TomTom said Tuesday that the company has signed Localeze, a business-listings identity management company, to provide local business information as points of interest for future TomTom GPS devices.
Localeze will provide over 14 million points of interest to TomTom GPSes, beginning in 2011, of which nearly 600,000 have been verified and managed by local businesses themselves.
The listings will be available for location-based applications and personal and in-car navigation systems powered by TomTom digital maps and content, TomTom said. The information will also be provided to application developers and other device manufacturers who use TomTom’s digital maps, the companies said.
The combination will undoubtedly help TomTom compete against companies like Google, which already has a database of local POIs and a free Google Maps Navigation app for smartphones, to boot. (TomTom has its own paid iPhone app, which it recently discounted. In March, the company said it would add free lifetime map subscriptions to some of its GPS devices.)
A Localeze spokeswoman told PCMag.com that the TomTom/Localeze combination would eliminate the necessity to access a business listing on the either a PC or phone browser and then manually enter it.
“We are pleased to work with an industry leader like TomTom and its industry customers, to deliver our descriptive local search business listings,” said Jeff Beard, president of Localeze, in a statement. “Relevant points of interest and information including a business’ name, address, and phone number drive a more dynamic and interactive experience for consumers when they are on-the-go.”
[Story by Mark Hachman appeared on PCMag.com]