New mapping companies to compete with Navteq and TeleAtlas

Very Interesting...

and see. I won't be buying a new gps for a few more years. It will be interesting to see how much of this will actually show up in products I am interested in.

Somewhere in the distant past I remember reading about us having nuclear-powered helicopters for personal transportation.

I'm still waiting on that, too!

With memory getting cheaper and smaller, the integration of Sat maps, Topo Maps, and aerial photography, maps are gonna get better and better.

I made a route the other day with Topo Fusion using Sat pictures, and Topo maps that work seamlessly together. Way out in the hills of Idaho a turn off to a remote lake was right where it was supposed to be.
Even with a Garmin not meant for off road use, in thick forest.

Can't get better that that!

thanks for the info

Very Interesting...

mkahn
Thanks for the link, I look forward to this competition for this fine industry.

It's the 21st century. Where's my flying car?

next to the nuclear helo of course! Didn't you look in the parking lot?

Thanks for the article! It's nice to see there is competition and different strategies emerging to fill in the gaps created by gps-user's demand for more detail.

Plus, with gps spreading into more (all?) cellphones, I beleive there will be a need for more types of maps than now available by the two big players.

Its right here www.eaa.org/news/2009/2009-06-03_terrafugia.asp

A two-place, light-sport aircraft designed to take off and land at local airports and drive on any road. It transforms from an airplane to a car in less than 30 seconds with its folding wings. It will cruise at 115 mph with a range of up to 450 miles; drive at highway speeds on the road via front-wheel drive; and fit in a standard household garage. It’s powered by a 100-hp Rotax 912S engine and runs on autofuel.

The company is accepting $10,000 deposits on an anticipated purchase price of $194,000. For more information, visit www.terrafugia.com.

You an see it at EAA Air Venture

Thanks for the link to a very interesting article.

For those of you who have purchased life time map updates, you can now start to worry. It seems Garmin has already thought of the possibility they may switch to a different mapping company. Have a look at their terms and conditions posted on their web site.

"¹Terms and Limitations:
nüMaps™ Lifetime. If you purchase a nüMaps Lifetime subscription (sold separately), you will receive up to four (4) map Data updates per year, when and as such updates are made available on Garmin’s website, for one (1) compatible Garmin product until your product’s useful life expires or Garmin no longer receives map Data from NAVTEQ, whichever is shorter."

Something to think about when you buy "Lifetime"

IMO... if you've already decided to buy the updated maps, it makes sense to throw in a little more to get constant updates for little or no extra cost than to shell out the full cost each time you want to update.

As for mapping companies, i could care less as long as the maps are accurate and the GPS can get me where i need to go.

not only the map...but also the methodology they calculate the route...I don't like my Tomtom 930T go since it always lead me to the small trail even I setup free way first...

Competition is generaly good for the end-user. We will have to see what level of detail these other companies offer and how established GPS firms perhaps incorporate them.

I thought I heard somewhere that Garmin was under contract with Navteq until at least sometime in 2012. So I feel somewhat secure that I will have "lifetime" updates at least until then. At that point if Garmin keeps Navteq, your lifetime updates will continue. If they switch to another provider, your lifetime updates will probably end at Garmins discretion. It will probably depend on how much competition there is from other PND sources at that time as to how much Garmin will feel obligated to keeping a happy customer base by extending their lifetime map customers even through a new map provider.

I personally welcome the competition even if it does mean that I may end up losing my lifetime map subscription in 2012. It will only spur Navteq on to feel the need to constantly provide a better and better product so they don't lose their account with Garmin.

No matter which way it goes, we still all win.

Thanks for pointing that out EScheidl, I looked it up on the Garmin web site and found the following.

November 16, 2007
Newswire — Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN) announced today that its subsidiaries, Garmin International Inc and Garmin Corporation, have signed a six-year extension to their agreement with NAVTEQ, a leading provider of digital map data for location based solutions and vehicle navigation. The agreement allows Garmin to continue using NAVTEQ data through 2015, with an option to renew for an additional four-year period. In addition, the parties have agreed to pursue expanded points of cooperation that will result in improved mapping quality and coverage worldwide, and will drive further device innovation into the future. The parties did not disclose specific details of the agreement.

Even with a lifetime map update, by 2015 my unit will be a "brick", so up to about 2012 or so, buying a lifetime is worth it.

love competition - it makes everything cheaper and better. Great to see it.

Garmin has an "early out" option.

ALWAYS a benifit for the consumer when more companies enter the marketplace.

Glad to hear this info. I was starting to reconsider the idea of getting Lifetime, but If Garmin is hooked to Navteq until 2015, I agree that my GPS will likely be a brick, before that runs out.

Now I will still go ahead with the Lifetime. If I get even 3 or 4 years, I'll be more than happy. My unit is only a couple of years old. I'm prepared to use it for another couple of years before, I tell my wife that it just "Broke" and I need a new one.

I also suspect that Garmin will want to offer something to keep Lifetimers happy, if that does happen.