Google today announced a major new service, Google Maps Navigation, that will provide a free GPS navigation system with turn by turn voice instructions. Initially the Google Maps Navigation service will only be available for Google Android (2.0) phones, but I’m sure that iPhone and other smartphone support is on the way – there are just too many handsets for Google to ignore.
The video below best shows how amazing Google Maps Navigation is and out of the box it is much better than the poor, expensive services offered by TomTom, Garmin etc. In fact, shares in TomTom and Garmin have already fallen 18% and 13% in early trading. Personally I think TomTom have only themselves to blame; for years they have produced expensive devices that just about work that are not easy to use, and Google have now built a service from the ground up asking ‘how do customers want to use GPS services?’ TomTom devices are incredibly slow and produce poor routes (based on how the crow flies rather than taking into account real road speed data or driving preferences), and they are going to have to step up their game big time now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGXK4jKN_jY
Key Features of Google Maps Navigation:
- Search in plain English: No need to know the address. You can type a business name or even a kind of a business, 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 toggles a traffic view which shows the traffic ahead of you.
- 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.
It’s good to see Google come up with a new service that utilises all the data they’ve been collecting on their servers over the last 15 years or so. What market do you think Google will move into next?
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