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Amazon reportedly licenses Nokia mapping technologies for Kindle Fire successor
It looks like Nokia's strategy to become the go-to company for location-based services is gaining traction, as anonymous sources of Reuters suggest that Amazon will tap the Finnish company to provide mapping data for its upcoming tablet. The report contends that location-aware features will be core to Amazon's Kindle Fire successor, which is widely expected to debut on September 6th. If true, the move represents a continuation of Amazon's desire to create an ecosystem that's far removed from Google own content offerings. On the plus side, it brings the possibility that some excellent offline navigation capabilities may be in the pipeline. Whatever the case may be, we're sure to know the truth very shortly.
Microsoft and Nokia bring enhanced traffic data to Windows Phone, announce international plans
Cross-pollination is a beautiful thing. In the natural world, it brings bountiful harvests and pretty flowers. In the mobile world, we benefit from the sharing of ideas and technologies. Case in point is Windows Phone, as Microsoft has just announced that it's adopted traffic information from Nokia into the Maps app of its mobile OS. In addition to providing Windows Phone users in the US with more detailed overviews of traffic flows and congestion, the functionality will soon become available for many cities across the globe. Perhaps the move shouldn't come as a total surprise, as just last month, Microsoft revealed the inclusion of Nokia's "Where" platform within Bing Maps. As for future availability, citizens of Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom will benefit from the sharing of technologies within the next few weeks. For the moment, however, just hop the break, where you can see the before / after traffic data that's now available to Los Angeles residents.
Nokia has its wicked way with Bing Maps, stork delivers traffic advice and geocoding
We already knew that Nokia had been running its fingers through Bing's map-like hair, marking it with its scent, now it's added a little lipstick to its collar. The latest addition to the Microsoft-mapping service now uses Nokia's live traffic and geocoding algorithms. This brings the functionality of Nokia's "Where" platform over to 24 nations (including the US, UK and Canada) of Bing users. Best of all for American maps that info also covers side streets. Good to see the Nokia / Microsoft collaboration yielding ever more fruits, let's just hope they're considering the bigger picture, too.
