To update its maps, Tele Atlas captures and verifies changes from more than 50,000 global sources, ranging from government documents and public safety officials to construction companies and truck drivers, as well as satellite and aerial imagery. By adding active contributions from individual TomTom users as an additional source, Tele Atlas is able to increase the total number of changes identified by its network, particularly in geographically dispersed and rural areas covered less frequently by other data sources. For MultiNet 2008.10, Tele Atlas used community data to identify and validate more than 50,000 changes related to street names and traffic direction corrections in Europe and North America. Notably, in this version of the database, the total number of changes detected by community input for street name and traffic direction attributes in Europe and North America already matches the number of changes made using all other sources for those specific attributes in these regions
“End user communities are becoming a key component permitting companies to enhance their services with real-time information,” said Dominique Bonte, Research Director, Telematics and Navigation at ABI Research. “By effectively harnessing this community-based feedback, digital maps and location-based content will offer more accurate, up-to-date information for the delivery of more powerful navigation experiences.”
Tele Atlas applies stringent quality assurance procedures to process all of the data from its comprehensive source network. As the volume of community-provided data increases, the engines and systems through which this input is reviewed and validated by Tele Atlas will generate improvements in overall operational efficiency and reduce the time required to update its database.
“The release of MultiNet version 2008.10 marks another important step toward Tele Atlas’ goal to use community input to deliver better maps, faster,” said Bill Henry, CEO of Tele Atlas. “Tele Atlas’ history of innovation has positioned the company as a global leader in map testing processes and methodologies. We look forward to incorporating an even greater scope and volume of community data from additional sources, such as end users of wireless, Internet and personal navigation systems or enterprise applications using our data, to further increase the quality, richness and timeliness of Tele Atlas maps.”
Improved Navigation, Visualization and Search
Tele Atlas MultiNet 2008.10 delivers an expanded set of advanced navigation, visualization and search capabilities for Tele Atlas customers and application developers to leverage in their navigation and location-based solutions and products.
In this release, new advanced navigation features offer additional information on road attributes such as HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) lanes and improved data on variable road speeds. MultiNet 2008.10 also includes improved visualization capabilities that will enable Tele Atlas’ application partners to customize displays of various water element types, such oceans, seas and lakes.
Additionally, MultiNet 2008.10 offers extended availability of the locality index, which provides advanced address search capabilities through expanded multi-language support of place names. For example, an English-speaking tourist in Portugal can search for the city name “Lisbon” instead of using the Portuguese name “Lisboa.” New advanced navigation features available via licensing for coverage in Canada and the United States include geometry accurate to 1-5 meters that supports enhanced ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) slope and curvature products.
The 2008.10 marks the initial release of many of these advanced features; regionally availability varies currently and is scheduled to expand in future releases.
To learn more about Tele Atlas and the new community input, download the Tele Atlas podcast with Rik Temmink, Vice President of Product Management, Tele Atlas, available at: http://www.teleatlaspresskit.com.
About Tele Atlas
Tele Atlas delivers the digital maps and dynamic content that power many
of the world’s most essential navigation and
location-based services (LBS). Through a combination of its own products
and partnerships, Tele Atlas offers map coverage of more than 200
countries and territories worldwide. The company was founded in 1984 and
has approximately 2,000 full-time staff and contract cartographers at
offices in 24 countries. Today, Tele Atlas maps are developed with the
insight of a community of millions of GPS system users worldwide, who
are adding to the company’s unmatched network
of sources to track and validate changes in real time, and deliver the
best digital maps and dynamic content. For more information, visit
www.teleatlas.com .
Tele Atlas is a subsidiary of TomTom N.V.
