Nokia makes Drive+ beta available

Nokia says the beta version of its Drive+ navigation app has been opened to all Windows Phone 8 users in the United States, Canada and Britain. Previously, the app was only available to owners of a Lumia 810, 820, 822 or 920 smartphone, Slash Gear reported Wednesday. Nokia Drive+ features the usual turn-by-turn navigation capabilities, but also offers the convenience of offline maps and can offer drivers speed limit warnings. Those speed limit warnings will be presented as alerts even when Drive+ is not being used for turn-by-turn navigation, Nokia said. Nokia Drive+ can be instructed to avoid directing you onto dirt roads and toll roads, and will automatically switching to night mode to make its screen more readable in a car's darkened interior. Nokia has not announced when Drive+ will come out of beta or if the beta will become accessible to users in other countries, but users in the United States, Canada and Britain can download the app from the Windows Phone 8 store as of Wednesday.