Nokia owned NAVTEQ, which has a content deal with travel guide Lonely Planet for AsiaPac, has now expanded its deal to include India. According to a statement released by the company, the Lonely Planet for NAVTEQ: Travel Guide will include points of interest in categories like restaurants, hotels, nightlife and tourist attractions. Three things: Firstly, we're not sure if the deal is operational yet because when we checked online, no points of interest showed up on maps on Navteq's website. A screenshot: Secondly, incorporating Lonely Planet is no longer a differentiator - Google is incorporating points of interest with its map-maker, and Cleartrip recently incorporated inputs from Lonely Planet for its maps. Thirdly, Lonely Planet isn't enough, and quantity of data matters to a user: I don't expect the map for Connought Place (some people call it Rajiv Chowk) to be just an outline. Navteq should try to collect data from its users; no one's going to use it if the map doesn't have significant detail. Quality matters too - a typo in Naveq's map - Pragati Maidan is mentioned as Pargati Maidan. Related: - Cleartrip Expands Small World Partnerships To Yahoo, Flickr; Suggestions, Licenses - On Integration Of Maps With Social Networks, Events, News & More - Indian Government Asks Telecom Operators To Sharpen Location Awareness; LBS - Nokia’s Navteq Adds 44 Cities To Maps; Sets Up Global Production Centre; No Traffic Updates Yet - CDAC Launches Multilingual Mobile Navigation Product Saarathy; API or Open Source? - #EmTech India:…
