Is it a matter of coincidence that two brands announce their GPS enabled devices but will be able to provide the relevant maps only “in the course of the next three to four months”? Well, that’s what has happened this past week. A source had tipped us that HP and Nokia are in the early stages of partnering together to launch a GPS based navigation solution in India along with a global map provider. At that time, the idea seemed to be a bit far fetched but the way events have unfolded it seems closer to reality.

Figure this. Last week at the HP Oomph event, a representative from HP said that they are working on a navigation application (basically maps for Indian cities), which should be ready to be launched in the next three to four months. Then on Thursday, at the launch of the Nokia E90, we heard the same story from a Nokia spokesperson. 

What are the odds of two non-competing brands, each of which has a GPS enabled device for a couple of months (around six months for HP) but no maps, to announce that it will take them three months to unveil a full-fledged navigation application? Even though the Nokia spokesperson denied any such tie-up, it is very much possible. We checked up with a couple of sources familiar with the matter and both said that there are talks going on between the two brands but the details are very sketchy.

If true, it won’t be the first time that Nokia and HP will be partnering together to launch a service. Last year, the two global giants had launched Visual Radio service in many parts of the world.