Disqus
TomTom has been cleared by the EC to acquire mapping company TeleAtlas. TeleAtlas provides digital maps and content forms the core of many Nav and LBS (location-based services) offering – Google Maps for example! TomTom on the other hand has sold nearly 20 mn ddevices, mostly the Sat Nav units.
Since last year, TomTom has been utilising both user-generated content and TeleAtlas mapping to inform it’s MapShare service, allowing users to feeback details of changes or errors on routes – kinda like a wikipedia for maps – well sort of.
This represents a canny move by TomTom – with the advancement of GPS/Sat Nav on to Mobile devices, anyone in the purely hardware game is going to be facing a tough time – Nokia predicts sales of 35 mn devices with GPS on this year alone! The big three “traditional GPS” vendors – TomTom, Garmin, and Navman – account for 80% of the market currently – a market the handset vendors want a (big) piece of!
Will peoples’ requirements for “convergence” (multiple services on one device) lead to the traditional GPS vendors being edged out over time? It’s anyone’s guess, but one thing I do know is that my current TomTom unit is still in use for Sat Nav duties – for now…….!
(Note: if anyone from TomTom, or any of the other manufacturers for that matter, wants to send me a review unit to test against a Mobile device, please do feel free – we are always open to giving our readers reviews of what device is best at a given feature!)
[Via: PC Advisor]
About The Author
Ben Robinson
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas! He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to 'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device) isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question of why you continue to use it... His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.
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