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Nokia Keeps Quietly Mapping The World
LucidBeast writes "Mapping the world isn't easy as our friends in Cupertino have found out. Google's maps seem ubiquitous, but there is a less known real heavyweight still mapping the world. Nokia acquired Navteq in 2007, and five years later they are still reading fleet data and scanning cities with LIDAR and 360 degree cameras."
That would solve their map problem.
They can afford it.
Everyone will be happy.
But MSFT.
Don't do it!
You can sign up and have the ability to embed Google Maps on your website with predefined points on the map and all, what other company allows this?
After losing pretty much all of its traction in the mobile space, Microsoft has been trying desperately to build some buzz for the new Windows Phone and upcoming Windows tablets - and here we have a story about Nokia's mapping efforts.
While possibly interesting, I expect the timing of this story is, shall we say, not completely a matter of happenstance.
#DeleteChrome
Isn't it Apple fandom that's become a mindless religion?
Don't you think perhaps that's why sane people mock you the way we mock scientology and other douchbaggery?
then there would be no need for all this useless competition!
A good friend of mine works in this department as a product manager; he has been there since they were NavTeq. You should take a look at Nokia's financials before busting out the "M$ evil" conspiracy theories. The navigation unit is the only part of the company that is profitable right now. They have excellent data (probably the best available, mention is halfway down the page) and they do a lot more with it than put it in phones. Basically, anybody who needs to have vetted data (ie, when salesmen need to tell clients that the data is better than what they can get online for free) to put in a product use Nokia maps. Many high-end cars with built in navigation are using them for example.
The higher-ups at Nokia know this. They are trying to leverage this to position the company for growth. Their internal mantra is that "Google is what, Microsoft is who, and we are _where_". Hence, the publicity: this is the only bright spot for Nokia and they need to milk it. If you ask me, they are grasping at straws; but the I can see the logic.
Why the slashvertisment for NAVTEQ? They're not the only option out there. TeleAtlas (TomTom) is similarly licensing their map data, and is used by maps and navigation apps, particularly by or for companies who are direct competitors with Nokia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tele_Atlas
http://www.gpsreview.net/navteq-vs-tele-atlas/
For the record, I have never worked for either company.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
Technology Review has a similar piece.
Obi-Wan: "I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were sudden
Some cars have forward facing cameras already for lane keeping systems or lane departure warning. Some of these cameras can read signs and let you know if you're speeding, etc. Ultimately it may be the car companies who have the best maps which might be updated continuously by tens of millions of cars. Hmmm time for me to transfer to the driver assistance systems part of the company....
This may also explain why Google wants driverless cars, so they can fully automate the data collection.
They are taking the jab because apple most defiantly isn't at the same level as even windows phone.
Nokia has a value of $10billion and is losing money. Apple could buy them with cash.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
As an N900 owner I've been extremely annoyed that I've had to switch to use Google's AGPS service because Nokia's hasn't been available for N900 for quite some time now... and for someone who needs those maps in an urban setting, just regular GPS won't cut it. And I remember users of other Nokia models complaining about the same problem. Map data alone isn't enough, and I would rather not provide Google with my location every time I need a map.
TFA says that Nokia's "street view" cars are also equipped with LIDAR -- this strikes me as brilliant.
In addition, they use fleets of commercial vehicles (i.e. Fedex) to complement their data and detect new "road segments".
I'd use Nokia maps in a heartbeat if it were available on Android.
Sounds impressively innovative.
They are taking the jab because apple most defiantly isn't at the same level as even windows phone.
Defiantly, or definitely? I like the former, fwiw. Hahaaaaa. :-|
PS (full disclosure). I want neither an iBauble nor a WP*, but would accept a rooted Android if there were a gun pointed at my head. Just sayin'.
"Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit
when there is always someone telling me where to go and it's a place called "fuck"?
I got to the chocolate box before you, that's why the hard ones have teeth marks.
Just compared the map quality for remote villages in the biggest country of the world. Google's images for the satellite view are better. The classic map is OK. The names and even the train stops are shown, unlike in Google. The German map. Is also comparable to the one from Google. I would say that the 3D failed for me, becasue it kept saying that I need the correct browser, which I was already using. Conclusion, better than the maps from Yahoo, but not as good as the maps from Goggle. Page Layout and speed is excellent in Europe. Go try: http://maps.nokia.com/
~ Best man at your service.
http://maps3d.svc.nokia.com/webgl/index.html
'cause, the quality doesn't seem up to that described in the article - I'd kind of assumed it was calculated from multiple angles from overhead plane flights.
-- perl -e'print pack"H*","6e656d6f406d38792e6f7267"'
google maps only allow offline maps in certain locations.
useless when you are in said locations because they all have coverage.
go overseas or to desert places and you get a nice warning about offline maps not being available.
Except that maps was part of the $2 billion deal with Microsoft. So if they ever perfect their maps, every other Windows phone provider will have access to it as part of their phone license fee to MS.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/2011/feb11/02-11partnership.aspx
"Nokia Maps would be a core part of Microsoft’s mapping services. For example, Maps would be integrated with Microsoft’s Bing search engine and adCenter advertising platform to form a unique local search and advertising experience"
People said Elop was making a mistake, that giving away Maps and Patents in exchange for $2 billion in marketing money for a WP7 phone, was dumb. I think he hoped that he could keep it together, pump the $2 billion into Nokia, claim his bonus and leave before it all falls apart, like he'd done at previous appointments.
Just think if they'd made an Android phone they could be enjoying the same sort of success that Samsung is enjoying now.
What's so quiet about Nokia maps? Tim Cook named Nokia maps in his apology letter. I'm sure that someone, whether it be Samsung, Google, Apple pr maybe even HTC, will turn that letter into a TV or radio commercial. It may have happened already. I just haven't seen it. The reason I say this is because Cook expressly says "create a shortcut to Google maps." A statement like that is ripe for advertising abuse.
Don't you think perhaps that's why sane people mock you the way we mock scientology and other douchbaggery?
Just because a bunch of noisy people agree with you doesn't mean you're sane.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
AAPL could also buy TomTom, one of the main suppliers of maps for IOS6. According to TomTom, their data is fine, but the integration of their data and other sources seems to be causing Apples problems on IOS6. Nokia has the legacy weight of a phone division, while TomTom is barely making any hardware themselves these days and is only into maps and services related to that. At the current price point, TomTom would be far more interesting for AAPL than NOK would be.
TomTom already has an extreme amount of experience in making map applications work on several platforms and they have a foot in the door with several car manufacturers that use TomTom data and applications on their on-board systems. This would give them an entrance in a market they currently are not in. How would you think "iTunes on your car" and "iOS apps on your car" would sound to most people? The first car to offer that would no doubt get a lot of publicity and sales, unless it was a true lemon. TomTom could very well be their entrance into that market and Nokia only has Navteq maps and a bunch of patents as a valuable asset. The patents are being sold off rapidly to fund the rest of the company, so the merit of that is rapidly diminishing. Putting a suffering phone division against the Navteq bit, you don't have a lot of value left I think.
I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
...to complaints about mapping errors!
Navteq. Consistently putting my house in the wrong street since 1991
(despite complaints before map reporter and many (completely ignored) map reports over the past 8 years) (Yes, I know that map makers put in small deliberate errors as a 'watermark' to foil competitors copying their data. But having to explain the DHL van driver where my house is over and over again really gets annoying!)
When I'm waiting for a delivery I look down the drive and see a truck pull up on the opposite side of the road, then wait to see if the driver gets out and looks puzzled. Then I have to go and direct them. It's a small thing but remarkably annoying.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
The 3d is done by C3, the exact same company that Apple bought a while ago and are now using for the 3d flyovers in Apple Maps. Except that Nokia had it first...
One thing is the actual quality of what they scan and another the one you get filtered down to be actually able to play with it. I worked for a company who made runs of lidar scanners for roads. It was sad thaton 32 bit machines a road less than a km length was impossible to load due to the amount of "voxel" data. And I speak of voxels because they get the position and then a color, so you get a cloud of points. There is HUGE post processing to see the results, and they do it algorithmically, no way you can train million monkeys to improve that (hello China/Amazon turk?).
Your "good friend" should follow the rest of the company more closely. The rest are making money.
The Ashas (their S40 based smart dumb phones) are selling like hot cakes (70 million a quarter)
NSN is making money with LTE rollouts
The smartphone division has the 920 coming out in a month, it makes the iPhone 5 look like a cheap 2 year old HTC.
And Nokia Maps are going into everything. Including Oracle.
One might think the company is undervalued. Nah, buy APPL instead, they only ever go up.
There's a difference between what bing will give you and what Nokia maps apps will give you.
First. Contrary to what the dumb money thinks, Apple don't have 100 billion in cash. They have an investment company (Braeburn (haha)) which invests their cash into bonds, stocks, commodities etc. From the iPhone 5, iOS 6 and iMaps it's clear they don't know how to invest it in their products.
Second. When you have 100 billion in a market, you're stuck, you can't move fast, as you start dumping stuff it drops in value simply due to supply. So, while their valuation of their investments might be 100 billion, or more recently 117 billion, if they need to move fast it'll be worth (a lot) less than that.
Third. Nokia's new generation of smartphones (the 920 for example) are at least 2 years ahead of Apple and Samsung; optical (not digital) image stabilisation, wireless charging, NFC, better screen, accurate maps with the latest mapping apps and the user interface on WP 7.5 never mind 8 is simply better than the iPhone (yes really).
Fourth. When people get wind of the purchase of Nokia stock the valuation will jump, to a multiple of the current valuation. Nokia is currently priced for bankruptcy. It's pretty clear they won't be but the market is often a bit dim; "the buy high sell low dumb money".
Lots of muppets out there.
http://www.nokia.com/gb-en/products/phone/lumia920/
iPhone 5 killer.
Though it seem that the iPhone 4 is an iPhone 5 killer.
WTF?