Mapshare - what is a trusted source? how many is "many"?

[dwalton22]

I just got a 720 and have been playing with the MapShare feature. It is hard to tell just how much use this feature is getting from the tomtom community...I know I downloaded corrections made via mapshare but I have no way of knowing what the corrections where or how many there were. I named an unnamed street and corrected some POIs so I'm trying to do my part

My questions are related to the corrections preferences for mapshare:
- what does tomtom considered a "trusted" source?
- how many users have to report a correction for it to be considered "reported by many"
- how many users have to report a correction for it to be considered "reported by some"

 

[Pedro2NR]

I believe TomTom has it's own department to check on the reported errors for validation.
This is a good question that I asked myself when I was playing with the display model at BestBuy.

 

[dwalton22]

We could run a little experiment where several people on this board make the same correction and note when the change is downloaded by others depending on their many/some setting. I added the following POI under Restaurant:

Krispy Kreme
549 N. Person Street
Raleigh, NC 27604
19198333682

 

[digital-flex]

Is there any official documentation for this? It doesn't look like its in the 720 manual. I'm also curious about this.

 

[dwalton22]

I emailed TomTom with the following questions:

1 - What does tomtom considered a "trusted" source? If I submit X number of map corrections that tomtom approves as valid can I eventually become a "trusted" source? If so what is X (how many correct corrections do I need to submit to become trusted)?

2 - What is the approval process for corrections that I upload. I corrected a bunch of POIs in my area, what happens to those once I've uploaded them? Does tomtom review them and then eventually they are available for others to download via "corrections approved by tomtom"? If so how long does that take (are we talking days or months)?

3 - how many users have to report a correction for it to be considered "reported by many"

4 - how many users have to report a correction for it to be considered "reported by some"

TomTom replied with:

1. A trusted source is a government agency responsible for the maintenance of the roads and streets being reported, or a Bona Fide map production company. This is independent of the number of corrections submitted.

2. Once corrections are uploaded, they are reviewed and verified by a 'Trusted Source" for accuracy, compiled, and added to a corrections file. When the verification process is complete, this file is made available for the updating of other mapshare users. Eventually, the corrections will be compiled into a full map upgrade available for purchase.

3 and 4. Neither of these questions are answerable by Support. These figures are only relevant to the producers of our maps. it is their decision.

The answers to 1 and 2 were helpful but we still don't know how many "some" or "many" are On a positive note, the Krispy Kreme POI that I added has been approved is being pushed out to other users via mapshare.

 

[Nextourer]

Well if it's out of TT's hands (i.e. it's up to the map supplier) then maybe we should ask TeleAtlas?

 

[digital-flex]

2. Once corrections are uploaded, they are reviewed and verified by a 'Trusted Source" for accuracy, compiled, and added to a corrections file. When the verification process is complete, this file is made available for the updating of other mapshare users. Eventually, the corrections will be compiled into a full map upgrade available for purchase.

I thought the corrections would be free to everyone and that we would have to pay a yearly fee? or is that what the tech support is talking about as oppose to the upgrade?

 

[Pedro2NR]

I agree with you DF.
That was what I didn't want to hear.
Looks like the POI corrections are correction done by users so TomTom could resell to other users.
I need to learn how to program so I can come up with my own free application...

 

[thebeaman]

In this movie the function of Mapshare on the TomTom GO 720 is explained: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU2iQX4vJ10

 

[dwalton22]

I thought the corrections would be free to everyone and that we would have to pay a yearly fee? or is that what the tech support is talking about as oppose to the upgrade?

My understanding is that:
- after a year you have to pay for MapShare
- mapshare only works for the current set of maps

So next year if a new map comes out we would need to buy that new set of maps and we would need to pay for a mapshare subscription. I wonder if we don't pay for mapshare can we still make corrections to our own maps? I would hope so...if that is the case then I could live with just making enough corrections on my own to avoid paying for a mapshare subscription and a new set of maps for several years.

 

[Buddharay]

In this movie the function of Mapshare on the TomTom GO 720 is explained: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU2iQX4vJ10

Haha... I saw this video on an Adrants blog. I like how they made it a little entertaining at the end using Map Share.

I've gotten a chance to look at the 720 but not play around with the Map Share feature. That video made it look very easy to make edits and even easier to upload them to TomTom Home.

 

[digital-flex]

My understanding is that:
- after a year you have to pay for MapShare
- mapshare only works for the current set of maps

So next year if a new map comes out we would need to buy that new set of maps and we would need to pay for a mapshare subscription. I wonder if we don't pay for mapshare can we still make corrections to our own maps? I would hope so...if that is the case then I could live with just making enough corrections on my own to avoid paying for a mapshare subscription and a new set of maps for several years.

So there double dipping us? Pay for an upgrade (in which users help make) and then pay for a subscription? I'm starting not to like this at all if thats the case.

I have read that there is some sort of limit to the amount of corrections you can do so. I don't know the amount of corrections but there is a limit so correcting your map for ever doesn't seem like an option.

 

[uocooper]

There surely must be a significant cost involved in keeping Map Share up and running. Programmers, bandwidth, IT staff, servers, Map Share staff to verify the updates. I can't imagine it's cheap.

Double dipping? I see no mention that you have to pay for a subscription in addition to the map update on their support page.

In order to continue receiving new map corrections you will be asked to purchase a new map version which already contains the corrections reported by you and other users previously, as well as the changes made by the map provider.

How many is some? My guess is that right now it's one person. The reason I say this is that I ran strings on the MapServerPatch.dat file which basically is a unix command that tries to pull out words from a binary file. After each map update the number of roads it finds gets longer and longer but some of them are not capitalized properly. Also most of them have abbreviations such as Dr., St., Blvd. etc. but some are fully spelled out. Once Map Share is made available to the rest of TomTom's older units it wouldn't surprise me if the number of reports required for Some is bumped up a bit.

Map Share has huge potential. Yesterday I ran across a blocked road that I reported. Just for kicks I checked the area using Navteq's site and they actually had three roads in a row on the block as being open when in fact they are each blocked. Navteq users are stuck with those errors until next year but with Map Share I was able to fix it myself immediately and it should be shared with other TomTom owners shortly. Is it perfect? Certainly not but it's only going to get better with time.