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Nokia Keeps Quietly Mapping The World

Posted by timothy on from the under-the-lidar dept.

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."

8 of 197 comments (clear)

  1. AAPL could buy NOK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That would solve their map problem.

    They can afford it.

    Everyone will be happy.

    But MSFT.

    1. Re:AAPL could buy NOK by MacDork · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I remember getting my N95 just before the first iPhone came out. It came installed with a map app that included directions and navigation. Then a software update removed navigation and made it a paid feature. I refused to update and decided I didn't want a Nokia after that.

      Nokia burned what good will they had with me. Apple is now doing the same thing to their users.

    2. Re:AAPL could buy NOK by tqk · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yes, Apple with a bag of actual patents to abuse would make everyone happy ...

      Just sayin': not me. I don't give a rat's ass what Apple or Google are up to, nor do I use either in any way. With a gun at my head, I admit I'd choose Android, but I'd root it before I trusted it enough to actually use it.

      --
      "Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit ..." -- Pink Floyd.
    3. Re:AAPL could buy NOK by bogaboga · · Score: 3, Insightful

      ...From reports...

      *cough*, *cough*...which ones?

      ...Google wanted to keep their navigation support for Android only...

      You made that one up, right?

      Can you please go away? Go home!

  2. Re:Not the only respectable ones by evilviper · · Score: 4, Insightful

    TeleAtlas isn't to blame for most of the iPhone Maps app problems I've heard about. You can blame the map provider if a road is missing or mislabled, or an address is down the street, but that's about it.

    The failed searches and missing home/business locations are a matter of Apple's POI search system being horrible (something Google does well), which switching to NAVTEQ or any other map provider won't fix for them.

    --
    Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  3. AAPL could buy TomTom by dutchwhizzman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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?
    1. Re:AAPL could buy TomTom by BasilBrush · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Given that they already have TomTom data there's no particular need to buy the company.

      And a company like Apple certainly don't need TomTom's help getting into cars. Cars have long since had interfaces for iPods and iPhones to connect into and be controlled by the in car stereo. If and when Apple wants to do the type of integration you're talking about, they'll offer it to the industry, and they'll have car manufacturers competing to be first.

  4. Re:Despite what you think... by am+2k · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Their internal mantra is that "Google is what, Microsoft is who, and we are _where_".

    Ignoring Apple there tells so much about the company...