Tim Howell’s Weblog

Some forms of data are finally becoming a commodity, although it sometimes takes a while for the data to be made available in New Zealand. Now Google has made available street level maps of New Zealand which is useful for a couple of reasons: it further commoditises this form of data in this country, and the supporting APIs – and mashup hype overseas – now become applicable for New Zealand.

Zoomin, a Wellington-based mapping startup which has a local lead in this area, has responded in the only way they could, by saying this is a positive move for the industry. For the moment the Zoomin community is a differentiator, however it will really need to build on this, and form additional partnerships, to maintain its momentum. Things may even get more competitive within the next 12 months as it’s likely MSN will also compete in this area locally.