{"id":422447,"date":"2010-03-12T13:32:14","date_gmt":"2010-03-12T18:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"tag:contentnext.com,2010-03-12:article\/419-free-maps-from-google-and-nokia-drive-vodafone-to-shut-down-wayfinder"},"modified":"2010-03-12T13:32:14","modified_gmt":"2010-03-12T18:32:14","slug":"free-maps-from-google-and-nokia-drive-vodafone-to-shut-down-wayfinder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/422447","title":{"rendered":"Free Maps From Google and Nokia Drive Vodafone To Shut Down Wayfinder"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The first victim of the free navigation wars: Vodafone (NYSE: VOD<\/a>) is shutting down Wayfinder, the Swedish mapmaker it purchased for $30 million in late 2008. <\/p>\n

It was the carrier’s goal to use Wayfinder to provide directions to both drivers and pedestrians, while overlaying location-based advertising to alert users to nearby restaurants or shops. The carrier planned to start embedding mapping applications on devices this summer with a location-based advertising trial coming soon after. But according to a report in a Swedish publication, Vodafone has decided to close down the whole operation, Engadget reports<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

Clearly, the market has gotten a lot more complicated since Vodafone’s acquisition. Google (NSDQ: GOOG<\/a>) and Nokia (NYSE: NOK<\/a>) both started offering free maps with turn-by-turn navigtation services on phones, and much more entrenched competitors, like TomTom and Garmin, are struggling because of it. Vodafone’s Anna Cloke tells Engadget: “We could not charge for something that others gave away for free.”\n<\/p>\n

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