Google Redefines GPS Navigation Landscape

If you weren’t sure about switching to an Android phone in the near future, this might put you over the edge. Google Maps Navigation is an absolutely killer app. And it is only available for Android 2.0 phones.

Today is Droid day, and for the most part Google (GOOG) is taking a backseat and letting their partners get most of the attention. But Droid is the first Android phone to run Android 2.0, and Google Maps Navigation is clearly the early trophy app for those devices.

Google Maps already has 50 million active users across various mobile phones, says Google. But what users have today isn’t even close to the new Navigation product.

First off, it’s connected, which puts it ahead of all but a tiny percentage of in-car navigation systems which have no Internet connectivity (Dash is a notable exception).

The application is also completely free. So all those paid navigation apps (Navigon, TomTom (TMOAF.PK), CoPilot, MapQuest, GoKivo and Sygic Mobile) are at an immediate disadvantage.

But even if Google charged for this app, it would still win hands down. The features include easy search (no need for address), voice search, traffic information (from data sources and crowd sourced from app), and street view close up pictures when you get near your destination. And the car dock mode gives bigger, simpler icons and auto-voice mode (see video):

Search in plain English. No need to know the address. You can type a business name (e.g. “starbucks”) or even a kind of a business (e.g. “thai restaurant”), just like you would on Google.

Search by voice. Speak your destination instead of typing (English only): “Navigate to the de Young Museum in San Francisco”.

Traffic view. An on-screen indicator glows green, yellow, or red based on the current traffic conditions along your route. A single touch on the indicator toggles a traffic view that shows the traffic ahead.

Search along route. Search for any kind of business along your route, or turn on popular layers such as gas stations, restaurants, or parking.

Satellite view. View your route overlaid on 3D satellite views with Google’s high-resolution aerial imagery.

Street View. Visualize turns overlaid on Google’s Street View imagery. Navigation automatically switches to Street View as you approach your destination.

Car dock mode. For certain devices, placing your phone in a car dock activates a special mode that makes it easy to use your device at arm’s length.

Here’s Navigation in the Droid dock, followed by an image gallery for the app:

Video Demo Of Google Maps Navigation

Screenshot Gallery Of Google Maps Navigation

Original post

Comments

[Yagottabe K...:]

> ...And it is only available for Android 2.0 phones...

Is that right?

Oct 28 10:32 AM

[GTM:]

i

Oct 28 11:44 AM

[GTM:]

marketing blather that the writer bought. My Windows Mobile phone has had a free copy of Google Maps for at least two years that performs most of the same functions. There are multiple apps providers out there both free and paid that offer the same functionality for a wide variety of phones

Oct 28 11:47 AM

[Mad Hedge F...:]

lkj When people ask me what is the one stock they should put in their kid’s college fund and forget about, I always give them the same company: Google (GOOG). The toll taker for the Internet that controls 70% of the global market for search just announced record Q3 profits of $1.6 billion on a revenue rise from $4 billion to $4.4 billion. In this economic environment these numbers are nothing less than astounding, making GOOG one of the few US firms that has actual top line growth. Google earnings, in fact, have turned into a valuable leading economic indicator by telling us that the strong ad growth came in the retail, travel, and the automotive sectors. This bang up performance is further proof that the irresistible tectonic shift away from old line media like newspapers, radio, and TV, to online, is accelerating, offering advertisers far and away the highest return on investment. Google is fast becoming the operating system for all advertising. While critics focus on the myriad ways the company recklessly burns money on peripheral businesses like Google TV, YouTube, forays into print media, and their private space program, I see gigantic growth opportunities that will prevent the company from becoming another Microsoft (MSFT). Mobile search grew 30% QOQ as the growing legion of sophisticated portable devices are increasingly used for search. Also, click rates cratered in the great recession, the price of “investment advisor” for example plunging from $4 to pennies. A recovery could bring an equally ferocious rebound in rates that fall straight to GOOG’s bottom line. Most analysts are now targeting the high $600s for the stock price, which I believe will prove conservative. If you are ever worried about America’s future, then just look at these two kids, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who built a $400 billion company out of their dorm room at Stanford in virtually no time, with no capital. Just ignore the office foosball table, volley ball court, and at-desk massage service.

Oct 28 12:13 PM

[milos621:]

Try using it in Europe with roaming and very expensive data transfer costs. Nokia maps has all maps stored on the device, so you wont go broke when going to vacation in Spain or Greece.

Oct 28 12:47 PM

[billddrummer:]

Let's hope the search engine is better than Google Maps. I used it today for some property research, and not only did the program put the building in the wrong location (fully a city block north of where it actually sits), but the direction function didn't capture an access road built 18 months ago, that cuts 10 minutes from the directions to the property.

Since 40% of my job is property research, I expect flawless performance. I was frankly surprised at the errors from Google Maps, which I use consistently because of its (perceived) accuracy.

Perhaps I need to look for another mapping function.

Oct 29 01:56 AM

[BulSprig:]

I'm wondering, can htc hero droid be upgraded to Android 2. Have the hero on 30 day eval for a week now. Anyone know by chance?

Oct 29 07:53 AM

[Davis Gentry:]

Actually, Google Maps, combined with Google Mobile gives every one of the capabilities except for street view on my Blackberry. The voice search is not quite as convenient for use while driving as this appears to be, but it is more than capable.

Davis Gentry

Oct 29 08:10 AM

[bmesco1:]

Great. So what happens when you get a phone call? Answer? You get lost. Having a GPS phone is only good when you roll over your car and emergency vehicles need to find you. If this is so great, they need a separate device that stays in your car.

Oct 29 08:43 AM

[bmesco1:]

I want my GPS device anchored to my car so I know where to glance at it. I don't want it next to my ear.

Oct 29 09:48 AM

[css1971:]

Ovi Maps (free, and previously called Nokia Maps) has been available on and for Nokia phones for a couple of years now.

V3 just released. You can even install the maps from your PC, so if you hit an area with crap reception... i.e. You're in the middle of nowhere... Ovi Maps still works... Google maps... well... No reception, no idea where you are and... well... oops. Minor flaw there.

Then there's the bandwidth costs of downloading megabytes of maps if you're not on flat rate.

Oct 29 03:10 PM

[PeterB:]

I don't want your phone next to your ear at all when you are driving! In many states it would be illegal anyway. Get a mounting thingy so it is in a convenient consistent place for both functions.


On Oct 29 09:48 AM bmesco1 wrote:

> I want my GPS device anchored to my car so I know where to glance
> at it. I don't want it next to my ear.

Oct 30 06:10 PM