US software giant Microsoft has bought British online mapping specialty firm Multimap.
The purchase comes as Microsoft strives to break the stride of rival Google, which recently upgraded its mapping service to automatically locate people using mobile devices to get online.
Microsoft billed Multimap as one of the world's leading online mapping services and said its technology would complement the US firm's Virtual Earth, Live Search, Windows Live and MSN features.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Multimap is to operate as a subsidiary of Microsoft.
