Tele Atlas, a Belgian company that develops digital maps, announced that it stroke a deal with Google in order to enhance the Mountain View company's navigation and mapping applications. The new deal was signed for no less than five years and will positively affect Google Maps for Mobile, Google Maps for Desktop, Google Earth, as well as other applications.

Following the agreement, Google will have access to the maps and dynamic content of Tele Atlas for over 200 countries across the world. This will allow Google to improve the above-mentioned applications. And, since we're mainly interested in cell phones, we hope Google Maps Mobile will be even more helpful than it is now.

The Google - Tele Atlas collaboration will also give the Belgian company the chance to improve its own services and maps, as it will have access to the Google community, which can suggest beneficial changes for the Tele Atlas maps.

Talking about the new agreement with Google, Bill Henry, Chief Executive Officer of Tele Atlas, said, "Google's innovation and leadership is undisputed, and we are proud to have the opportunity to be the map foundation for one of the world's most progressive web companies. (...) This agreement is important too because it gives us access to input from a significant online community of map users, whose feedback can help us keep our maps fresh and accurate".

John Hanke, director of Google Earth and Google Maps, completed, "Geospatial data enhances global search significantly by organizing data and delivering results based on location. Tele Atlas' map quality and the company's innovative approach to business were the key drivers for our decision".

Introduced back in 2006, Google Maps Mobile is a free application that provides maps, directions or business listings directly on your handset, regardless of its GPS capabilities (hence, you can use Google Maps even on a device without GPS).