Here Technologies (stylised and
trading as
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market (economics), market.
An early form of trade, barter, s ...
HERE and here) is an American-Dutch
multinational group dealing with
mapping, location data and related
automotive services to individuals and companies. It is majority-owned by a consortium (an association, typically of several companies) of German automotive companies (namely
Audi
Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide.
Th ...
,
BMW, the
Mercedes-Benz Group
The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacture ...
) and American semiconductor company
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
whilst other companies also own minority stakes. Its roots date back to U.S.-based
Navteq in 1985, which was acquired by Finland-based
Nokia
Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...
in 2007. Here is currently based in
The Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
.
Here captures location content such as road networks, buildings, parks and traffic patterns. It then sells or licenses that mapping content, along with map related navigation and location services to other businesses such as
Alpine Electronics
is a Japanese consumer electronics subsidiary of the Japanese electronics component manufacturer Alps Electric, specializing in car audio and navigation systems.
Established in 1967 as Alps-Motorola — a joint venture between Alps Elect ...
,
Garmin
Garmin Ltd. (shortened to Garmin, stylized as GARMIN, and formerly known as ProNav) is an American, Swiss-domiciled multinational technology company founded in 1989 by Gary Burrell and Min Kao in Lenexa, Kansas, United States, with headquart ...
,
BMW,
Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas. In 2020, Oracle was the third-largest software company in the world by revenue and market capitalization. The company sells da ...
and
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
. This third-party licensing constitutes the core of the firm's business.
In addition, Here provides platform services to smartphones.
It provides location services through its HERE applications, and also for
GIS
A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing Geographic data and information, geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with Geographic information system software, sof ...
and government clients and other providers, such as
Microsoft Bing
Microsoft Bing (commonly known as Bing) is a web search engine owned and operated by Microsoft. The service has its origins in Microsoft's previous search engines: MSN Search, Windows Live Search and later Live Search. Bing provides a variety ...
(from 2012 through 2020),
Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms, Inc., (file no. 3835815) trade name, doing business as Meta and formerly named Facebook, Inc., and TheFacebook, Inc., is an American multinational technology conglomerate based in Menlo Park, California. The company owns Facebo ...
and
Yahoo! Maps
Yahoo! Maps was a free online mapping portal provided by Yahoo! Functionality included local weather powered by The Weather Channel, printing maps, and local reviews powered by Yelp. It shut down on June 30, 2015. For a time in 2019, Yahoo! Maps ...
.
HERE has maps of about 200 countries, offers voice guided navigation in 94 countries, provides live traffic information in 33 countries and has indoor maps available for about 49,000 unique buildings in 45 countries.
The company is also working on
self-driving
A self-driving car, also known as an autonomous car, driver-less car, or robotic car (robo-car), is a car that is capable of traveling without human input.Xie, S.; Hu, J.; Bhowmick, P.; Ding, Z.; Arvin, F.,Distributed Motion Planning for S ...
technology.
History
Here has built its mapping and location business by acquiring location technology; the company is a combination of what was formerly ''
Navteq'' and ''Nokia Maps''.
Navteq
Navteq was an American company founded in 1985 as Karlin & Collins, Inc., later known as Navigation Technologies Corporation and eventually as Navteq. At the time of its acquisition by Nokia, Navteq was the largest maker of automotive-grade map data used in car navigation equipment.
Nokia Maps
Nokia Maps began in 2001 as Smart2Go, a generic 3D-map interface for access to tourist information on mobile terminals. It was developed by an EU consortium named
TellMaris.
Nokia gained the rights to the software when it acquired
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
-based
route planning software
A journey planner, trip planner, or route planner is a specialized search engine used to find an optimal means of travelling between two or more given locations, sometimes using more than one transport mode. Searches may be optimized on different ...
company Gate 5 in August 2006, which has become the cornerstone for the company's mapping business.
It then made the Smart2Go application free to download.
Acquisition by Nokia
In October 2007,
Nokia
Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...
acquired Navteq for $8.1 billion.
Nokia ran Navteq's business along with their own Nokia Maps (later known as Ovi Maps, then again as Nokia Maps from 2011). The two divisions remained as separate entities of Nokia Corporation until Navteq was amalgamated into the core Nokia operations in 2011. The service was rebranded as HERE in 2012, bringing together mapping, location businesses, satellite navigation and other services under one brand.
Further acquisitions and development
In 2008, Nokia picked up geosocial networking site
Plazes
Plazes AG was a Berlin, Germany-based geosocial networking site. Plazes allowed users to post their location and current activities and share this information with other Plazes users via computers or mobile telephones. On 23 June 2008, Nokia Co ...
and the following year it bought mobile applications developer Bit-Side, social location pioneer Plum, and social travel service
Dopplr
Dopplr was a free social networking service, launched in 2007, that allowed users to create itineraries of their travel plans and spot correlations with their contacts' travel plans in order to arrange meetings at any point on their journey. Addi ...
. In 2010, it acquired
MetaCarta
MetaCarta is a software company that developed one of the first search engines to use a map to find unstructured documents. The product uses natural language processing to georeference text for customers in defense, intelligence, homeland securi ...
a leading enterprise local search service used by security and military.
In April 2011, Nokia released a beta version of 3D maps that covered 20 cities in the world. By August 2011, the coverage has expanded to 23 cities, and in 2012, Nokia bought EarthMine, which specialises in street level 3D image capture.
In May 2011, ''Ovi Maps'' was renamed to ''Nokia Maps'' when Nokia streamlined its services offering.
In October 2011, Maps & Drive for
Windows Phone 7
Windows Phone 7 is the first release of the Windows Phone mobile client operating system, released worldwide on October 21, 2010, and in the United States on November 8, 2010. It runs on the Windows CE 6.0 kernel.
It received multiple large upda ...
(Mango) was announced, which was available on
Nokia Lumia
Microsoft Lumia (previously the Nokia Lumia) is a discontinued line of mobile devices that was originally designed and marketed by Nokia and later by Microsoft Mobile. Introduced in November 2011, the line was the result of a long-term partnersh ...
phones (
710
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Year 710 ( DCCX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 710 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar er ...
,
800
__NOTOC__
Year 800 ( DCCC) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. It was around this time that the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years, so ...
and in 2012, the
900
__NOTOC__
Year 900 ( CM) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Abbasid Caliphate
* Spring – Forces under the Transoxianian emir Isma'il ibn Ahmad are ...
). However, major features such as off-line routing and text-to-speech navigation of street names, compared to the Symbian version, were absent.
These features were eventually brought over to the
Windows Phone
Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued family of mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design la ...
platform in 2012.
Rebranding
On 13 November 2012, Nokia announced that it would rebrand its location offering as ''HERE'' to highlight its vision for the future of location-based services and its belief in the importance of mapping.
In June 2014, Here announced that it had acquired
Medio Medio (Spanish for "half") may refer to:
* Mediopassive voice in grammar
* Dolores Medio, a Spanish writer
* Medio Creek in Texas
* Arroyo del Medio in Argentina
* Medio (company), Medio, a company
* Medio, any of various halfpieces of currency acr ...
, a Seattle-based start-up that specialized in predictive analytics.
In 2014,
Windows Phone
Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued family of mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design la ...
's low market share, as well as the end of Nokia's partnership with Microsoft, led to the company prioritizing
Android and
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
development.
Here launched the HERE beta app for Samsung Galaxy smartphones in August 2014. Later in October the app became available on all Android devices running on 4.1 Jelly Bean or higher.
The HERE app was re-launched for iOS 8 platform on 11 March 2015.
Subsequent acquisitions
On 3 August 2015, Here was sold to a consortium of German car makers
Audi
Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide.
Th ...
,
BMW, and
Mercedes. On 4 December 2015, the consortium completed the acquisition for €2.8 billion (US$2.9 billion).
As of December 2015 the company had 6,500 employees.
In December 2016, Navinfo,
Tencent
Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the w ...
and
GIC Private Limited
GIC Private Limited is a sovereign wealth fund in Singapore that manages its foreign reserves. Established by the Government of Singapore in 1981 as the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, its mission is to preserve and enhance the ...
(the Singapore sovereign wealth fund) agreed to buy a 10% stake in Here. But in September 2017, the offer of the three companies failed, as US authorities did not authorize the transaction.
In January 2017 it was reported that
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
was taking a 15% stake in the firm.
In September 2017, HERE and
Pioneer Corporation
commonly referred to as Pioneer, is a Japanese multinational corporation based in Tokyo, that specializes in digital entertainment products. The company was founded by Nozomu Matsumoto in January 1, 1938 in Tokyo as a radio and speaker repair s ...
have reached an agreement in which HERE would acquire approximately 3% of Pioneer's stock at a value of €17.3 million. In parallel, at the same cost, Pioneer would acquire less than 1% of Here.
In January 2018,
Continental
Continental may refer to:
Places
* Continent, the major landmasses of Earth
* Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US
* Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US
Arts and entertainment
* ''Continental'' ( ...
and
Bosch acquired a 5% stake in HERE.
In December 2019,
Mitsubishi Corporation
is Japan's largest trading company (sogo shosha) and a member of the Mitsubishi keiretsu. As of 2022, Mitsubishi Corporation employs over 80,000 people and has ten business segments, including finance, banking, energy, machinery, chemicals, an ...
and
NTT of Japan acquired a 30% stake in HERE. Upon completion of the transaction, HERE would have nine direct and indirect shareholders: Audi, Bosch, BMW Group, Continental, Intel Capital, MC, Mercedes-Benz, NTT and Pioneer.
Acquisitions by Here
In November 2017, Here announced it would acquire Advanced Telematic Systems for an undisclosed amount.
Current ownership
The German consortium of
Audi
Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide.
Th ...
,
BMW and
Daimler initially held a 44% stake in the company.
*
Mitsubishi
The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries.
Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...
and
NTT (30%)
(via holding company COCO Tech Holding B.V.)
*
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
(15%)
*
Bosch (5%)
*
Continental
Continental may refer to:
Places
* Continent, the major landmasses of Earth
* Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US
* Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US
Arts and entertainment
* ''Continental'' ( ...
(5%)
*
Pioneer
Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land.
In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and de ...
(1%)
Automotive services
HERE Auto
The 2016
Jaguar Cars
Jaguar (, ) is the luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England. Jaguar Cars was the company that was responsible for the production of Jaguar cars ...
XF and XJ models incorporate HERE drive guidance in their in-car infotainment systems. All of the features of the HERE suite are available to the driver, including maps, navigation, and social sharing using Glympse. Another feature of HERE Auto is the ability to plan the journey from the Android or iOS app before entering the car. Country and region maps are also able to be downloaded directly to the flash-based storage of the HERE Auto system itself, much like the ability to store offline maps on devices using the Android/iOS HERE apps.
HERE MapCare
HERE MapCare was first implemented with
Volvo
The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
vehicles in 2009 and has since spread to at least 23 other manufacturers (such as Hyundai, Mazda and Mitsubishi) utilising HERE maps data in their infotainment systems. HERE map data is updated for around a period of three years from the date of purchase of the vehicle and is performed at the time of service from the car dealer. There is also the option of updating maps data via USB memory stick or memory card.
Here and other car manufacturers / mapping companies
HERE maps data and technologies are also integrated into the technologies of other car companies:
*
Garmin
Garmin Ltd. (shortened to Garmin, stylized as GARMIN, and formerly known as ProNav) is an American, Swiss-domiciled multinational technology company founded in 1989 by Gary Burrell and Min Kao in Lenexa, Kansas, United States, with headquart ...
has been using HERE for its mapping system since the days it was branded as Navteq. With its recent models of
Garmin
Garmin Ltd. (shortened to Garmin, stylized as GARMIN, and formerly known as ProNav) is an American, Swiss-domiciled multinational technology company founded in 1989 by Gary Burrell and Min Kao in Lenexa, Kansas, United States, with headquart ...
GPS navigation units, HERE has facilitated and used DAB to broadcast live traffic information for free to users. This is done through the power cable of the GPS unit acting as an antenna, and provides enough data with low latency, allowing data to be updated in very fast intervals and without having to resort to using SIM cards and paying for mobile data plans.
* MyFord Mobile from the
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
has its location services powered by HERE mapping data, allowing users to find their parked cars remotely from the relevant iOS or Android app. Routes for driving are also able to be planned on the phone itself and sent to the car ready to be enacted. Charging station locations for electric vehicles already inherent in the HERE mapping database are also included in the calculation of routes to be driven.
Here also has a presence at major motor trade shows around the globe. For example, at the ''Mondial de l'Automobile 2014'' show in Paris, HERE had its maps in 50 of the 62 cars on show. HERE also attends other major trade shows such as CES in Las Vegas.
New technologies
Here also conducts work on various new technologies to improve traffic, mapping and the experience of driving. Listed below are recent prominent examples of these:
In August 2015, Here introduced a new traffic-jam warning system called Traffic Safety Warning. The system works in alerting the driver with a suitable time period to react to the fact that there is a traffic jam up ahead. Data is updated every minute and is yet another way in which data collected is used to the benefit and safety of drivers.
In June 2015, Here published an interface specification named the Sensor Ingestion Interface Specification. This standard defines how sensor data gathered by vehicles on the road can be sent to the cloud to update maps on the fly. The premise of the technology is to allow for the collection of data to alert other cars on the road to traffic obstacles or accidents in the vicinity. HERE has called for leading car manufacturers from across the world to promote its specification and call for a standardised data format, thereby leading to all consumers receiving the same traffic data reporting.
Here also works in the field of automated vehicles, with the recent provision of its
high-definition map
A high-definition map (HD map) is a highly accurate map used in autonomous driving, containing details not normally present on traditional maps. Such maps can be precise at a centimetre level.
HD maps are often captured using an array of sensors, ...
data for manufacturers in testing their vehicles. The highly accurate mapped data of private test tracks provides these cars with a highly accurate navigation system to complement data collected from on-board sensors. Much like existing map data is collected for consumer driving, the same LiDAR technology is used to map these private test tracks along with the roads that are used for public testing. HD Map data is also highly accurate, with accuracy to a level of 10 to 20 centimetres, and the collection of lane geometry is also part of the data collection task. Here makes approximately 2.7 million changes to its global map database every day.
Also part of the field of autonomous vehicles and automated driving is the Live Roads technology. HERE is currently developing such a technology that will be able to alert drivers of conditions such as weather to alert other drivers of possible hazards, or to avoid a particular area whilst driving. An example is the aggregation of data from windshield wipers and slipping tyres to notify other drivers to avoid an ice-filled area. The company is also investigating Humanised Driving where data is collected on driving habits on roads, and provisioning this data to allow automated cars to follow how drivers behave (speed, traffic lights etc.) when driving on certain roads.
Here has also worked with in developing new technologies for intelligent speed guidance. Through the smart provision of traffic lights and management, traffic congestion and vehicle efficiency will be able to be improved.
Consumer services
HERE WeGo
HERE WeGo, formerly Nokia Maps and HERE Maps, is a consumer mapping application that works on smartphones or through a web browser. It is currently available in 196 countries and its features include turn-by-turn walking navigation, offline availability, 3D landmarks and indoor Venue Maps for 100,000+ unique buildings in 87 countries. A favourite's list shows the top 25 most popular places in the vicinity looking at positive reviews, search queries and other user data. The application is also integrated with an augmented reality technology called LiveSight that lets users hold up their phone to reveal information about the buildings including contact information, hours and reviews in their line of sight from the phone camera display.
In November 2012, Here announced the decision to open up its location platform to all operating systems so that anyone with any kind of device could access it. With an open platform HERE broadens its reach and acquires more users, which in turn generates more data for its location cloud.
Here developed a Here Maps API for Android which is available to partners. Apps built with the Here Android API will be able to interact with extruded 3D buildings, search for specific buildings and preview their routes in detail.
In November 2012, Here created an
HTML5
HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting content on the World Wide Web. It is the fifth and final major HTML version that is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation. The current specification is known as the HTML ...
-based web service for iOS. The free app provides iPhone users with maps in almost 200 countries as well as public transit, walking and driving directions. Voice guided navigation is available for walking directions. It also provides multiple map views including a satellite view, public transportation view and live traffic view. HERE Maps on iOS received lukewarm praise mostly because it was a web application and not a native one. HERE Maps for iOS got multiple bad reviews from the start stating it was "a mess", "a wreck", "unfinished", "buggy" and "rushed out HTML5-powered turkey". It was pulled from the App Store in December 2013, after having not been updated for 10 months. The Here web site was offered as replacement, however as of December 2014, Here noted that they plan to "officially launch HERE for iOS in early 2015." Here was re-launched as a true app designed for iOS application on 11 March 2015.
Previous iterations
=Here on Windows
=
Here makes its location-based assets, such as offline maps, available for the
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
platform through a dedicated Windows SDK.
Because the suite runs on Windows, users can save their favourite destinations as live tiles to their start screen and the app will calculate routes based on current location. The suite is integrated so that users can access individual functions going from one app to the next without going back to the home screen. Favourites are saved to the cloud so that they can be accessed on all of the different applications.
In February 2013, Nokia announced that HERE Maps, HERE Drive and HERE Transit would be available on all Windows devices at the Windows Store.
A search in the Window Store on 17 January 2022 revealed that HERE Maps were not available.
HERE Drive provides navigation designed for in-car driving in 94 countries. Its features include visual and audio speed limit warnings, voice-guided
turn-by-turn navigation
Turn-by-turn Navigation is a feature of some satellite navigation devices where directions for a selected route are continually presented to the user in the form of spoken or visual instructions. The system keeps the user up-to-date about the best ...
with spoken street names (optional) in more than 60 countries in 50 different languages and offline availability. The user interface is designed for drivers and map data includes 260 attributes such as turn restrictions, physical barriers and one-way streets. HERE Drive and HERE Drive+ have optional live traffic information where available, but both lack dynamic rerouting, which is restricted to everyday commuting in a few countries only and then does not come with voice guidance.
HERE Transit has public transportation information for more than 700 cities in 50 countries. It combines bus, train, ferry, tram and walking information in one application.
HERE City Lens is
augmented reality
Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be de ...
(AR) software that gives dynamic information, through the phone's camera display, about users' surroundings such as shops, restaurants, and points of interest, shown as virtual signs overlaid on or above buildings. A commercial beta version was released in 2013.
It also has free of charge turn-by-turn voice-guided navigation, HERE Drive 3.0 (earlier ''Nokia Drive''), which can also be used without an Internet connection using preloaded maps. It is also possible to de-clutter the surroundings: version 1.5 has a "Sightline" feature where users can narrow their view to just what is in the direct line of sight, making it easier to spot interesting places.
HERE City Lens is powered by
Bing Maps
Bing Maps (previously Live Search Maps, Windows Live Maps, Windows Live Local, and MSN Virtual Earth) is a web mapping service provided as a part of Microsoft's Bing suite of search engines and powered by the Bing Maps Platform framework. Since 20 ...
, and Nokia introduced HERE Prime Place for listing. The newest release has 3D icons and the ability to disable places which are not within the camera's line of sight.
On 15 March 2016, HERE announced that it would discontinue support for its app for
Windows 10 Mobile
Windows 10 Mobile is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Microsoft. First released in 2015, it is a successor to Windows Phone 8.1, but was marketed by Microsoft as being an edition of its PC operating system Windows 10.
Wind ...
on 29 March 2016 due to its use of "a workaround that will no longer be effective after June 30, 2016", and that the existing Windows Phone 8 app will only receive critical updates after this date and no longer be actively developed.
=Symbian
=
HERE was available on the
Symbian
Symbian is a discontinued mobile operating system
A mobile operating system is an operating system for mobile phones, tablets, smartwatches, smartglasses, or other non-laptop personal mobile computing devices. While computers such as typic ...
platform under the previous names of Nokia Maps, and Ovi Maps. The latest, and the last, version 3.09 included:
*Driving and walking turn-by-turn with international voice guidance
*Live traffic rerouting in some countries
*Live traffic visualisation on the map in some countries
*Third-party content such as
ViaMichelin
A wholly owned subsidiary of the Michelin Group, ViaMichelin designs, develops and markets digital travel assistance products and services for road users in Europe.
Launched in 2001 and drawing upon a century of Michelin experience in the publ ...
and
Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books.
History Early years
Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 1972, they embarked ...
*
Social networking service
A social networking service or SNS (sometimes called a social networking site) is an online platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interests, act ...
integration
*Support for preloading street maps for offline use
*Users can report errors in the maps (from version 3.03 except on
Nokia E66
The Nokia E66 is a slider smartphone in the Nokia Eseries range, a S60 platform third edition device with slide action targeting business users. It is a successor to the Nokia E65 with which it shares many features.
E66 has similar features to t ...
and
E71 models)
*Local weather conditions by the hour and forecasts for the week
*Night View mode
*Satellite maps and terrain maps
*3D buildings and 3D maps
*Public transport routing in some cities
*Saving of
favourites
*City Lens (augmented reality) (beta only)
Nokia stated that the Nokia 808 from 2012, would be the last Symbian phone.
Symbian development has halted, therefore no new features for Nokia Maps are to be expected.
Accenture
Accenture plc is an Irish-American professional services company based in Dublin, specializing in information technology (IT) services and consulting. A ''Fortune'' Global 500 company, it reported revenues of $61.6 billion in 2022. Accentur ...
is responsible for maintenance of
Symbian
Symbian is a discontinued mobile operating system
A mobile operating system is an operating system for mobile phones, tablets, smartwatches, smartglasses, or other non-laptop personal mobile computing devices. While computers such as typic ...
and Nokia Maps until 2016.
The supported phones are:
*Version 3.09 (12 November 2012, also called Maps Suite 2.0): only for
Symbian Belle
Symbian is a discontinued mobile operating system (OS) and computing platform designed for smartphones. It was originally developed as a proprietary software OS for personal digital assistants in 1998 by the Symbian Ltd. consortium. Symbian OS ...
phones (500, 603, 700, 701, N8-00, E7-00, C7-00, C6-01, X7-00, E6-00)
*Version 3.08 (15 November 2011) and 3.07: supported on Symbian^3
*Version 3.06 (2 December 2010): Symbian S60v5 (N97, N97 mini, X6, C6-00, 5800XM, 5235 & 5230, etc.)
*Version 3.04 (20 May 2010): Symbian S60v3 FP2
= Series 40 (S40)
=
Maps for the
Series 40
Series 40, often shortened as S40, is a software platform and application user interface (UI) software on Nokia's broad range of mid-tier feature phones, as well as on some of the Vertu line of luxury phones. It was one of the world's most wi ...
platform (such as early phones from the
Nokia Asha series
The Nokia Asha series was a range of low-end
feature phones and smartphones produced and marketed by Nokia. The name "Asha" came from the Hindi word meaning "hope".
On 3 September 2013, Microsoft announced its purchase of Nokia's mobile devi ...
) were limited compared to other platforms. The maps were streamed online into the device or pre-downloaded with
Nokia Suite
Nokia Suite (formerly Nokia Ovi Suite) is an application for Nokia users to connect their devices with Microsoft Windows. The service was originally developed by Nokia but was subsequently taken over by Microsoft Mobile.
Overview
Nokia Suite ca ...
. In some markets, the phones came with a SD card with preloaded local maps. They mostly did not have turn-by-turn navigation, and pedestrian routes were limited to length. As none of the Asha series phones had GPS, positioning was done by
Cell ID
A GSM Cell ID (CID) is a generally unique number used to identify each base transceiver station (BTS) or sector of a BTS within a location area code (LAC) if not within a GSM network.
In some cases the first or last digit of CID represents cells ...
of the cellular network or by using the
Wi-Fi positioning system. An exception was the Nokia 2710 Navigation Edition, which was an S40 phone with GPS and full turn by turn voice navigation.
Other mobile application platforms
HERE is the default map software on
Ubuntu Touch
Ubuntu Touch is a mobile version of the Ubuntu operating system, being developed by the UBports community. Its user interface is written in Qt, and is designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, ...
,
Sailfish OS
Sailfish OS is a Linux-based operating system based on free software, and open source projects such as Mer as well as including a closed source UI. The project is being developed by the Finnish company Jolla.
The OS first shipped with the o ...
,
Fire OS
Fire OS is a mobile operating system based on the Android Open Source Project, it is developed by Amazon for their devices. Fire OS includes proprietary software, a customized user interface primarily centered on content consumption, and heavy ...
and
Tizen
Tizen () is a Linux-based mobile operating system backed by the Linux Foundation, mainly developed and used primarily by Samsung Electronics.
The project was originally conceived as an HTML5-based platform for mobile devices to succeed MeeGo. Sa ...
. It is available on
Firefox OS
Firefox OS (project name: ''Boot to Gecko'', also known as ''B2G'') is a discontinued open-source operating system made for smartphones, tablet computers, smart TVs, and dongles designed by Mozilla and external contributors. It is based on th ...
.
HERE Map Creator
HERE Map Creator is a service launched in November 2012 to allow users to update the HERE map. The service is available for more than 100 countries and in 47 languages. It can be accessed from their website mapcreator.here.com and dedicated HERE Map Creator Android and iPhone apps.
Users are able to add new roads (trails are included here), edit a road or remove it, add a new place, edit a place or remove it and finally add a house number, edit or remove it. In addition, users can edit road details such as speed limits, number of lanes, one- or two-way, type "open road", "tunnel" or "bridge", pavement type, etc. and also add local shops and businesses into various categories such as a grocery store, clothing store, types of restaurants (including cuisine and name of food joint), sports equipment store among several other categories and subcategories. and give various details about them including photos, telephone numbers, addresses, hours and days of operations in a week, payment info in the shops (whether they accept cash, cards, discount coupons or not). Users can also report map changes. Tutorial videos and instructions to carrying out the editing operations are available on their website.
Here XYZ
Here launched in beta a cloud-based geospatial data management platform in 2018, aimed at providing consumers, in particular map developers, a storage and rendering platform for uploaded location datasets.
''Here XYZ'' was noted as having similarities to Carto Builder from
CartoDB
CARTO (formerly CartoDB) is a software as a service (SaaS) cloud computing platform that provides GIS, web mapping, and spatial data science tools. The company is positioned as a Location Intelligence platform due to tools with an aptitude for da ...
.
Enterprise services
Utilisation of HERE services
HERE provides mapping data and assistance to many customers in the enterprise sector. One of these services powered by HERE mapping data and geocoding is the FC.FrameLogic fuel control system by FrameLogic, which uses fuel probes installed in the vehicle fuel tank to detect discrepancies and ultimately from three to ten percent on their fuel expenditures. Another company making use of Here data is MapMechanics, whose Truckstops VRS solution engages Here real-time traffic and historical data patterns to plan ahead and factor in events such as transit strikes, to in turn re-route drivers. Sygic is another truck company that uses Here map data for its truck navigation software, depending on its accuracy and reliability. Other pertinent examples of companies using Here for their services are Aramex, TimoCom, we-do-IT, Amadeus, Maps4News and Baidu.
HERE Traffic Analytics
In July 2015, HERE launched HERE Traffic Analytics, which helps companies to plan for the effects of traffic on projects such as road construction. With the giant silo of data available, HERE has made current and retrospective data available for business customers to be constructed, tailored and extracted to the customers' requirements. Giving such granular control over the data allows for customers to use this data for the purposes they require, and the amount of detail and control needed for projects.
HERE Mobile SDK and HERE Data Lens
The HERE Mobile SDK was launched in February 2014, and in the time since has expanded to add more functionality for developers. There are many customers using HERE mapping data as the backbone for their mobile apps, and the SDK provides access to information such as average road speeds, traffic build-up, and maximum loads that can be transported on a particular road. There have been even more features and access added in each iteration of the SDK, with the latest 3.0 version launching in mid-2015. In the ''Here Mobile SDK Starter Edition 3.0'', there are native Android and iOS APIs for raster tile map display, online points of interest search, geocoding/reverse geocoding and online pedestrian/car route calculation. ''Here Mobile SDK Premium Edition 3.0'' extends the functionality to include vector maps, turn-by-turn guidance, truck routing, 3D venue maps and augmented reality. Offline Enterprise Maps (for truck attributes and congestion zones) and LiveSight pedestrian guidance are also provided in this latest version of the SDK. HERE Data Lens is another service launched by HERE whereby customers can visualise their usage of data on a map in a visual form. This pictorial representation provides for extended analysis of datasets and how they are being used.
Content delivery
![HERE Maps coverage](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/HERE_Maps_coverage.png)
HERE draws on more than 80,000 data sources including a vehicle fleet, which collects data through panoramic cameras, position sensors and laser technology for 3D footprints. The cars have an array of cameras, which capture 360-degree street views, and
lidar
Lidar (, also LIDAR, or LiDAR; sometimes LADAR) is a method for determining ranges (variable distance) by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. It can also be ...
sensors, which capture 1.3 billion data points every minute. Another bank of high-resolution cameras capture signs such as speed limits and street names.
In November 2012, Nokia acquired Berkeley based company Earthmine to further bolster its 3D street-level imagery processing capabilities.
In addition, HERE relies on local source data and input from map users to generate constant daily map updates, such as real-time traffic, turn by turn directions, public transportation routes and information about local business and attractions.
By 2013, four out of five cars globally with fully integrated in-dash navigation systems used HERE data. HERE supplies map content for Alpine, BMW, Mercedes, Garmin, Hyundai, Pioneer, Volkswagen and Toyota, among other car companies and enterprises.
HERE also provides mapping data for popular apps to find and order taxis. These apps include Easy Taxi, MetroView and Grab Taxi, among others.
Platform partnerships
HERE licenses its location platform to other major companies, including Amazon, Bing, Yahoo!, Flickr, SAP and Oracle. Each partner uses the HERE location platform, which is available to any business or screen, to optimise experiences for its own users depending on the particular context. Amazon, for example, uses the HERE platform for maps and geocoding, in Amazon Maps. In 2012 the platform computed 11 billion traffic probes a month, 80 million geocoding requests daily, 24 million route requests a day and more than 1 billion search queries in a year.
See also
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Comparison of web map services
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See also
* GraphHopper
* Navteq
* Petal Maps
* Online virtual globes
* Tencent Maps
* Traffic Message Channel (TMC)
References
{{Reflist
External links
Google MapsBing MapsMapQuest MapsMapy.czOpenStreetMapHereApple MapsYand ...
*
Nokia Networks
Nokia Networks (formerly Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) and Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN)) is a multinational data networking and telecommunications equipment company headquartered in Espoo, Finland, and wholly owned subsidiary of Nokia Corp ...
*
Nokia Technologies
Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...
*
Nokia
Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...
References
External links
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{{Mercedes-Benz Group
Android (operating system) software
Companies based in Eindhoven
Online companies of Germany
IOS software
Mobile route-planning software
Nokia services
Street view services
Symbian software
Web mapping
Windows Phone software
Online companies of the Netherlands