TomTom is buying Tele Atlas!!!

[Darren]

Possibly but have you seen where Google get their road map data? Look at the Copyright at the foot of each page, Navteq and TeleAtlas.

We're a while away yet from Google consuming Navteq, TeleAtlas or TomTom.
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Darren Griffin

[robertn]

In the end the only people who will make serious money are the data providers. As this dicussion has highlighted, there are two for map data TA and Navteq (a few rats and mice players as well coving smaller countries) .

But data is much more than maps - data is retailers, service providers, opening and closing times, menus and whats on at the movies. It's about where to park your car, pre booking a parking space, a restaurant table, a movie ticket. Its not only about where you are going, it's about what are you doing when you get there.

Maps are a very a small part of the picture, but wihtout them the picture cannot be complete, however the techniology it not yet availbe at prices suitible for mass consumer exploitation to provide accurate, useful and detailed enough data - so we are lead to belive the world revolves around maps, because map data is relatively small, relatively unchanging and moderately tolerant to errors.

Nearly any idiot can put togther a GPS based navigation system in a few man years of work - look at the proliferation of models out now - the tools to do it are availble off the shelf. Tomtom, Navman, Garmin and the others are fighting over market share and are ultimately squbbling over who is going to make the most money for TA and Navteq.

So what do you do about it if you are one of the larger markey players - get your fingures into the data pie. It's the only way they will survive.

[Darren]

Personally speaking, I can live without the built-in POIs, map currency is far more important to me.

I understand US users want/demand POIs but here I'd rather download 3rd party collections.
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Darren Griffin

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