Nokia, after acquiring Navteq, the mapping company, for a hefty sum, instantly became one of the biggest mapping solutions provider in the world. Recently, in efforts to expand its reach in the world of Location and Commerce, Nokia launched the “HERE” platform, which is Nokia’s location platform that can be licensed by other companies looking to integrate the whole or a part of the solution to their product. One such company is Toyota, the world’s largest car manufacturer by volume, which has gone on a partnership with Nokia to pre install the HERE maps local search onto its in-car navigation units starting 2014.

Toyota’s cars in Europe, Russia and the Middle east will be pre installed with Nokia’s HERE platform with local search that can acquire and inform locally relevant information on the go. Nokia says that the cars will be benefitted by the local search options including images and various other details like ratings and reviews. For now, the partnership is only about local search but Toyota assures that it will be working with Nokia on more HERE services.

This also indicates how Nokia is dealing with its location platform. As you can see, the efforts to make the platform make money is evident and the deals and partnerships are no coincidence. The other major mapping solutions provider being Google, the competition surely heats up.

via Engadget