The Venue Maps service displays interior and exterior maps as a layer on top of Bing Maps, complete with store names and precise location data. Venue map data is provided from the Nokia Maps application as well as via Bing searches for public information such as maps which a mall may place on its website.
120 malls across Hyderabad, Delhi/ NCR, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Chennai, Kolkata, and other India cities can now be navigated via Bing Venue Maps.
Several extra features have also been added to Bing Search on Windows phones - consumers searching for local destinations on their Windows phones will automatically be provided with directions on how to reach that destination, with an option for audio drive directions.
Nokia's Here maps - one of the divisions of the company that Microsoft did not buy - had earlier launched indoor maps of its own in June last year. Nokia launched its venue mapping facility in India for over 20 cities that included Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore, among others. The Here Venue services were reportedly available only on the Nokia Lumia and Asha range of smartphones, at the time of launch.
In March this year, Google introduced Indoor Maps for malls in India. Google's Indoor Maps include venues such as Ambience Mall in Gurgaon and Select City Walk in Delhi. At the time of the launch, Google stated that it had worked with 75 partners, across 22 cities to launch indoor maps in India and it will be adding more locations.
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