Summer 2006

There's nothing like a free offer to encourage developers to take up new technologies. In the Viewpoint column in the last issue of m.logistics, the chief executive of Telcontar (now called deCarta) outlined a scheme for providing developers with free-of-charge access to a dedicated developer tool Web site. They only have to pay when their project is given the go-ahead.

Now Tele Atlas, the geographic content provider, had come up with something called its DeveloperLink program. This is designed to provide developers access to free map data and technical and business resources to support development of next-generation map-enabled applications.

In addition, the company is hoping users will become established as representing a "first-of-its-kind" online networking community for application developers bringing new location-based and navigation services to market.

At least one user has already expressed approval. According to David Marsh, director of navigation product management at Cobra Electronics: "We're excited to be brought together with companies of all sizes to create a community focused on furthering the development of map-enabled applications."