Smartphone maker and electronics giant Huawei has just confirmed that it is working on its own mapping service. The Chinese company stated that it wants to reduce its reliance on Google services. This development comes months after the United States placed the company on a trade blacklist. The smartphone maker is currently banned from using any US technology “without a special approval”. As an extension to the ban, the company is also not able to use the Google Maps app on its smartphones across the world.
Huawei mapping service details
According to a report by GSMArena, the company is working on its mapping service “Map Kit”. The interesting thing to note here is that this is not really a proper traditional map. The report also clarifies that this service is not meant for a regular user like you or me. Instead, Map Kit really works as an API meant for third-party developers. Third-party developers can use “Map Kit” API to use the navigation software. The report noted that this API can collect mapping data from about 150 countries across the planet.
Map Kit works along with Huawei telecommunications hardware or Huawei telecom base stations across the 150 countries for the data. Huawei CEO Richard Yu revealed that Map Kit comes with support for some really advanced features. These features include car lane changing, AR-based directions, mapping information, and real-time traffic data. The report also revealed that Map Kit will be available in 40 languages at launch. It also noted that Russia-based ISP and mapping company Yandex has teamed up with Huawei for Map Kit.
It is also interesting to note that United States-based Booking Holdings has also expressed interesting in Map Kit service. The company will share more details about the mapping service in October. Map Kit will take on the likes of Google Maps, Apple Maps, HERE Maps and more at launch.
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