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
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Nokia has announced its intention to acquire the telecoms equipment company Alcatel-Lucent for 15.6 billion EUR (US$16.6bn). The new company will be called Nokia and have its headquarters in Finland, but will retain Alcatel-Lucent's Bell Labs name for its R&D activities. The deal has to be approved by Nokia shareholders.
Nokia has also announced a "strategic review" of its HERE mapping business, which evolved from its acquisition of Navteq back in 2007 for $8.1 billion. It will reportedly sell the mapping division for $2 billion. That price is at the low end of what was previously rumored.
In a move that could backfire badly, car manufacturers are working together to buy control of Nokia maps with the intent of blocking Google's development of software for self-driving vehicles. The auto-makers consider open sourced autonomous vehicles to be an existential threat to their existing business, and are prepared to pay Nokia more than two billion dollars to stymie the disruptive technology.
“The greatest threat to the automobile industry would be if Google developed an operating system for self-driving cars and made it available free to everyone,” said one source speaking with the WSJ.
http://jalopnik.com/bmw-audi-and-mercedes-benz-want-to-buy-nokia-s-maps-t-1702660909
TechCrunch reports that Uber is acquiring imaging/mapping assets and talent from Microsoft's Bing search engine division:
Uber will acquire assets from Microsoft Bing, including roughly 100 employees focused on the product's image collection activities. In short, Uber is absorbing data-collection engineers from Microsoft to bolster its own mapping work. The companies confirmed the transaction with TechCrunch, but each declined to name the terms of the agreement. Microsoft handing Uber part of its operating expenses is minor, given the financial scale of the firms. The technology transfer is far more interesting.
The move also underscores Uber's ambition. A firm doesn't hire 100 specific-focus engineers in a single move if it doesn't have large product aspirations. The new Uber kids are the folks who worked to get image data into Bing, meaning that the search engine's 3D, aerial and street footage is in large part their doing. You can therefore start to presume what Uber has in mind.
The deal continues a recent Uber splurge on mapping technology:
Although most Uber services rely on digital maps, much of its interest in mapping is focused on how to improve its carpooling service, UberPool. While Uber relies heavily on mapping technology from Apple, Baidu and especially Google, the company has taken strides to bring as much mapping expertise in-house as possible.
In March, Uber acquired deCarta, a mapping technology start-up. Uber has also aggressively pursued mapping engineering talent throughout Silicon Valley. And for months, Uber has been avidly competing to buy Nokia Here, the mapping division of the Finnish technology giant, in a deal that could be valued at up to $4 billion, according to several people with direct knowledge of the matter. A small number of bidders are still circling Nokia's business, according to these people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations were not public.
In other news, two Uber managers were arrested in France and questioned over the firm's ongoing "illicit activity," following protests by taxi drivers and the ban of UberPOP by France's interior minister.
Original Submission
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday August 03 2015, @06:08PM
How many man-years could they have added to OpenStreetMap for half that cash?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 03 2015, @08:30PM
I support OSM but here is why they don't want to use it:
1) There's no-one to blame when something goes wrong
2) When something goes wrong, there's no-one they can sue or recoup moneys from
3) Imagine an attack on OSM where thousands of bots suddenly start corrupting OSM data in subtle ways (add roads where there are none, make one-way streets two way, etc... those kinds of fun things). The OSM data cannot be pushed down into all of these cars without a human looking at it and vetting it (see 1 and 2)
(Score: 2) by q.kontinuum on Tuesday August 04 2015, @11:48AM
It's not about the man-years only. Nokia created their own gear to collect the high-precision map data with laser scanners on their scouting-vehicles, which is a major investment in RnD and equipment. Nokia provides the infrastructure to collect and provide crucial traffic information. Both is not available for OSM. Don't get me wrong, I love OSM, for cycling and walking it's really great. For serious navigation tasks, where height-information (because it has a serious impact on gasoline costs e.g. for a fright-company) etc. is crucial and valid map-data is not only a nice-to-have, but business-critical, OSM is probably not an option.
Registered IRC nick on chat.soylentnews.org: qkontinuum
(Score: 2) by Appalbarry on Monday August 03 2015, @06:24PM
This month I added "Here" maps to my Android phone. It puts Google's product to shame, mostly by being what Google Maps was five years ago before they improved it into unusability.
I find Google's product an exercise in frustration, with functions that I need hidden in obscure places while it shoves things that I don't need in my face.
Here has, thus far, stayed simple, and does just what you need and nothing more.
Sadly I assume that Here will become another great product lost to corporate madness.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Monday August 03 2015, @07:07PM
On the contrary, it will remain as great as ever. The only difference: forget Google Play, you'll have to buy a German luxury car to access it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by GungnirSniper on Monday August 03 2015, @08:21PM
Does it benefit from a massive user base that will send in corrections and traffic data otherwise, if there is no free app version?
Tips for better submissions to help our site grow. [soylentnews.org]
(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.
(Score: 1) by vali.magni on Tuesday August 04 2015, @01:14AM
I love here maps when driving around Europe because of excellent offline navigation. In fact, it knows the speed limits on each stretch of the road and gives you an audible and visual indication if you are going too fast. Voice navigation has been good in general, and route recalculation is fast. The only thing missing with offline maps is real-time traffic info.
I hope the new owners continue to develop it instead of closing it off and making it proprietary for use in their cars only.
(Score: 2) by q.kontinuum on Tuesday August 04 2015, @11:42AM
Worth to mention that the apps do support traffic information, but obviously you have to be online for that to work. Still, the map-data can be downloaded in forehand.
Registered IRC nick on chat.soylentnews.org: qkontinuum