Nokia on Monday announced it is buying U.S. based digital map supplier Navteq for $8.1 billion, but but its shares fell as analysts dubbed the deal “expensive”, the Wall Street Journal.
The acquisition would give the world’s top cellphone maker a stronghold in the navigation business. Navteq has been seen as a takeover target since TomTom, the world’s top maker of car navigation devices, offered 1.8 billion euros ($2.55 billion) in July for Navteq’s only big rival, Tele Atlas.
After completion of the transaction, NAVTEQ’s current map data business will continue to be operationally independent, but run under Nokia.
Earlier this year, Nokia bought German software firm Gate5 (above) last year, which uses map data from providers like Tele Atlas and Navteq.
In other news, Nokia’s new slider webtablet (above) was tested at the FCC recently, but isn’t due for at least a few weeks. No word on the rumored Mobile WiMAX connection.
Tablet Blog says, “Even without WiMAX confirmation in the tests, this device could still have a higher quality camera, sliding keyboard, USB Host functionality, more RAM, a faster CPU, a better graphics engine, Bluetooth headset/A2DP support, and other things on our wish lists”.
Nokia said it will use Intel’s WiMAX silicon, codenamed “Baxter Peak” in its forthcoming Nseries Internet Tablets. The Internet tablets will be among the very first WiMAX-enabled open Internet devices expected to ship in 2008. Intel’s Baxter Peak is based on the same chip found on Intel’s “Echo Peak” MiniCard module for laptops, but is optimized for small form factors and low power consumption. It also includes MIMO antenna support for better reception and faster throughput.
Directions Magazine, GPS World, LBS Zone and Wireless DevNet have more.
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