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BBC writes that German carmakers Audi, BMW and Daimler are buying Nokia's "Here" maps business for €2.8bn (£2bn):
"High-precision digital maps are a crucial component of the mobility of the future," said Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the board of Daimler. The carmakers plan to use Here's technology to combine precise digital maps with real-time vehicle data more closely. "For the automotive industry, this is the basis for new assistance systems and ultimately fully autonomous driving," the automakers said in a statement.
The rival automakers each plan to hold an equal stake in Here. The company said vehicle manufacturers are sharing data to make real-time map updates a reality.
Perhaps it's also worth mentioning that Nokia bought Navteq in 2007 for €5.7bn.
takyon: Nokia Intends to Buy Alcatel-Lucent
BMW, Audi, and Mercedes Want to Buy Nokia's Here Mapping Group
Uber Acquires Mapping Assets and Employees From Microsoft/Bing
(Score: 2) by q.kontinuum on Tuesday August 04 2015, @11:56AM
1st of all, it is not what Google Maps was five years ago. Google Maps never offered offline-navigation, and that is a key-differentiator of HERE maps. 2nd, HERE app was not sold, but provided for free. I'm not familiar with the exact business-case they had to create it, but it could well be that user-feedback is valuable enough as a reason to spend the effort on developing / maintaining the app. There is of course a risk that new owners will set different priorities, but for now it might be a bit early to mourn HERE Maps application.
DISCLAIMER: I'm a bit biased because I work for HERE. That was the reason I didn't want to submit a story on this topic even though I followed it closely elsewhere.
Registered IRC nick on chat.soylentnews.org: qkontinuum
(Score: 2) by Appalbarry on Tuesday August 04 2015, @10:21PM
By "What Google Maps was," I actually meant, 1) type in an address and it shows you (clearly) on a map where it is, and 2) then with one or two obvious taps will easily give you directions to that place.
The offline maps etc are a nice bonus, but for my needs these two things are the biggest selling point - things that Google no longer does particularly well. (Seriously, with Lollipop I actually have given up trying to get Maps to give me directions. I know it's possible, but it seems to be buried in a some godawful obscure place that i can never remember from one month to the next.)
In other words, KEEP IT SIMPLE.