Nokia Integrates Navteq Traffic Data Probes into its Smartphones

In what seems to be a right step in the right direction, NAVTEQ announced that the GPS data for Nokia mobile phones are being integrated into products NAVTEQ TrafficTM for Europe and North America. This NAVTEQ Traffic allows more precise routes and improved estimates of travel times based on traffic conditions or probable past.
This approach would allow users to use Nokia GPS enabled cell phones as mobile traffic sensors. It will cover not only highways, but also the side streets, where there is very little; if at all any traffic sensing network. The real-time data will be collected from mobilephone networks to make NAVTEQ Traffic solution complete, updated by the minute. NAVTEQ Traffic delivers detailed information on traffic speeds, incidents and accidents, enabling navigation systems to drivers and to develop an intelligent route or to readjust. The addition of the Nokia GPS data collected from millions of Nokia mobile phones will increase significantly the amount of traffic information to provide the most comprehensive coverage in Europe and North America. With these new data, NAVTEQ Traffic will extend its coverage to include more information on major traffic arteries, where traffic data are mainly collected today, but also on the main and secondary roads.
According to Michael Halbherr, Director of Social Rental Services division at Nokia, "Nokia continues to expand its community and delivers technologies that improve the lives of users. Part of our commitment is to ensure respect for the privacy of users, while offering the best offer traffic information so drivers have the latest information timely."
Nokia Data are collected anonymously from mobile phones and delivered to NAVTEQ Traffic for aggregation with other data sources and verification. The aggregation GPS Nokia does not infringe the freedom of individual users of these devices.