Locate This! The Battle for App-specific Maps
In early August, a consortium of the largest German automakers including Audi, BMW, and Daimler (Mercedes) purchased Nokia’s Here mapping unit, the largest competitor to Google Maps, for \$3 billion.
It is no longer easy to get lost. Quite the opposite, we expect and rely on maps for our most common Internet tasks from basic directions to on-demand transportation, discovering a new restaurant or finding a new friend.
And the battle is on between the biggest public and private companies in the world to shore up mapping data and geo-savvy engineering talent. From there, the race continues to deliver the best mapping apps.
Recently a story on the talent war among unicorn private companies noted
Amid a general scramble for talent, Google, the Internet search company, has undergone specific raids from unicorns for engineers who specialize in crucial technologies like mapping.
Wrapping our planet in mobile devices gave birth to a new geographic landscape, one where location meets commerce and maps play a critical role. In addition to automakers like the German consortium having a stake in owning and controlling mapping data and driver user experiences, the largest private companies like Uber and Airbnb depend on maps as an integral part of their applications.
That is part of the reason purveyors of custom maps like Mapbox have emerged to handle mapping applications for companies like Foursquare, Pinterest, and Mapquest. Mapbox raised \$52.6 million earlier this summer to continue its quest.
Mapbox and many others in the industry have benefitted from the data provided by Open Street Maps, a collection of mapping data free to use under an open license. Of course some of the largest technology companies in the world besides Google maintain their own mapping units including Microsoft (Bing Maps) and Apple Maps.
Investment in the Internet of Things combined with mobile device proliferation are creating a perfect storm of geolocation information to be captured and put to use. Much of this will require a analytics infrastructure with geospatial intelligence to realize its value.
In a post titled, Add Location to Your Analytics, Gartner notes
The Internet of Things (IoT) and digital business will produce an unprecedented amount of location-referenced data, particularly as 25 billion devices become connected by 2020, according to Gartner estimates.
and more specifically
Dynamic use cases require a significantly different technology that is able to handle the spatial processing and analytics in (near) real time.
Of course geospatial solutions have been around for some time, and database providers often partner with the largest private geospatial company, Esri, to bring them to market. In particular, companies developing in-memory databases like SAP and SingleStore have showcased work with Esri. By combing the best in geospatial functions with real-time, in-memory performance, application makers can deliver app-specific maps with unprecedented level of consumer interaction.
Google’s balloons and Facebook’s solar powered drones may soon eliminate the dead zones from our planet, perhaps removing the word “lost” from our vocabulary entirely. Similarly, improvements in interior mapping technology guarantee location specific details down to meters. As we head to this near-certain future, maps, and the rich, contextual information they provide, appear to be a secret weapon to delivering breakout application experiences.
Download SingleStore today to try a real-time database with native geospatial intelligence at: singlestore.com/free.
SingleStore Cited As a Strong Performer by Independent Research Firm
As adoption of in-memory databases grows at a faster and faster pace, IT leaders turn to research firms to find valuable use cases and guidance for purchasing options. We are thrilled to share that SingleStore was among the select companies that Forrester Research invited to participate in its 2015 Forrester Wave™ evaluation. In this evaluation, SingleStore was cited as a strong performer for in-memory database platforms. The report, The Forrester Wave™: In-Memory Database Platforms, Q3 2015, evaluates in-memory databases across three categories: current offering, strategy and market presence.
SingleStore received some of its highest scores in the subcategories of scale-out architecture, performance and scale, and product road map. Much of our company’s recent growth and success can be attributed to our strong leadership team and constant iteration from engineering on the product, as we work closely with our customers to solve their big data and analytics challenges.
Authors of the Forrester Wave™ write, “today’s in-memory database platforms are changing the way we build and deliver systems of engagement and are transforming the practice of analytics, predictive modeling, and business transaction management.” At SingleStore, we have championed in-memory computing since day one. When Eric Frenkiel and Nikita Shamgunov left Facebook to start SingleStore, they knew that a real-time, in-memory approach to data processing and analytics was the answer to closing gaps for enterprises using big data. The major benefit of in-memory platforms is the great performance they provide when working with massive volumes of data. We believe the Forrester Wave™ report validates this approach, stating that “the in-memory database market is new but growing fast as more enterprise architecture professionals see in-memory as a way to address their top data management challenges.”
There’s another reason why in-memory technology is going to become even more critical in the next several years: predictive applications. Consumers desire personalization from every single application they use across numerous devices. Data is at the crux of predictive analytics, which transcends “context-aware” technology by enabling seamless interaction between customer and app. Companies need instantaneous access to hot data to power these kinds of seamless interactions.
Many of our customers are in the throes of building predictive applications, and we get to provide fast, scalable infrastructure to support them. Overall, we are very excited that SingleStore has been recognized by Forrester as a strong performer. The Forrester Wave™ concludes its section on SingleStore with the following line: “customers that are building new transactional and analytical applications that need extreme performance and low-latency access and want a single database platform should look at SingleStore.” We agree.
SingleStore Establishes Commitment to Latin American Market with LATBC Strategic Partnership
The following press release has been issued by SingleStore today – Wednesday, July 22nd, 2020 – to announce the strategic partnership…
