Mapping dynamics
The way a GPS device works is that it determines your geo-location by triangulation—much like transceiving cellphone calls. With a cellphone, you don’t care where you are—so long as the signal is good; with a GPS receiver, you do. Just the location, however, means nothing to a normal user, unless it is superimposed on a map. So in effect, a map (mapping technology) underneath is the soul of a GPS device. The more accurate and latest the maps are, the higher is the device rated—in its ability to guide you out of, say, the phantom Route 66.
Shifting mapping dynamics are these two events: Tomtom cut a deal with Tele Atlas a while ago, and now Nokia buys the other mapping giant, NAVTEQ. Both these companies (Tele Atlas and NAVTEQ) have been providing technologies unbiased to device and service companies alike. By acquiring the very source, Tomtom and Nokia are now in a position to disrupt that balance.
Recreating maps from scratch to support a business—when a rival buys the source and cuts the umbilical cord that feeds vital information—is going to set any company back by years; not to mention the potential of unleashing a chain of events that could eventually knock them out of GPS business for good. But if my perception of these two companies is anything to go by, then, Tomtom and Nokia both scale very high on open and transparent business approaches. However, it remains to be seen how all this would affect consumers in the long run.
More than Tomtom—which is already in the GPS business, Nokia, I think, has an edge over rival phone companies in being able to offer something that no other cellphone company would be able to—without charging its customers additional mapping costs to similarly featured devices. All this could also have a quick cascading effect in enabling GPS navigation in countries that don’t have it good yet. A business model for launching (new) navigational satellites could well emerge—with an inexpensive device in consumers’ hands ready to receive the signal.
gps, navteq, nokia, teleatlas, tomtom