Uber wants to buy another mapping technology: Nokia's Here, and it's bid $3 billion for it according to The New York Times. Who else wants in on the action? Apparently a handful of German car manufacturers including Audi, BMW and Mercedes Benz, and Chinese search engine Baidu's lending some cash to the move as well. While Google Maps is probably the most popular service here in the States, that isn't exactly the case abroad. NYT says that globally the Finnish electronics company's navigation system commands an 80 percent market share for in-car GPS.
From the sounds of it, the reason Uber's even interested is that Here could aid Uber Pool's car-pooling to link passengers with drivers. The trio from Deutschland's intentions are a little clearer: the idea is to aid in the development and guidance of autonomous vehicles because leaning heavily on Google isn't particularly attractive given Mountain View's own self-driving car efforts. That, and if those three own Here they can charge licensing fees should they choose to let other companies use it.
