This video demonstrating Google Maps Navigation, the free Android 2.0 app from Google. It is clear that the days of the PND are numbered. On his blog, Alex Chitu points out a likely explanation for the recent release of this product: “In the past, this wasn’t possible [to offer turn by turn naviagtion] because of the licensing fees that had to be paid for each user of the navigation system. Now that Google no longer uses data from TeleAtlas in the US, turn-by-turn navigation can be added for free.”
Some features highlighted by TechCrunch:
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 are Garmin and TomTom stock values on the day:
This is great news! Still i’d put my money on TomTom though
Comment by Martijn Beijk (59 comments) — October 28, 2009 @ 11:00 am
@Martijn
Because of where you were born?
Comment by Mike (2421 comments) — October 28, 2009 @ 11:19 am
[...] Google Maps Navigation Demonstration: Why you won’t want to invest in TomTom [...]
Pingback by Barnhard Blog » Blog Archive » Google Maps Navigation: End of Tom Tom and Garmin? — October 28, 2009 @ 12:29 pm
@mike
haha no not really, But I believe there is a market for all of these devices. they might loose some market share but not everyone is waiting for Google pointing them in the wrong direction to a store that is at the wrong placemarker position because their business was open for edit
and to be a bit more serious they have some very cool business solutions which they should put a bit more focus on instead of the consumer market.
just to mention a few things.
Comment by Martijn Beijk (59 comments) — October 28, 2009 @ 12:58 pm
Yes, moving upstream is there hope. The low end of the consumer PND device will all move to iPhone and Android. The bulk of that will be free.
Comment by Mike (2421 comments) — October 28, 2009 @ 1:47 pm
I really like the fact the the google android platform is actually starting to do something. The still cant really be making much money after all of their advertisements.
Comment by Steve Sam Jones (8 comments) — October 28, 2009 @ 2:45 pm
[...] on Google Maps: Telephone validation not working properly in Canada?Steve Sam Jones (6 comments) on Google Maps Navigation Demonstration: Why you won’t want to invest in TomTomThai Brothers’ Sharing Blog » Blog Archive » Google Maps Navigation for Android on [...]
Pingback by Market Responds to Google Maps Navigation – Garmin & TomTom Off | Understanding Google Maps & Local Search — October 28, 2009 @ 5:50 pm
Interesting – makes me think twice about whether should get an iPhone when my contract is up in a month or look at an Android-powered phone. Do you think Google will be able to make this app available for iPhone?
On another related note, I just saw a commercial on TV tonight for a Garmin-powered cell phone (I don’t watch TV very often, so maybe this commercial has been around for a while, but I thought the timing was perfect).
Comment by Jim Gianoglio (43 comments) — October 28, 2009 @ 11:29 pm
[...] it may be a TeleAtlas killer, an iPhone killer it is not. Not just because of the hardware [...]
Pingback by Nexus One: The Second Coming but Not An iPhone Killer – Part 1 | Understanding Google Maps & Local Search — January 24, 2010 @ 11:17 am
[...] tough being TomTom. They are in an industry that is being cannibalized on the hardware side by low end devices and their very expensive purchase of TeleAtlas is being [...]
Pingback by TomTom – When is a Lifetime not a Lifetime? When it refers to TeleAtlas? | Understanding Google Maps & Local Search — May 28, 2010 @ 10:08 am