Nokia’s map data coming to Bing Maps, along with branding

Nokia’s CEO Stephen Elop appears to have indicated that the integration of Nokia’s map data with Bing Maps is due.

"Part of the relationship we established with Microsoft is that we are clearly placing a bet on the Windows Phone platform. [In return] they are placing a bet on our location-based platform: mapping, navigation and so forth," said Elop told Pocket-lint.

With the integration of Nokia’s mapping and navigation data with Bing will also come the Nokia branding.

"You’ll starting seeing the word ‘Nokia’ on a map that you get from Microsoft properties over a period of time," Elop explained to Pocket-lint in an interview at CES in Las Vegas. "Even if you are on a BlackBerry device, who recently said they were going to start using Bing Maps."

This will not just includes Blackberries and of course Windows Phones, but also the desktop.

"In the time ahead, what you will see is, across all the Microsoft properties including Bing maps, more and more work will be done by Nokia."

Elop noted that this reliance of Microsoft on Nokia’s location-based platform brought some balance back to the relationship, which at the moment leaves Nokia completely vulnerable to Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 development performance.

"We did that for important reasons as we had the better mapping assets so it made sense. But it also creates some balance in the relationship with Microsoft," he said.

What was however completely missing from the report was a date for the integration effort, but I suspect it will either happen with Tango or at the most Apollo, which makes it from 3-9 months away.

Thanks XB_Mod for the tip.