The Redmond will stop collecting its own map data

Jun 29, 2015 21:50 GMT  ·  By

Uber, the US-based company that started back in 2009 and turned out to be one of the most revolutionary transportation services, has just acquired a part of Microsoft's Bing services.

Although an official announcement has yet to be provided, both companies confirmed to ReCode that an agreement has been inked.

“Over the past year, we have taken many actions to focus the company’s efforts around our core business strategy. In keeping with these efforts, we will no longer collect mapping imagery ourselves, and instead will continue to partner with premium content and imagery providers for underlying data while concentrating our resources on the core user experience.

“With this decision, we will transfer many of our imagery acquisition operations to Uber,” said Microsoft in a short statement to ReCode.

Uber was also keen to offer a short statement confirming the deal and its commitment to offer its own mapping service at some point:

“Mapping is at the heart of what makes Uber great. So we’ll continue to work with partners, as well as invest in our own technology, to build the best possible experience for riders and drivers.”

Uber is pushing for its own mapping service

As part of the move Uber is expected to absorb 100 Microsoft engineers, and will take over other assets like camera and data centers, but also some licenses to Microsoft intellectual property that has yet to be disclosed.

Microsoft also announced that it would stop collecting its own map data but would continue to offer map services through third-party partners, such as Nokia (HERE maps).

The announcement shouldn't be surprising since Uber is pushing hard to bring its own mapping service on the market, which is supposed to compete with Google Maps. Microsoft's Bing assets will greatly help Uber in its endeavor.

Uber is also said to be interested in acquiring Nokia's HERE maps business, or at least a big chunk of it. The bidding for the service has yet to be come to an end though.