Meta, Microsoft and Amazon release open map dataset to rival Google Maps, Apple Maps

A group formed by Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and mapping company TomTom is releasing data that could enable developers to build their own maps to take on Google Map and Apple Maps. The group, called the Overture Maps Foundation, was formed last year. Today, the group has released it first open map dataset.

With this dataset, third-party developers can build mapping or navigation products of their own to crack the Apple-Google duopoly. The data includes 59 million “points of interest,” such as restaurants and landmarks, along with information about transportation networks and administrative boundaries. The data was collected and donated by Meta and Microsoft.

“The release is a significant step in establishing a comprehensive, market-grade open map dataset for our constantly changing world,” said Marc Prioleau, executive director of Overture Maps Foundation, in a statement. “The Places dataset, in particular, represents a major, previously unavailable open dataset, with the potential to map everything from new businesses big and small to pop-up street markets located anywhere in the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read the full story at: