Google Nov. 23 made its Google Maps Navigation feature for Google Maps available for smartphones running the Android 1.6 operating system build and higher. This means users of the T-Mobile myTouch 3G and inaugural but clunky G1 can enjoy turn-by-turn voice directions. This release includes Google's new Layers feature, which lets users overlay geographical information, such as transit lines, Wikipedia articles about places, and more on the map. However, users cannot use the "navigate to" voice command.
The free Google Maps Navigation feature for Google Maps is
now available for smartphones running the Android 1.6 operating system build and
higher, the search engine said Nov. 23.
Google Maps Navigation is a Web-based GPS navigation
system that provides turn-by-turn voice directions and automatic rerouting for
U.S. users. Users can speak or type their destination and receive directions
along with fresh map, business, and traffic data, as well as satellite and
Street View imagery along their route.
When Google launched this feature to beta Oct. 28, it
shocked the GPS world for being a disruption to existing GPS devices from
TomTom and Garmin and annoyed Android phone users because it was initially
launched to smartphones created with Android 2.0.
Resource Library:
Verizon Wireless later that day announced it would begin
selling the Android 2.0-based Motorola Droid for $199 and touted Google Maps Navigation as differentiator
from Apple's iPhone and other rival smartphones. See screenshots of Google Maps
Navigation in action here.
Still, users of the first to U.S.-launched Android devices
-- the T-Mobile myTouch 3G and inaugural but clunky G1 gadget -- were peeved
because the feature wasn't available to them. Now it is, with some things added
and some things missing from Google Maps Navigation launched for 2.0 devices.
This release includes Google's new Layers feature, which
lets users overlay geographical information, such as transit lines, Wikipedia
articles about places, and more on the map. However, users cannot use the
"navigate to" voice command. Google Product
Manager Michael Siliski
added:
"You can still create a shortcut that will allow you to
launch Navigation and start getting directions to a specific place from your
current location with just a single touch from your home screen. For example,
you can create a "Home" shortcut to quickly navigate home, no matter
where you are. Just use the "Add" menu item from the home screen,
then choose "Shortcuts", then "Directions."
Users who have a phone running Android 1.6 can download
an updated version of Google Maps from Android Market to use the GPS feature. Read
more about the liberation of this feature for Android 1.6 devices on TechMeme
here.
The Android operating system has entered a period of
highs and lows. The Motorola Droid was rumored to have sold some 250,000 units when it launched earlier this month.
That success comes against the backdrop of rumors of an integrated
Google phone based on Android and concerns that the development platform is fragmenting
from too many devices and custom software builds.
Meanwhile, AdMob, the mobile display ad company Google is
buying for $750 million, said Android is doing well.
The Motorola Droid through
Nov. 18 represented 24 percent of the traffic in AdMob's Android network, with the
Android-based Motorola Cliq generating 6 percent of Android requests. The HTC
Dream led with 36 percent of the traffic.
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