
Announcing Google Maps Navigation for Android 2.0 - mqt
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/announcing-google-maps-navigation-for.html
======
Poiesis
This strikes me as the first (user-centered) thing I've seen that is hands-
down better than the iPhone experience. Yes, Android has an open app
distribution policy, yes, there are multiple phones and carriers. But I
haven't heard anyone say "I have to have an Android phone because of this
killer app," and this seems like it could do that.

~~~
nuclear_eclipse
Locale is my killer app. I literally bought my G1 because I knew that it had
this app, and it was the first thing I found and downloaded when I got home
that night.

<http://www.twofortyfouram.com/>

~~~
ableal
Thanks, looks good, seems to be gratis (zero cost). Had to search for the
market page:

[http://www.androidforums.com/market/tools--
utilities-9/local...](http://www.androidforums.com/market/tools--
utilities-9/locale-10/)

(What's up with the bright idea of "need to view Android Market on a handset"
to see a list, in the main page <http://www.android.com/market/> ? Perhaps
also install iTunes, eh ;-)

P.S. Sorry, the first link is NOT the market page, and it's dated 2008. Can't
easily find current price ...

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pilif
The problem with Google's offering here is the fact that the navigation is an
online application. Roaming charges are excessive here, so the moment you
leave your home country, using an online navigation app becomes prohibitively
expensive.

Combine that with the fact that, especially here in little switzerland, the
only time you REALLY need a navigation tool is, of course, when you are
abroad.

Interesting and a nice addition (as it is free), but no replacement for the
traditional solutions.

~~~
nostrademons
It's much more useful in the U.S, where you can get cell coverage in most
major highways and cities, usually on your original cell carrier. And people
often need some sort of navigation app in an unfamiliar city - the U.S. is
_big_ , and many older cities don't have the most logical street plan.

Does the EU not have some sort of unified cell network? I'd think that'd hurt
their competitiveness a lot, if people can't take their cell phones with them
when traveling between countries for fear of huge roaming bills.

~~~
pilif
exactly. I totally see this being useful in the US. I was just pointing out a
counterpoint from Europes side.

And. No. The EU does not have a unified cell network. And as long as nobody
does it, nobody will start with it as these excessive roaming charges (EUR 10
per MB is common) are a really nice way to make additional money - especially
considering that people are moving around more and more.

~~~
borism
Well, that's our problem in EU - no unified Cell Network - operators milk
their intra-EU traveling customers however they want. There's some progress in
EU parliament/commision, but it is so slow it will take 50 years before we get
unified market. US has range of other problems with telco market though.

~~~
symesc
It won't be too long before the value of the ads placed in applications like
this will be able to subsidize the entire experience, globally.

Google is in the business of bringing their services TO you, this application
being one good example.

But like Google Voice and Voicemail, they are also finding ways to completely
reinvent industries without locking you in. You don't have to use Google
Voice, but boy it's valuable if you do.

I think at some point not to far from now, we're going to see Google Bandwidth
or Google Data, which will offer IP-based wireless services for free while
wiping out the concept of roaming.

Google makes money on ads through the usage of online services. The pricing
structures in the telcos is frequently designed to make usage
expensive/difficult.

Google's going to make it easier, again, by cutting the telcos out the
equation almost entirely. Their investments in dark fibre and the future
investments they'll make off the back of their ad business makes this quite a
linear equation as bandwidth becomes cheaper.

Google is going to become the most feared company in the world . . . feared by
business, not by users.

~~~
borism
That is nice and scary vision of the future.

But consider the remote possibility that depressing gray reality might set in
instead.

------
gourneau
Thanks Google. Using this app instead of Google Maps while driving is likely
increase my chances of living.

------
larrykubin
Looks like Garmin stock didn't take the news too well:

<http://www.google.com/finance?q=grmn>

~~~
jws
Nor Tom Tom:

<http://www.google.com/finance?q=TOM2.AS>

~~~
jkincaid
They just released their quarterly results, which say that average selling
price is going way down. So it's not just the Google announcement:
[http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=alkD...](http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=alkDjigFnRs0)

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rscott
My first reaction: "Well, I'm glad I don't work at a navigation software
company today."

Seems like a great product, would be fantastic if they port it to iPhone.

~~~
Poiesis
From an above comment: "But they said it was up to the makers of those devices
to decide whether to include the application."

I wonder what percentage of app store revenue is the navigation apps? They're
not insignificant. They'd be losing a chunk of change approving this.

I suppose they'll lose more chunks of change in "street cred" or something if
they don't have it and the Droid does.

~~~
netcan
I don't think they'd bother with that sort of math. Appple enjoy their slice
of the app pie, but I don't think they are dumb enough to get greedy about it.

------
jgilliam
When the product manager says he navigated to the museum and is standing in
front of it, he's actually on a green screen. You can see the difference in
the lighting on him vs. the background. Kinda amusing.

~~~
mhartl
I noticed the same thing.

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oomkiller
This seals the deal for me, I will be buying a Droid the day they come out.
Anyone want to buy a Blackberry Tour? :)

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fjabre
Google Maps GPS has been a dream for a long time. It's about time.. All my
friends are on ATT right now.. but it's going to be really hard for me to
avoid getting a Droid when it comes out. Anyone know if its chipset supports
GSM-based networks like ATT? If so - me thinks I'll be getting an unlocked
one.

~~~
eb
Droid is CDMA-only but at some point, AT&T will have their own Android 2.0
device.

------
dabeeeenster
Does anyone know if this needs a persistent network connection? I.e. you can't
download the maps in advance?

~~~
eb
I think always having a network connection is sort of the point of developing
this application for Android. Their address lookups are sent to Google's
servers and the guy in that demo video is constantly mentioning "the cloud." I
don't imagine this would work without a network connection since their
intention is not to develop a standalone GPS device.

~~~
dagw
If it doesn't work off-line then it is far less useful. The problem is not so
much that network connections are hard to come by, but that once you leave
your little corner of the world they become stupidly expensive. I dare not
think what the the bandwidth bill for using something like this for week
abroad would be.

~~~
eb
Google Maps Navigation is only available in the US.

I don't think it's really reasonable, at this point, to expect a GPS device to
work worldwide. Are they supposed to store the world's mapping data locally?
Google is still licensing their maps from Tele Atlas (TomTom) outside the US
so I don't think it's even possible for them to provide navigation in those
parts.

~~~
dagw
Storing all the worlds map data locally is unnecessary. All you need is to let
the user download the maps for the part of the world he intends to visit
before he leaves. If it's a licensing problem I'm sure it can be solved with
money. I'll happily pay a reasonable fee for each additional country/region.

~~~
eb
I don't think the licensing problem can be solved with money. TomTom owns the
mapping data and obviously wouldn't let Google provide a navigation app since
it would put them in direct competition with TomTom. That's why Google had to
create their own maps for the US.

The map downloading model you're describing already exists and there are
already plenty of other companies providing in-car GPS devices for that. I
don't think it's appropriate to implement that sort of thing in a smartphone
since the entire point is that it should always be connected.

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davidw
I wonder if this droid phone will work out of the box in Europe. I'm not
interested in some crappy scheme where you buy a phone that is locked to a
network. It's high time I got an Android phone, though, and this looks to be a
good one.

~~~
mseebach
That specific handset is for CDMA networks, specifically Verizons. There are
no mainstream CDMA networks in Europe.

The app, however, is for Android 2.0, and will likely work on all devices
running that -- although there's only one announced atm.

~~~
megaduck
Motorola makes a crapload of GSM phones, and they sell to virtually every
major carrier. I would expect a Motorola Android 2.0 world phone sooner rather
than later.

------
billybob
The downside of using internet connectivity for navigation is... that you need
internet connectivity. Sucks to get part way through a trip and lose your
navigation.

This could be solved by pre-fetching the whole route's data. If Google can
tell where people tend to drop service, they might even decide automatically
whether pre-fetching is necessary.

~~~
jkincaid
They cache your route, so if you lose your connection you're fine. However, if
you make a detour it won't be able to recalculate a new route until it gets
connectivity again.

~~~
borism
_If Google can tell where people tend to drop service, they might even decide
automatically whether pre-fetching is necessary._

They collect a lot of data from mobile Maps users, so I wouldn't be surprised
if they'll give it back in form of all kinds of neat
automations/optimizations.

------
awolf
I wonder if Google will continue to forbid others from using their maps for
turn-by-turn navigation (namely: Apple).

~~~
jws
There has been a change. Google used to license map data from a 3rd party for
web display, now Google is increasingly making their maps from original
sources. I just checked and the turn-by-turn prohibition is still in their
terms of use, but one could imagine that when the data is all Google generated
and owned they could lift that restriction.

------
megamark16
I can't wait for my Droid! This is going to be awesome.

