Yesterday I attended the Nokia Here location relaunch. This is a mapping and location business, rebranded HERE. For Kenyan consumers, HERE offers the most accurate, up-to-date and comprehensive maps and navigation services available in the local market.
For those guys who have Nokia Lumia phones or Ashas here is the press release below on what Here is about. We got demonstrations on each of the features and they are pretty awesome. Nokia have said they have introduced the mapping app to cars as well and if you use other phones not by Nokia not to worry, Nokia says that in the future they may sell the mapping solution to other mobile companies.
The only automotive grade maps available for Kenya, HERE map data is field verified by a team based in-country. This is an enormous advantage over competitor map data, which is often purchased internationally and not regularly refreshed, or collected anonymously by users, but not verified. This approach globally has led to four out of every five integrated in-dash navigation systems being powered by HERE.
The local HERE team for Kenya is supported on ground by an extended community of volunteer experts that use the Map Creator app to make real time amendments to the maps. They add thousands of updates and new points of interest each year. This means that a temporary road closure in Nairobi can be easily shown with an alternative route until the road maintenance is completed, increasing the accuracy of the local maps.
“Our map data for East Africa is world class,” says Bruce Howe, general manager for Nokia East Africa. “For Kenya alone, we have around 68,000 kilometres of road and 37,000 points of interest, all field verified. This data, combined with our HERE services – Maps, Drive and City Lens – bring an enriched experience and consumer value to our Nokia Lumiaand Ashasmartphones.”
HERE map data also provides a great opportunity for 3rd party applications that rely on location. We have seen innovative integration of HERE with services like Bing and Foursquare to enable new features. This is in line with the vision of HERE, which strives to capture information, index real life and make sense of the patterns through computing. In so doing, HERE is able to create experiences that are meaningful and have an impact on the lives of people.
