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.
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