Nokia's deal to give Oracle users access to its mapping and location services puts a cap on what I can only call Maps Month. Apple, Google, Microsoft and now Nokia are all demonstrating their commitment to helping us find our way around. The partnership was announced October 1  at OracleWorld in San Francisco. The value of the deal wasn't disclosed. Oracle has already built a link between its Fusion Middleware MapViewer and Nokia's Location Platform. Oracle clients should soon see results as their applications take advantage of Nokia's expertise.

Why Nokia?

"Few data providers have the ability to provide both map data for analytics and integrated platform services for the creation of mapping applications in one solution,"  said Jim Steiner, vice president for Product Management at Oracle Server Technologies. Nokia, he noted, is the only provider of map data and online mapping that are integrated into Oracle's products. Nokia is on a tear, having recently signed contracts with BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen and Hyunda to provide Navteq mapping data to their cars. Navigation app and gear maker Garmin will soon use Nokia data to create a new feature in its Navigon app, and strategic partner Microsoft will ship Windows Phone 8 with Nokia Drive as a pre-installed app. The deal looks like a win-win for both companies. Nokia is making strides to catch up to Google Maps, and by increasing competition in the space it will force everyone to improve their services. Will the next tech war be between Google Maps, Nokia Maps, Bing Maps and Apple Maps? We'll have to see which direction the competition takes.