The mapping team at Nokia is by far the best software development team in the organization (maybe with the exception of Trolltech/qt), and it's surviving the MSFT integration. It's (largely) the legacy of the successful acquisition of Gate5 in Berlin -- and somehow the team there was able to resist full assimilation into the Borg. I was talking to a Nokian today who commented that in Nokia, "Berlin is the new Helsinki".
Your friend is right. I freelanced there earlier this year to create a prototype of Ovi Maps on Windows Phone. I couldn't stay on to see the production version through (commitments in London), but what they shipped on the Lumia (Maps and Drive) is awesome.
[Edit] Earlier LAST year, this year's only a few days old ;-)
