Nokia says it has partnered with Mercedes-Benz, on a trial basis, to develop smart maps for connected vehicles and eventually self-driving cars.
The mapping feature will be provided by Nokia's HERE, a cloud-based mapping and location services unit.
Nokia said in a press release this week that a smart map developed with Mercedes was based on the requirements of autonomous vehicles. The technology, featured at the Frankfurt auto show this week, measures the exact precision of lane width, road signs and traffic light locations, as well as other car network technology.
"Connectivity will allow cars to compute real time information on demand so that the vehicle can take over more aspects of driving ultimately creating an entirely new class of services," Nokia said in the release.
To demonstrate how Nokia and Mercedes will work together, the two companies built a 3D digital map of the route between Mannheim and Pforzheim in Germany, the same 62-mile trip Bertha Benz took driving the first Benz Patent-Motorwagen 125 years ago, Oskar Soedergren, a spokesman for Nokia, said in an e-mail.
Nokia did not say whether the deal would be limited to Europe or involve Mercedes vehicles elsewhere.
The press release said supplier Continental AG is one of the new customers implementing 3D content from HERE into its new infotainment platform.
HERE is one of Nokia's remaining businesses after Microsoft purchased the company's mobile phone unit last week.
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