15 Facts About Etak

Etak, Inc was an independent US-based vendor of automotive navigation system equipment, digital maps, and mapping software.

Etak finally ceased to exist under the name "Etak" shortly after its acquisition by Tele Atlas in 2000.

Etak's Navigator was the first commercially available automotive navigation system of any practical significance.

Etak initially delivered the hardware system, the maps and dynamic content for its automotive navigation system.

Early Etak product literature claimed that "Etak" was an ancient Polynesian term that described navigating intuitively by the stars.

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Original Etak Navigator was a specially-packaged Intel 8088-based system with 256K RAM, 32K EPROM, 2K SRAM, and a cassette tape drive on which digital maps and some of the operating system were stored.

However, Etak did not have the financial resources for mass production of improved models of the Navigator.

In 1985, Etak had entered into an exclusive agreement with General Motors, under which they would have to continue paying Etak a certain minimum amount regardless of whether GM's Delco Electronics division fielded a car navigation product.

Etak licensed its car navigation technology to other companies, notably Clarion in Japan, Bosch in Germany, as with Delco earlier.

Etak continued to provide engineering support for the productization efforts of its licensees, and continued to develop and support vertical market fleet vehicle applications that used both the original Navigator and the TravelPilot as in-vehicle platforms.

Murdoch had been persuaded that digital maps would be a major advertising medium, and Etak was arguably the leader in mapping the markets of major nations.

Etak was involved in many web and mobile initiatives during the dotcom boom, and partnered in the release of the first consumer internet-enabled Location-Based mobile applications.

Etak was acquired in 1989 by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.

In May 2000, Etak, Inc was acquired from Sony Corporation by Tele Atlas and became Tele Atlas North America.

Etak, Inc ceased to exist as a separate company soon after.