Etak Inc, a Menlo Park, California-based division of News Corp, has a new agreement under which German motor components and in-car systems specialist Robert Bosch GmbH will use Etak’s proprietary digital mapping technology to complete and maintain a database of the European road network. As a result of the agreement, Bosch will build a mapping operation similar to Etak’s Menlo Park facility, which is claimed to be the world’s largest digital-map production operation. Etak says that the two facilities will remain compatible, as future technological advances made by Etak will be furnished to Bosch, and vice versa. Bosch will have rights to the Western European map databases for vehicular and traffic-related uses, while Etak will retain rights for other non-vehicular applications. Etak says that it intends to form an operating unit that will market the road map databases and business directories in Europe, and Bosch has incorporated Etak’s navigation technology and map databases into the Travelpilot, a compact disk-based in-vehicle system sold both in Europe and the US.
