What about http://www.openstreetmap.org/ ? This is
a great project that anyone can contribute to and
download.
GPS device maps typically two years old
Summary
From the mapping of roads to getting the maps updated and onto distribution channels such as garages, people can expect their maps to be over two years old, even on new devices.
Topics
User-generated data may be the answer to the GPS navigation industry's problem of outdated maps on user devices, say industry voices.
According to Ed Parsons, Google's geospatial technologist, the reason users encounter inaccurate road layouts and landmark placements on their GPS devices is that it takes a long time getting updated maps to users.
From the mapping of roads to getting the maps updated and onto distribution channels such as garages, people can expect their maps to be over two years old, even on new devices, Parsons said in an interview with ZDNet Asia.
Even buying maps online will only shorten the process by about a year, leaving users with maps that are about a year old, which is still not good enough for some users, he added.
The most time-consuming portion of the process is map collection, Parsons said. "Traditionally, people captured [road data] by driving around. To update the data, they drove over the same routes again. This manual [process] has been time-consuming and costly, but it's been the only way to do it up till now."
The industry is moving toward making information available in real-time, to push out updates faster, he said.
Incidentally, the Automobile Association of Singapore on Tuesday announced a GPS-based device it calls TrafficGEM, aimed at providing more up-to-date information for motorists.
Although its map does not reflect changes in roads, the real-time traffic alerts are hoped to alert users to temporarily-valid information such as traffic jams.
The power of user-generated data
Parsons said the industry has warmed up to the trend of harnessing user responses to supplement map data, by offering users tools with which they can feed back information.
Google has a site, Map Maker, which works with its Google Maps service.
Maps provider, Tele Atlas, too said it integrates user contributions as an "additional source", which has been helpful in geographically dispersed and rural areas which are less frequently covered by its surveyors.
Tele Atlas Asia-Pacific director of operations Arnout Desmet, said in an e-mail, road information changes between 10 to 15 percent each year, and more so in busy urban areas.
He said updates are pushed out four times a year, with the help of "tens of thousands of global sources, ranging from mapping vehicles and digital cartographers to zoning boards and public safety officials to construction companies and truck drivers, satellite and aerial imagery and government documents".
Geraldine Kor, director of customer marketing, Asia-Pacific, at Navteq, said keeping maps updated involves some 80,000 sources, which include professional cartographers and "the input from more than 100 million users every day".
Navteq offers an online tool it calls Map Reporter, which lets users suggest changes in maps. Once users identify such a change, the information is verified before it is added to Navteq's database, she said.
She did suggest, however, that some inaccuracies users faced result from them having outdated maps. "We find that many Map Reporter submissions prove to be about locations we already have in our map, but are not in the version of the map the consumer is using."
There are some map players who do not agree with the notion of harnessing user-generated data. Singapore-based maps site Streetirectory.com, said in an earlier interview the site's strength was its professionally-collected data.
Its managing director Firdhaus Akber, said competitors like Google Maps, which allow users to tag locations have introduced inaccuracies into their maps, as a result.
Google's Parsons said: "There is always value in high quality cartography. What has changed is it's much easier to enter the mapping market. [Map makers] have to work harder to win users."
This article was originally posted on ZDNet Asia.
Talkback Most Recent of 11 Talkback(s)
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spxza2nd Sep 2009 -
RE: GPS device maps typically two years old
I have reported several discrepanices to Navteq. What bothers me is the priorities. On their website, they were two years behind on a major 4-lane highway that had been opened between two major cities, but they had a residential street that had just opened. Navteq, TeleAtlas, auto manufacturers, and GPS device sellers need to move away from once-a-year CD updates to more frequent updates as data are updated.
bruceg@...2nd Sep 2009 -
Additionally:
The prices for updated maps should be more reasonable. I have a built in DVD based GPS in my vehicle - when the maps need to be updated, I have to pay $300 for a new DVD. That's more than a GPS costs! You'd think, if I spent $1400 on a GPS system, I would get map updates with it.
rshores2nd Sep 2009 -
RE: Additionally:
If you own a Garmin, it's about $100 to get the yearly map updates. Even that is absurd. At $25 and I would be first in line. At $100, I'd planned on doing them every other year or so, which would put me 3+ years out of date I guess? Apparently the maps at openstreetmap.org can be downloaded and converted to a format that Garmins can read. I'll be testing that out VERY soon.
trybble12nd Sep 2009 -
TomTom is $80 for a map update
Which is also absurd. Even with a map that is 2+ years out of date it's still 100% functional. Yea, roads change, but not that much. Not enough to warrant spending $80 for a map when a new unit can be had for about the same price and is more feature rich.
Earth to GPS makers: Updated maps $25.
WindowWasher2nd Sep 2009 -
RE: GPS device maps typically two years old
garmin basecamp+ can be used to add your own mods, when you
buy something dated 2010 how can it be 2 years out of date,
Google can show proposed roads upgrades why not satnavs?
ian.morris@...2nd Sep 2009 -
RE: GPS device maps typically two years old
there is no reason that GPS owners cannot update maps as needed from a single source via internet... except of course profits...
salasja2nd Sep 2009 -
The Answer Might Be
Learn how to navigate your way to the location without the aid of yet another toy in the car. Read a map. COMPREHEND what you read and, oh, get a sense of direction. I cant tell you how many people I meet do not know north from west in their OWN town/city. Its disgusting.
VoiceOfLogic3rd Sep 2009 -
Re: the Answer
The problem: GPS maps are outdated
The "Answer": Read a map
I don't see how reading a map instead of a GPS can solve the problem with outdated map info. If anything a printed map can be more outdated.
Logic is harder than you think.
takwu4th Sep 2009 -
RE: GPS device maps typically two years old
have you guys tried www.malsingmaps.com? quite frequently updated too.
___________________________
tuyen dung | tim viec | viec lam
nuoc hoa29th Dec 2009 -
RE: GPS device maps typically two years old
I have reported several discrepanices to Navteq. On website, they were two years behind on a major 4-lane highway that had been opened between two major cities, but they had a residential street that had just opened.
__________________________________
dao tao ngan han | viec lam | tuyen dung viec lam
dao tao tu xa12th Aug
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