Well, with all the hooplah, reorganization, restructuring, yadayada going on at Nokia the past year or two you can’t really be surprised when you hear something to the effect of Navteq Developer resource NN4D being shut down. Well that’s exactly what we’ve been hearing around here and to yours truly no big surprise I guess! I first heard about this on a website who unfortunately decided not to provide any sources or anything really credible about the story so I won’t even bother wasting my efforts linking into them (you can likely find it on a Google search though!), however, Mobile360 did have a fine report on the matter. I will tell you that I’ve made a couple of calls etc… and can unofficially validate to you that indeed, NNV4 is indeed being shut-down, unfortunate for their entire team – no idea at this early stage what will happen with them. I did notice on G+ that a NN4D staffer did indicate that they were now looking for a job… good luck to everyone at NN4D
I did share the following in a comment with Greg via a G+ comment…
Thanks Greg.. man, I guess I’m not surprised! I’ve had professional dealings with both Navteq and Nokia over the years (as you are well aware of I’m sure). Both companies have tried to keep me in the know but honestly, I’ve never really felt any connection between the 2 ever since the Nokia purchase of Navteq and the disconnect has been huge and pretty tough to figure out. Nokia has graciously brought me to various events, workshops etc… all involving their location (LBS) and mapping solutions but there’s really never even been mention of Navteq at pretty much anything… its always baffled me. Then once the Microsoft/Nokia deal took place I had to wonder, what does this mean for Navteq, and in particular the developer arm.. hell, the whole Nokia developer, forum.nokia, etc… flip flopping, name changing, people coming and going, etc… has served to provide much confusion to most people I’m sure. In short, what a mess… too bad really! Thanks for sharing
Indeed there’s been loads of confusion over the years. For myself, being in the industry and trying to report on matters its been tough. My contacts have all come and gone, keeping up with website names, managers, event names, developer portal names etc… has been a real challenge.For many I’m sure the whole Nokia, Navteq, and now Microsoft (Bing) relationship has been tough to figure out and see the big picture – this fault has to be placed on Nokia in my mind. HEck, the mapping and location services area is tough to figure out indeed but you have to really say that the whole Nokia scene in general is tough to put together. The constant flip-flop name changing of sites and resources, new operating systems, new partners, new marketing efforts.. it really is cluster! For NN4D this means some folks may be out of work it seems, however, hopefully some of them will have opportunities made available with Nokia. Check out the team HERE – you may be able to hire some of them if you act fast!
And so, moving forward, what does this mean for developers who are searching for resources that pertain to Navteq data? Well, I’d have to say you’ll need to hit up Navteq.com for info on that. Naturally you can also check out the official Nokia developer resource now known as Nokia Developer (was Forum Nokia) at http://www.developer.nokia.com. Naturally you can’t discount the Microsoft Bing map developer resources as well given Nokia’s relationship with Microsoft.
Note: at the time of penning this there is no sign of any official statement or blog post by either Nokia or Navteq on the matter. Note, if someone at Navteq or Nokia would like to contact me about this please ping me editor @ gisuser.com
See More information
http://www.nn4d.com
http://www.developer.nokia.com/
http://www.microsoft.com/maps/developers/web.aspx
http://mobile360.com/nokia-lays-off-entire-navteq-developer-network-staff-40506.html