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Tele Atlas introduces an online map feedback tool. From the press release: "[...] Map Insight, an online tool that allows users of Internet, personal navigation and wireless devices and applications powered by Tele Atlas data to quickly report changes to the company. [...] Changes to roads and points of interest occur every day, and the ability to quickly analyze and incorporate multiple sources of input is vital to generating maps that are fresh and highly accurate. [...] Map Insight adds an interactive, community-based perspective that Tele Atlas President and COO George Fink says is vital to the future of map development."

The Cartography blog compares online maps and access their accuracy. After discouraging results, it is said: "All of this suggests that local knowledge can’t be beat which is why, perhaps, TeleAtlas has initiated an online map feedback tool to elicit such knowledge from its users. How will they determine what information they receive is correct and what is chaff sown by nasty competitors? It will be interesting to watch what happens - and if Navteq picks ups on a similar approach."

The Google Earth Blog and APB links to a Newsweek article on the recent boom in aerial imagery business. From the article: "The Internet firms believe these overhead photos will become the building blocks for a new wave of virtual services that will let users navigate 3-D simulations of cities and shop in exact replicas of stores. As a result, scores of decades-old mom-and-pop aerial-mapping firms are suddenly thriving, along with the nation's two major commercial satellite imagery companies. "The geospatial-imaging industry seems to be at the epicenter of a war between Google, Microsoft and Yahoo," says Edward Jurkevics of Chesapeake Analytics Group. "It's a good place to be.""

ixcer writes "A joint press release announces that TomTom, the world’s largest navigation solution provider, will acquire Tele Atlas, the biggest data provider for navigation systems, including Google, Yahoo!, AOL and Nokia. The announcement starts this way... "TomTom N.V. (“TomTom”) and Tele Atlas N.V. (“Tele Atlas” or the “Company”), jointly announce that the expectation is justified that an agreement can be reached in connection with a public offer by TomTom for all outstanding shares of Tele Atlas at an offer price of € 21.25 in cash, (the “Offer Price”) per ordinary share (the “Offer”).

The Supervisory Board and the Management Board of Tele Atlas (the “Boards”), after having duly considered the strategic, financial and social aspects of the proposed transaction, support the intended Offer and conclude that the Offer is in the best interests of the shareholders and all other stakeholders of Tele Atlas. The Boards of Tele Atlas will, when the Offer is made by TomTom, recommend acceptance of the Offer by the shareholders of Tele Atlas."" Update: 07/23 17:41 GMT by S : All Points Blogs provides more links such as the Reuters article.

Tele Atlas has announced the availability of Tele Atlas Connect, a "Global Solution for Digital Map and Location-based Applications", that expands their digital map coverage to over 200 countries and territories. This extended coverage allows for seamless mapping and routing across national boundaries and a standard database format ensures its utility with current and future geographic applications. GISuser.com has the full news release here.

The DataLibre blog informs us that Toronto will soon have street view data acquired by Tele Atlas. From the blog: "This CBC.ca video gives a brief on how 2d and 3d street view data are collected. In this case it is the city of Toronto and the data collector is Tele Atlas. [...] At 500 km a day and terrabytes of data, these folks are collecting and selling tons of geo-information that we like to play with on google earth, help find places in mapquest, and allow city planners or police forces to prepare evacuation plans, understand the characteristics of the route planned for a protest or know the point address in a 911 call."

The Map Room links to a GPS Review article about a comparison of NAVTEQ and TeleAtlas, the two main rivals in road databases. The article's conclusion: "So would I now recommend Tele Atlas maps over NAVTEQ in the USA? Not necessarily. I’m keeping my prior position that the map vendor isn’t currently something that should be a big consideration when looking to purchase a GPS device in the USA. If these results are representative of the entire database the difference between them would only amount to finding less than a dozen more addresses in a year, navigating to a new address every day."

The Map Room links to a Wall Street Journal article on the digital roads duopoly between NAVTEQ and TeleAtlas. From the article: "Neither bid could be justified by the financial performance of the companies -- Navteq is modestly profitable while Tele Atlas is losing money -- but analysts say the buyers were willing to pay a "strategic premium" because of the value of mapping data to all players in the GPS industry. Now investors and regulators are raising questions about the implications of the two deals." See also related stories below.