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I was surprised to learn that my GPS device shows the same routing directions that Google Maps provides. This is mighty convenient, because then, I could carry print-outs of maps, with turn-by-turn directions, as a back-up for our long trips. How’s this possible? Tomtom Europe and Google Maps Europe both use common mapping technology by Tele Atlas.

Google Maps appears to use different map technologies for different regions. For example, if you view America, it is powered by NAVTEQ; for Australia, it’s MapData Sciences. Just scroll through the World map across continents in Google Maps and notice how the bottom most line (the line that has the copyright statement) changes.

Now that you know, I guess, it would make sense to see which particular mapping data Google uses for a particular region¹. It would then help you choose your GPS device, if you’re in the market for one.

1. If you think Google is serious enough in choosing its sources. [←]

gps, tomtom

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