Nokia has put up a self-promoting video, embedded below, talking about the work that's gone into the 'Nokia Location Platform', but looking as well at map creation and also applications on smartphones. The Windows Phone 8-powered Nokia Lumias are featured, of course, but most of it also applies to Nokia's older smartphone platform, Symbian, for which the likes of City Lens is also available, plus of course the Windows Phone 7 generation as well.

From the video description:

Because location is playing a central role in Nokia's strategy, and because of its global footprint, quality and completeness of performance, the Nokia Location Platform offers great opportunities for third parties to build upon. We provide the location platform solution they want, regardless of their business and/or screen strategy. We've invested in the platform, so they don't have to, guaranteeing them fast, easy access to continuous innovation.

Also chipping in on the subject is Nokia Conversations:

All our location-based apps share the same technology core: the Nokia Location Platform.

It does not only power our location-based apps, but also Yahoo!, Flickr, Bing (therefore Facebook) and the whole Windows Phone 8 ecosystem. In more recent news, Amazon is licensing the Nokia Location Platform for maps and geocoding. Additionally, our maps power 4 out of 5 cars with in-dash navigation (e.g. BMW and Ford). All these companies decided to choose the Nokia because our competence in the location business is a key and differentiating asset, open to other leading players in the industry to offer great location consumer experiences.

Such a competence cannot be established overnight, it has to be meticulously built over the years to provide the best quality and richness of data. Nokia is strongly investing in this business, creating content, building a platform and offering consumer apps. This is the reason why Nokia is the only pure location player.

Nokia realized soon enough the importance of location-based services on mobile and with the acquisition of NAVTEQ in 2006, Nokia also acquired over 20 years of mapping experience. That experience is living now in our location platform. This is the most advanced mobile location platform with a unique global footprint. It provides maps for almost 200 countries (with more than 100 of them navigable) and provides the best, automotive-grade map quality based on industry-leading technology. We have summarized all the platform attributes in the following infographic.

Because location is playing a central role in Nokia’s strategy, and because of its global footprint, quality and completeness of performance the Nokia Location Platform offers great opportunities for third parties to build upon. We provide the location platform solution they want, regardless of their business and/or screen strategy. We’ve invested in the platform, so they don’t have to, guaranteeing them fast, easy access to continuous innovation.