NAVTEQ
Encyclopedia
Navteq is a Chicago, Illinois-based provider of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data and is a dominant company in providing the base electronic navigable maps. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nokia
but operates independently.
It provides data used in a wide range of applications, including automotive navigation system
s for many car makers, accounting for around 85% of market share.
Portable GPS devices made by Garmin
, Lowrance, NDrive
and web-based applications, such as Yahoo! Maps
, Bing Maps, and MapQuest
also use its maps. Microsoft's Flight Simulator X uses Navteq data for automatic terrain generation.
Nokia
Ovi Maps also use its maps in smartphone
s. Ovi Maps provides offline maps, eliminating the need for a constant internet data feed.
Navteq is also the data aggregator used by XM Satellite Radio
and Sirius Satellite Radio
to display traffic data on navigation systems that are capable of that display, and partners with various third party agencies and companies to provide government and transportation related services, such as the GPS and GSM-based sex offender
tracking system currently in use in parts of North Carolina
and Georgia
.
Navteq also provides graphics systems, information services and personnel for TV and radio broadcasting (Navteq Media Services). Most of the clients utilize Navteq for providing broadcast traffic reports in major metro areas throughout North America.
Navteq also has smaller offices in Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York
, Atlanta, Washington
, Los Angeles
, Miami, Houston, Boston
, Fargo
, San Diego, and throughout most big cities around the world, where Navteq cartographers live.
Its main competitors are the American company Google
and the Dutch
company Tele Atlas
.
told interviewers that he started the company after being frustrated with a paper map of the San Francisco, California
area. He thought "Wouldn't it be nice if I had someone sitting next to me in the car who knew the way?'"
Collins created a pilot of a navigation system in the San Francisco area. However, basic testing showed the system could generate impossible directions. They realized that the system not only had to have accurate maps, but also detailed data on turn restrictions, one-way streets and other local issues.
They were turned down by most venture capital firms in their attempts to finance the database. The president of Budget Rent A Car
then suggested they talk to T. Russell Shields
, a Chicago entrepreneur who had founded Shields Enterprises International, which became SEI Information Technology, which had specialized in building order fulfilment databases. Shields provided US$500,000 in seed money.
In 1985 Karlin & Collins, Inc. based in Sunnyvale, California
began comprehensive mapping of the San Francisco area getting another US$2.5 million from Prudential Bache. Karlin and Collins made use of the newly created U.S. Census electronic map which was matched with aerial photographs. They hired people to drive every road carrying a Dictaphone
describing the position. In lieu of using a GPS, they kept track of the location of the vehicle by using a dead reckoning
system that relied on a gyro
compass.
It took about two years before they unveiled their first product, DriverGuide, which was a computer kiosk
that could be used at car rental locations and hotel lobbies to provide door-to-door printed directions. Later, 80 machines costing US$12,000 were placed around San Francisco Bay Area and drivers paid 50 cents for the directions.
With the success of the kiosks in 1987, Shields invested another $3 million on condition he be named chief operating officer. The company was renamed Navigation Technologies Corporation.
A competitive environment was quickly arising with Etak
being the most notable. Etak's offering showed your location on the map but did not offer directions.
Philips Electronics acquired the company in the early 1990s and invested nearly US$600 Million in building the database for a car-based mapping device that was ultimately scrapped. Both Karlin and Collins left in the takeover but Shields remained, becoming CEO and moving its headquarters to Chicago in 1996.
It established its first European office, named European Geographic Technologies (EGT), in 1991, and offices in Yokohama
, Japan
in 1996.
under the ticker symbol
"NVT."
It is headquartered in Chicago
, Illinois (USA) with more than 4,400 employees worldwide. With a regional European headquarters located in Veldhoven
, Netherlands
, a major production facility in Fargo, North Dakota
, USA, and support centers in Seoul
, South Korea
, Mexico City
, Mexico and in Yokohama, Japan, Navteq is located in 144 offices in 60 countries.
In early 2007, Navteq acquired The Map Network, the largest supplier of mapping to local US tourism and convention agencies. Later that year, Navteq moved their headquarters from Chicago's Merchandise Mart
complex to the Boeing Building in Chicago.
In September 2009, Navteq acquired Acuity Mobile, a mobile marketing technology company.
would acquire Navteq in a deal valued at an estimated US$8.1 billion (€5.7 billion). Navteq shareholders approved the deal in December 2007. The European Commission
in July 2008 ruled the deal did not violate anti-trust rules clearing the way for closing the deal.
Navteq's principal rival Tele Atlas
was acquired by TomTom
in 2008.
, a four-person California-based company that provides a free mobile and web application that includes such community-generated content as speed traps, red-light cameras, and road hazard alerts. Trapster was a finalist in Navteq’s 2008 Global LBS Challenge. A Navteq spokesperson said that "Navteq believes that community-generated data has a critical part to play in location content".
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
but operates independently.
Overview
Navteq's underlying map database is based on first-hand observation of geographic features rather than relying on official government maps.It provides data used in a wide range of applications, including automotive navigation system
Automotive navigation system
An automotive navigation system is a satellite navigation system designed for use in automobiles. It typically uses a GPS navigation device to acquire position data to locate the user on a road in the unit's map database. Using the road database, the unit can give directions to other locations...
s for many car makers, accounting for around 85% of market share.
Portable GPS devices made by Garmin
Garmin
Garmin Ltd. , incorporated in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, is the parent company of a group of companies founded in 1989 by Gary Burrell and Min Kao , that develops consumer, aviation, and marine technologies for the Global Positioning System...
, Lowrance, NDrive
NDrive
NDrive Navigation Systems, SA is a worldwide provider of navigation services to mobile platforms. Founded in 2001, the company has a staff of 60 people and is headquartered in Porto, Portugal with sales offices on all continents....
and web-based applications, such as Yahoo! Maps
Yahoo! Maps
Yahoo! Maps is a free online mapping portal provided by Yahoo!.-News:*On May 16, 2007, Yahoo! released a new map style designed by the cartography company...
, Bing Maps, and MapQuest
MapQuest
MapQuest is an American free online web mapping service owned by AOL. The company was founded in 1967 as Cartographic Services, a division of R.R. Donnelley & Sons in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1969. When it became an independent company in 1994, it was...
also use its maps. Microsoft's Flight Simulator X uses Navteq data for automatic terrain generation.
Nokia
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
Ovi Maps also use its maps in smartphone
Smartphone
A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
s. Ovi Maps provides offline maps, eliminating the need for a constant internet data feed.
Navteq is also the data aggregator used by XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...
and Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
to display traffic data on navigation systems that are capable of that display, and partners with various third party agencies and companies to provide government and transportation related services, such as the GPS and GSM-based sex offender
Sex offender
A sex offender is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and by legal jurisdiction. Most jurisdictions compile their laws into sections such as traffic, assault, sexual, etc. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crimes of a...
tracking system currently in use in parts of North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
and Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
.
Navteq also provides graphics systems, information services and personnel for TV and radio broadcasting (Navteq Media Services). Most of the clients utilize Navteq for providing broadcast traffic reports in major metro areas throughout North America.
Navteq also has smaller offices in Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Atlanta, Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Miami, Houston, Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Fargo
Fargo, North Dakota
Fargo is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County. In 2010, its population was 105,549, and it had an estimated metropolitan population of 208,777...
, San Diego, and throughout most big cities around the world, where Navteq cartographers live.
Its main competitors are the American company Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
and the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
company Tele Atlas
Tele Atlas
Tele Atlas is a Netherlands-based company founded in 1984 which delivers digital maps and other dynamic content for navigation and location-based services, including personal and in-car navigation systems, and provides data used in a wide range of mobile and Internet map applications...
.
Map error handling
Map errors are handled using Navteq Map Reporter, which is described as a "community based online tool for suggesting changes to the Navteq map". The Navteq Map Reporter's API makes it possible for manufacturers of devices using navteq maps to build in error reporting features in to their products. Map errors are reported by users of products lacking such error reporting feature, which are most, via the Navteq Map Reporter page.Karlin & Collins, Inc.
The company was founded in 1985 by Barry Karlin and Galen Collins. Karlin, who was originally from South AfricaSouth Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
told interviewers that he started the company after being frustrated with a paper map of the San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
area. He thought "Wouldn't it be nice if I had someone sitting next to me in the car who knew the way?'"
Collins created a pilot of a navigation system in the San Francisco area. However, basic testing showed the system could generate impossible directions. They realized that the system not only had to have accurate maps, but also detailed data on turn restrictions, one-way streets and other local issues.
They were turned down by most venture capital firms in their attempts to finance the database. The president of Budget Rent A Car
Budget Rent a Car
Budget Rent a Car System, Inc. is an American car rental company that was founded in 1958 in Los Angeles, California by Morris Mirkin. Budget's operations are headquartered in Parsippany-Troy Hills Township, New Jersey....
then suggested they talk to T. Russell Shields
T. Russell Shields
Russ Shields is an American entrepreneur who is known for investing in and leading Navteq to profitability and finally selling it to Nokia for $8 billion. He is now founder and chair of Ygomi LLC...
, a Chicago entrepreneur who had founded Shields Enterprises International, which became SEI Information Technology, which had specialized in building order fulfilment databases. Shields provided US$500,000 in seed money.
In 1985 Karlin & Collins, Inc. based in Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is one of the major cities that make up the Silicon Valley located in the San Francisco Bay Area...
began comprehensive mapping of the San Francisco area getting another US$2.5 million from Prudential Bache. Karlin and Collins made use of the newly created U.S. Census electronic map which was matched with aerial photographs. They hired people to drive every road carrying a Dictaphone
Dictaphone
Dictaphone was an American company, a producer of dictation machines—sound recording devices most commonly used to record speech for later playback or to be typed into print. The name "Dictaphone" is a trademark, but in some places it has also become a common way to refer to all such devices, and...
describing the position. In lieu of using a GPS, they kept track of the location of the vehicle by using a dead reckoning
Dead reckoning
In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating one's current position by using a previously determined position, or fix, and advancing that position based upon known or estimated speeds over elapsed time, and course...
system that relied on a gyro
Gyro
- Science and technology :* An abbreviation for gyroscope, an orientation-stabilizing device* An abbreviation for autogyro, a type of rotary-wing aircraft* The casually used brand name of a detangler mechanism, part of a stunt-adapted BMX bicycle...
compass.
It took about two years before they unveiled their first product, DriverGuide, which was a computer kiosk
Kiosk
Kiosk is a small, separated garden pavilion open on some or all sides. Kiosks were common in Persia, India, Pakistan, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward...
that could be used at car rental locations and hotel lobbies to provide door-to-door printed directions. Later, 80 machines costing US$12,000 were placed around San Francisco Bay Area and drivers paid 50 cents for the directions.
With the success of the kiosks in 1987, Shields invested another $3 million on condition he be named chief operating officer. The company was renamed Navigation Technologies Corporation.
A competitive environment was quickly arising with Etak
Etak
Etak, Inc. was an independent US-based vendor of automotive navigation system equipment, digital maps, and mapping software. It was founded in 1983....
being the most notable. Etak's offering showed your location on the map but did not offer directions.
Navigation Technologies Corporation (NavTech)
In the 1990s the company changed its business model so that instead of building kiosks itself, it licensed its maps to be used by other hardware makers.Philips Electronics acquired the company in the early 1990s and invested nearly US$600 Million in building the database for a car-based mapping device that was ultimately scrapped. Both Karlin and Collins left in the takeover but Shields remained, becoming CEO and moving its headquarters to Chicago in 1996.
It established its first European office, named European Geographic Technologies (EGT), in 1991, and offices in Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
in 1996.
Navteq
Philips on several occasions tried to take the company public but backed off each time until finally going public in February 2004 being listed on the New York Stock ExchangeNew York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
under the ticker symbol
Ticker symbol
A stock symbol or ticker symbol is a short abbreviation used to uniquely identify publicly traded shares of a particular stock on a particular stock market. A stock symbol may consist of letters, numbers or a combination of both. "Ticker symbol" refers to the symbols that were printed on the ticker...
"NVT."
It is headquartered in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois (USA) with more than 4,400 employees worldwide. With a regional European headquarters located in Veldhoven
Veldhoven
Veldhoven is a municipality and a town on the Gender stream in the southern Netherlands, located just south-west of Eindhoven.- Population centres :...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, a major production facility in Fargo, North Dakota
Fargo, North Dakota
Fargo is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County. In 2010, its population was 105,549, and it had an estimated metropolitan population of 208,777...
, USA, and support centers in Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, Mexico and in Yokohama, Japan, Navteq is located in 144 offices in 60 countries.
In early 2007, Navteq acquired The Map Network, the largest supplier of mapping to local US tourism and convention agencies. Later that year, Navteq moved their headquarters from Chicago's Merchandise Mart
Merchandise Mart
When opened in 1930, the Merchandise Mart or the Merch Mart, located in the Near North Side, Chicago, Illinois, was the largest building in the world with of floor space. Previously owned by the Marshall Field family, the Mart centralized Chicago's wholesale goods business by consolidating vendors...
complex to the Boeing Building in Chicago.
In September 2009, Navteq acquired Acuity Mobile, a mobile marketing technology company.
Nokia subsidiary
On October 1, 2007, it was announced that NokiaNokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
would acquire Navteq in a deal valued at an estimated US$8.1 billion (€5.7 billion). Navteq shareholders approved the deal in December 2007. The European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
in July 2008 ruled the deal did not violate anti-trust rules clearing the way for closing the deal.
Navteq's principal rival Tele Atlas
Tele Atlas
Tele Atlas is a Netherlands-based company founded in 1984 which delivers digital maps and other dynamic content for navigation and location-based services, including personal and in-car navigation systems, and provides data used in a wide range of mobile and Internet map applications...
was acquired by TomTom
TomTom
TomTom NV is a Dutch manufacturer of automotive navigation systems, including both stand-alone units and software for personal digital assistants and mobile telephones. It is the leading manufacturer of navigation systems in Europe. TomTom's customer service is located in Amsterdam, Netherlands...
in 2008.
Trapster Acquisition
On December 13, 2010, it was announced that Navteq purchased TrapsterTrapster (speed trap sharing system)
Trapster is a social networking mobile application and website, provided for free, that maps out and alerts users in real time to the presence of live police speed traps, red light cameras, speed cameras, and areas where police often hide. Further, it allows users to record trip data and share it...
, a four-person California-based company that provides a free mobile and web application that includes such community-generated content as speed traps, red-light cameras, and road hazard alerts. Trapster was a finalist in Navteq’s 2008 Global LBS Challenge. A Navteq spokesperson said that "Navteq believes that community-generated data has a critical part to play in location content".
External links
- Traffic.com – A Navteq company
- International Directory of Company Histories, Vol.69. St. James Press, 2005 (Company history through 2005 via fundinguniverse.com)
- A day with the Navteq survey car. (PocketGPSWorld.com text and video article)
- Navteq Map Reporter