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Do you find your cell phone doesn't do enough for you, what with features limited to text messaging, video and music playing, internet access, cameras, alarm clocks and, oh yes, actual call capabilities? Do you find yourself wondering, "When, oh when, will I finally be fulfilled by my cell?" Well, until we get those kind of Touch capabilities built in, maybe not for a while, but in the meantime, you'll soon be able to use your phone to find your way around town, thanks to Nokia's $8.1 billion purchase of Chicago digital mapmaker Navteq Corp.
Although a research firm said only two percent of cell users have used their phones for mapping, Nokia, a company that already includes GPS and map features on high-end phones, is banking on a trickle-down effect to the common folk.
We don't know if we'd pay big dollars for map features just to get around town, seeing as how Google Maps does a solid job helping us navigate, but the Tribune article mentions another important benefit to the mapping technology: enhanced 911 guidelines say that emergency crews must be able to find people calling from a mobile phone, possible through GPS and mapping chips.
We're holding out for a phone that names babies, treats gingivitis, and walks dogs. Technology advances really quickly, you guys.
Photo by global-jet.
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Olivia,
If you look closely you would see that Google's mapping data for most of the country is provided by Navteq. Other areas of the world are provided by TeleAtlas.
Google licenses the map data, they do not own it, though they probably could.
Also, google gets its money not from the consumer but from companies who want to license GIS information services from them. As far as I know many car comapanies use Navteq either directly or indirectly for their on board GPS systems.
And by "look closely" I mean that on the bottom of a google map it says who it is getting its data from. Copyright 2007 Navteq, for example.
FUCK i meant Navteq gets its money from the consumer (as opposed to google gets its money from the consumer" which I wrote above.
Jesus I suck at commenting.
just keep on trying
someday you'll get it right
Would be cool if they add a feature to cell phones that help you find goodlooking whores. All the ones I keep seeing look like dogshit.
I DO wish my cell had a compass. I can never tell what direction I am going. And Matty, don't say, "but you should know by where the lake is". There are BUILDINGS in the freaking way.
6: The sun helps during the day.
The grid system in Chicago helps during the night.
As for the 'burbs on a cloudy day or night, I can't help you there.
Google Maps in my BB8800 works awesome.
The new Verizon phone in today's press release is just like the iPhone, only on a good network with twice the internet speed and almost double the features.