Oct/Nov 2006

Digital map specialist Tele Atlas says it plans to work more closely with Symbian, the mobile phone operating system developer, to provide support for software companies producing map-based applications for smartphones.

The program kicks off with the production of training materials for developers of location-based service applications, and Tele Atlas says there will also be application-specific white papers and webinars on the use of its data in Symbian OS applications. Additional tools will follow as Tele Atlas and Symbian expand the support program.

Working together "will accelerate the rate at which valuable location-based services appear on smartphones," says Jack Reinelt, managing director and chief operating officer of Tele Atlas Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Tele Atlas has also launched a series of events named The Tele Atlas Innovator Series. Selected companies already in the Tele Atlas DeveloperLink community are being offered an opportunity to meet with Dow Jones editors and venture capitalists wanting to invest in LBS applications. The DeveloperLink program gives Internet, mobile and other next-generation application developers access to sample data and geographic application development tools.