that the latest addition to their handset access is only one step in a long line of upcoming possibilities.

With three handset models affected, including the AC-4U, AC-3E and AC-3U, BYD explained that “During internal tests we found the chargers could have some problems.” Nokia added that covers on the affected chargers could become loose, “potentially posing an electrical shock hazard if certain internal components are touched while the charger is plugged into a live socket”. Explaining that the issue “only applies to a restricted number of chargers manufactured over a short period available in a select number of countries”, they revealed that units bought in China, Argentina, Brazil and Britain were all safe.

It is not the first recall for Nokia, which had to recall chargers in 2007 over concerns that they might overheat. However, the latest recall is the largest in history, outdoing Sony, Dell and Apple. Sony recalled ten million computer batteries in 2006, whilst Dell also had to call back 4.1 million batteries after it was found that some faults caused laptops to burst into flames. Meanwhile batteries for Apple Computer were found to overheat, causing 1.8 million units to be recalled.