Nokia acquires geo firm MetaCarta

Mobile manufacturer Nokia has purchased geographic intelligence group MetaCarta, in an attempt to improve the company’s location-based services.

The company, which employs about 30 people, is privately held and few details have been released regarding the sale. A short statement was released saying that “MetaCarta’s technology will be used in the area of local search in location and other services”.

MetaCarta produces software designed to take documents from a database and put them on a type of online map, such as Microsoft Virtual Earth or Google Maps.

The move comes as Nokia is attempting to put more emphasis on its location-based services. Its last acquisition of this nature was the move to buy Navteq in 2007.