Nokia's HERE business today announced partnerships with the Mercedes-Benz division of Daimler, Continental Corporation, and Magneti Marelli, around the HERE Connected Driving framework. HERE and its partners will be building "connected products and services that go beyond navigation to meet their differing needs".

The most intriguing partnership of the is with Mercedes-Benz. The two companies are teaming up to develop smart maps for connected cars "and ultimately self-driving cars". Autonomous cars are some way away from hitting the show rooms, but it is clear accurate digital maps will be a key ingredient in making them a reality.

From the Nokia press release:

HERE has teamed up with Mercedes-Benz to jointly develop smart maps for connected cars and ultimately, self-driving cars. HERE and Mercedes built a 3D digital map of the route that the first Benz Patent-Motorwagen took 125 years ago from Mannheim to Pforzheim, Germany. Based on the particular requirements of autonomous vehicles, this map includes precise road data that go beyond traditional maps, including the number and direction of lanes, traffic signs along the route and even exact coordinates of traffic lights.

The partnerships with Continental Corporation and Magneti Marelli relate, in part, to the HERE Auto platform that was announced at the end of the August. HERE Auto provides a set of tools, solutions, and services on which to build connected car products. Both Continental Corporation and Magneti Marelli are only using a portion of the full HERE Auto offering, but the partnership offer an encouraging sign that HERE will be able to find customers for what might be regarded additive to its core product offerings.

Magneti Marelli is working with HERE to create a solution that can be integrated by car manufacturers. It will use content from the HERE Auto Cloud, such as real-time traffic information, parking and fuel prices as well as information on local places, to enable a more sophisticated in car navigation solution.

Continental Corporation is using HERE solutions in its new infotainment platform. The platform will include features such as 3D landmarks, satellite imagery, and current traffic information (HERE Auto Cloud). It will also be able to sync navigation destinations and route preferences between cars, smartphones (including Windows Phone), tablets and PCs (HERE Auto Companion).

Michael Halbherr, Head of HERE and EVP at Nokia, said:

"We believe that the evolution towards a connected car future will happen in different phases. Autonomous driving is just one fascinating aspect. Every car OEM, system integrator and every driver will require their own unique solution and technology will never be able to replace human understanding. That is why we have created our Connected Driving solutions with fresh maps at their core."

The partnerships announced today are a good example of the kind of business that Nokia's HERE division has been carrying out, largely unheralded, for years. However, with the news that Microsoft is set to acquire Nokia's Devices & Services business, focuses more attention on HERE's non-smartphone related activities, which actually make up the majority of its endeavours.

HERE, ever since the acquisition of Navteq, has been about building a horizontal mapping and location platform, one that is quite deliberately device and company agnostic. That is somewhat at odds with a public perception that has generally focused on the HERE branded apps running on Nokia's smartphones and featurephones.