IIT Kanpur Unveils Latlong Maps, 2x Better than Google Maps

Bengaluru-based startup Latlong recently released a geo-coding API. It is much more accurate than Google Maps API, it said on a blog post. IIT Kanpur’s National Geodesy Centre, through a benchmark study, has verified that Latlong’s API is 2x times better than Google’s.

Latlong’s API accuracy is also 35x better than that of Microsoft Bing API and almost 200x better than TomTom API, the study found. 

“A benchmarking exercise was carried out in this regard, using several thousand addresses. These addresses represent different possibilities across the country – residential and businesses; hospitals and schools; cities and villages; Tier 1 and Tier 4 cities; apartments and individual houses,” Puranika Narayana Bhatta, CEO at Latlong, said.

To make this possible, Latlong is relying on AI4Bharat’s API. AI4Bharat is an initiative of IIT Madras, which focuses on building open-source datasets and AI models for Indic Languages. 

Another Indian startup competing with Google in this space is MapMyIndia. The company offers a whole API stack, IOT devices, and a map app, among other services. In terms of verticals, MapmyIndia addresses four key markets—direct consumers, automotive, mobile Internet, and enterprises and government.

“We have been working on Realview since February 2021 and have also developed a 3D Metaverse map, which even Google doesn’t have,” said Rohan Verma, CEO, MapMyIndia said in an earlier interaction with AIM.

Read more: How MapMyIndia Builds Its Maps—and What It Means for the Future