Items tagged with mapping
It's tough to even remember how we operated in a world without Google Maps, as the service has rapidly evolved into a must-have tool in just a few short years since its launch. One of the ways it has expanded is by enabling the world to populate it with data, and there's probably no better case to be made for crowdsourcing than mapping. Now, the company is allowing folks around the globe to create their own Street View. If you're unfamiliar, Street View is a street-level view of popular places on Google Maps, where a camera recorded an image at a given point and allows you to view what that point looks like online. It's almost like being there, through your laptop display. Google has spent years...
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While Yahoo! has become the undisputed king of start-up acquisitions over the past year or so, Apple has definitely been on a fairly steady buying spree as well. While Apple never makes public its acquisition targets, huge innovations in the company's portfolio have began as ideas that were born outside of Cupertino. Take Siri, for instance. Now, Locationary looks to be the latest start-up joining Apple's ranks. It's a local data outfit based out of Toronto, and while Apple would not confirm what plans it had for the new kid on the block, it's fairly obvious: bolstering its mapping services. Apple has taken a particularly harsh lashing from the media and critics alike due to its subpar mapping...
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For some, spending a billion bucks comes easy. Just this week, Yahoo closed its deal to acquire Tumblr with next to no fuss from regulators. But when it comes to Google, it seems that the feds are constantly casting glances. The company recently announced its intentions to acquire rival mapping firm Waze for over a billion dollars, but now the Federal Trade Commission has launched an antitrust investigation to see if the deal will be allowed. Google has confirmed that such an investigation is ongoing, but won't speak further on the details. Media reports suggest that the breaking up of the deal is unlikely, as the FTC would, at this point, need to provide evidence that the combination of companies...
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One could easily argue that the company who manages to perfect human-to-computer voice communications will have the future at their fingertips. While talking to a computer (or your car, or Siri) isn't new, it's not exactly ironed-out. Many folks won't even use Siri because the results are so spotty. Not even Google has managed to nail it; if you've ever looked at a Google Voice transcription, you'll know that things aren't always accurate. But Nokia is looking to gain where others have faltered. The company's mapping services are already amongst the most robust, and this week it's updating the HERE platform with a different kind of human-to-computer link: sight recognition. HERE uses sight navigation...
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TomTom and HTC are teaming up to deliver better navigation and locations solutions for HTC's smartphones. Under the partnership, HTC's new mapping experience known as HTC Locations will use TomTom's maps. HTC Locations will initially be available on the HTC Desire HD and HTC Desire Z in Europe and Asia. It will come to other phones in the future. Although maps and location content will come preloaded, if you want turn-by-turn navigation, you'll have to purchase it through HTC Locations or through HTC Sync. TomTom and HTC Unite to Deliver Best of Class Location and Navigation Experience on the Phone AMSTERDAM & TAOYUAN, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TomTom, the world’s leading provider of...
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