Here's indoor mapping will help you find that bathroom
It's just as easy to get lost inside as out, but it's much harder to find indoor maps. Nokia is trying to change that with its Here Mobile SDK that will let any developer add 3D venue maps to their iOS or Android applications. It has a collection of 13,000 such maps in its list, including airports, stadiums and malls around the world. Those are available on Here for Android and Windows Phone, but Nokia also does a brisk business selling maps to third parties like Yahoo.
Any app can include venues with 3D views and interior details like levels, floor layouts and tenant names. Other Here features like step-by-step navigation and zoom, rotate and tilting gestures are also included. While the feature is aimed at developers, consumers will benefit whenever they search for a food court or toilet in in an app that includes Nokia's maps. We say "Nokia's," but of course the Finnish company just sold off Here to a group of German automakers for $3 billion. Hopefully, they'll continue to develop the app and come up with catchier name than "German automaker consortium."
