Tele Atlas Launches Urban Maps

Tele Atlas, which provides digital maps and dynamic content for navigation and location-based solutions, has launched Tele Atlas Urban Maps, which it says is designed to enrich the mobile users location-based services (LBS) experience. Urban Maps delivers premier out-of-car content such as enhanced views of sidewalks and footpaths, 2D representations of notable structures, and building footprints that better orient pedestrians in city centres.
Tele Atlas Urban Maps complements Tele Atlass MultiNet digital map database to deliver the complete street network, including non-drivable, pedestrian-only thoroughfares and a selection of points of interest (POIs) that enhance a users ability to find their way through busy urban centres and reach their destinations. To enable a more realistic display of city environments, Tele Atlas Urban Maps integrates Tele Atlas 2D City Maps, which show building footprints, sidewalks, town blocks, parks and railway infrastructure along with 2D Landmarks, which provide well-known visual waypoints for enhanced recognition and orientation.
Tele Atlas Urban Maps is available for almost 120 cities globally, including key cities in Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America such as Amsterdam, Beijing, Berlin, Boston, London, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Shanghai, Singapore, Toronto and Washington DC. To further enhance offerings for pedestrians, Tele Atlas customers and solution developers can incorporate additional Tele Atlas products, including Tele Atlas 3D City Maps, Tele Atlas 3D Landmarks and Tele Atlas CityGuide, as well as aerial imagery.
Map usage on mobile phones has grown rapidly over the last 18 months, spurred by the widespread availability of both GPS-enabled mobile phones and more compelling location-based applications, says Rik Temmink, Vice President of Global Product Management at Tele Atlas. As a result, there is increased market opportunity to offer consumers solutions that help them quickly orient themselves to their surroundings and find what they are looking for a busy urban environment. With Tele Atlas Urban Maps, our customers can leverage advanced visual content and pedestrian-specific map information to develop next-generation mobile and LBS applications for their end users.