Nokia/Navteq traffic to use Nokia GPS Smartphones as Data Probes
Last week, Nokia/NAVTEQ took a big step forward on the development of their traffic network globally. The basis is the Traffic.com acquisition by NAVTEQ with road sensors, GPS probes and now the very broad network of the Nokia GPS enabled phones. Last week I joked along with Rich over at GPSTracklog.com on my Twitter feed that this move would expand coverage by dozens of miles in the US, but that if course is a little limited. We may have been a little harsh in that assessment. The reality is that this move should have been well anticipated, and should provide the framework for them to start amping up the coverage and feeds of both North America and Europe.
If the aggregation of the datafeeds and subsequent timely reporting out of that information is done well, you can't underplay the importance of adding millions of smart phones as anonymous GPS probes in the understanding of traffic situations and how you can make better decisions about your drive. They clearly have a scale here to make a difference. Should be interesting to see how this comes to life.
Also, NAVTEQ Traffic delivers a single source solution enabling drivers uninterrupted traffic information when crossing borders in 11 countries including Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. NAVTEQ Traffic will also be available in Luxembourg and The Netherlands by the end of 2009. This will certainly help Garmin (NAVTEQ Customer) to combat TomTom (Owns TeleAtlas and utilizes in-house data collection of connected GPS) on the Euro turf, and is also an acknowledgement of the advanced need for traffic reporting on the Euro continent.
"Nokia continues to expand its community and delivers technologies that improve the lives of users," said Michael Halbherr, Director of Social Rental Services division at Nokia. "Part of our commitment is to ensure respect for the privacy of users, while offering the best offer traffic information so drivers have the latest information timely. "
Read More in: Traffic News
Share this Article with others:
Related Articles:
Came straight to this page? Visit GPS Lodge for all the latest news.
Posted by Scott Martin at September 7, 2009 7:51 AM
Mailing List
Subscribe - RSS
