Companies that operate the cell phone networks like Verizon and Cingular are offering mapping services, too.
Microsoft also declared it's making strides in so-called engagement mapping services to help advertisers gain greater insights into consumers' buying decisions online.
Much still needs to be improved or invented, Gates reminded his listeners, including better mapping services, data synchronization and directories of friends.
In a ruling Tuesday, the Paris court upheld an unfair competition complaint lodged by Bottin Cartographes against Google France and its parent company Google Inc. for providing free web mapping services to some businesses.
Microsoft said its mapping services provide other measurement points about online sales such as the amount of space the ad takes up on a Web page and how many times a user sees an ad.
Microsoft has a long history of delivering platforms and services to the automotive market, including in-car infotainment systems built on the Windows Embedded Automotive platform, in-car mapping services with Bing and the Microsoft Tellme voice application, and many other consumer solutions.
ENGADGET: Microsoft and Toyota to partner on smarter charging systems for EVs (update: yes)
And (speaking of real estate) which sort of ad is more likely to sell a house nowadays: the newspaper's truncated description with a single, low-resolution thumbnail, or a virtual tour with live mapping services and geographical and geopolitical information with feature comparisons to other properties available?
Acknowledging the point, Nokia's chief executive, Stephen Elop, has stressed that mapping services such as its City Lens app - which overlays information about nearby points of interest, shops and restaurants over a view captured by a phone's camera - will remain exclusive to its own devices.
BBC: Nokia to offer free maps app and service for rival handsets
There were numerous smaller grants announced in both the disease mapping and social services initiatives, but no investments yet in small businesses or electric vehicles.
The success of Android helps Google to ensure that its search engine its most important source of revenue as well as mapping and other services, are preloaded on mobile devices, through which consumers are spending more time online.
"Verizon Wireless continues to add more to VZ Navigator, and VZ Navigator VX now gives our customers some of the most advanced mapping and navigation services available today, " said Kristi Crum, director, Consumer Solutions for Verizon Wireless.
ENGADGET: VZ Navigator Version X breaks cover, adds 'virtual city' maps, social features, and more
After acquiring Gate5 last year, Nokia decided that adding navigation capabilities was "a natural move, " and its forthcoming Smart2Go system will offer up free mapping and routing services and a fee-based turn-by-turn option if you've just got to have that robotic helper bossing you around (or can't take your eyes off the road).
Founded in Israel in 2008, Waze is one of the few services with detailed mapping information, making it a target for takeover speculation.
Google, for its part, is putting out new features in Android that will make it stronger in location services, including mapping, 3D, and local advertising.
Along with ongoing search enhancements, we deployed important new mobile, mapping, and cloud-based services that enhance the relevance of Yandex for users and advertisers across our markets.
Along with enhancements to Nokia Transit, the Nokia location suite of services represents the most comprehensive, integrated mapping experience of any smartphone.
It foresaw the advantage of excellent mapping technology to sell location based advertising and other services beyong directions to the user.
FORBES: Judging From Apple's Apology, Maps Matter and Nokia Has Maps That Work
Along with enhancements to Nokia Drive and Nokia Transport, the Nokia location suite of services represents the most comprehensive, integrated mapping experience of any smartphone.
ENGADGET: Nokia Lumia 920 and 820 land stateside on AT&T's 4G LTE network this November
Along with enhancements to Nokia Drive and Nokia Transit, the Nokia location suite of services represents the most comprehensive, integrated mapping experience of any smartphone.
ENGADGET: Nokia Lumia 920 to be a Rogers exclusive in Canada, we wonder if red is an option
But what Steve Jobs failed to mention that many location-based services used by apps like Foursquare, Gowalla and Yelp require a mapping service to show location.
Google has been accused in both Europe and the United States of using its dominant position in search to unfairly promote its own products and services -- from travel and shopping comparison engines to advertising and mapping.
For much of this year, the commission's reason for blocking the iPhone was that its built-in mapping capabilities violate a South Korean rule requiring the use of domestic technology for location-based services in cellphones.
应用推荐