Tele Atlas (News - Alert), a global provider of digital maps and dynamic content for navigation and location-based solutions, and Autodesk Inc., a supplier of design innovation software and technologies, have announced a joint agreement. Autodesk (News - Alert) will use Tele Atlas maps and dynamic content in more than 200 counties and territories throughout the world.

 

These two companies have collaborated since 2003 in order to enable powerful location-based services (LBS) and applications around the world. With this agreement, Autodesk will have access to Tele Atlas’ global digital map content and products that include content for nearly 30 million points of interest and additional map content products.

Tele Atlas Address Points will also be used by Autodesk. These Points are designed to provide exact street name and address, postal code, longitude and latitude and other critical information to enhance location accuracy.

With the Tele Atlas Address Points, Autodesk developers will be able to position addresses on maps so that their applications can direct users to specific property parcels and even buildings within the parcel.

Autodesk is also joining the Tele Atlas LBS Innovators Series as a Diamond sponsor for the ongoing program held in conjunction with Tele Atlas DevelopLink. The series was developed to foster innovation and to help application developers to increase their visibility, credibility and success.

“Accurate, global digital map data is a key element of our mobile technology offerings that developers rely on when building new applications for the wireless market,” said Rod Egdorf, head of worldwide sales and marketing, Autodesk Location Services, in a Wednesday statement.

“Our work with Tele Atlas helps drive these innovations and expanding our relationship helps us provide the most comprehensive, high-quality content for our developers. Furthermore, by supporting Tele Atlas’ LBS Innovators Series, we are better positioned to help developers enhance their applications with location information and help bring them to market.”

Autodesk-powered applications today feature Tele Atlas digital map data content tat spans the enterprise and consumer wireless arenas. These include Vodafone’s (News - Alert) Mensa-Red Localización and Jumptap’s numerous mobile search deployments.

“Increasingly, the mobile and Internet arenas are converging on LBS, and as consumers demand more sophisticated GPS-enabled services, the development community insists on quick access to location content to deliver their offerings,” said Jude McColgan, vice president of consumer markets, Tele Atlas, in the Wednesday statement.

“Through our extended partnership with Autodesk, we can quickly deliver more global coverage and content for these services. We are equally excited by the new opportunities to deepen our support for the Autodesk developer community. By combining our efforts, Autodesk and Tele Atlas will fuel innovative applications and support developers as they build diverse Web and mobile offerings, which is at the core of our joint goals.”

The demand for location-based services and GPS capabilities is growing, putting increased pressure on providers to deliver accurate information. As this industry grows, so do the standards and expectations that the customer places on a service, making it even more critical that information not only be accurate, but also easy-to-use.

The extension of the partnership between Autodesk and Tele Atlas should enable these companies to build on their past and current success to deliver the features and capabilities that will enable them to dominate the market.