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Tag: Google Maps Navigation

  • Google Aims to Help You Avoid Traffic

    Google Aims to Help You Avoid Traffic

    Google has announced that Google Maps Navigation will now automatically route you around traffic.

    Google is pitching the feature as rending the traffic report obsolete. “Ever been stuck in traffic, only to find out you’d have been better off going a bit out of your way to take a less congested route? If you’re like me, you probably hear the traffic report telling you what you already know: traffic is bad on the road you’re currently on, and you should have taken another,” says Google Maps engineer Roy Williams. “It doesn’t need to be this way, and we want to help.”

    “You don’t have to do anything to be routed around traffic; just start Navigation like you normally would, either from the Navigation app or from within Google Maps,” says Williams. “Before today, Navigation would choose whichever route was fastest, without taking current traffic conditions into account. It would also generate additional alternate directions, such as the shortest route or one that uses highways instead of side roads. Starting today, our routing algorithms will also apply our knowledge of current and historical traffic to select the fastest route from those alternates.”

    @pedrodias
    Pedro Dias    You’ve got better things to do than wait in traffic http://bit.ly/ikq379 26 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    The feature sounds like a good idea, but I’ve been steered in the wrong direction plenty of times by Google Maps directions that I’m going to be a little cautious on this one – at least while Google Maps Navigation still carries the beta tag. You may want to test it out when you’re not in a hurry to get somewhere before relying on it when you have an important appointment.

    The feature is available on Google Maps Navigation for Android in North America and Europe. It is unclear when it will become available more broadly.
    Google Maps Will Route You Around Traffic

  • Google Distances Maps Navigation From iPhone

    Earlier today, reports indicated that Google Maps Navigation (an Internet-connected GPS nav system) would become available on the iPhone, and while some people viewed this a nice peace offering, others thought Google was damaging its mobile business.  Only it turns out even more cynicism was appropriate, as no such move is guaranteed to occur.

    Yes, sorry iPhone owners, but Google hasn’t decided to forfeit one of Android’s advantages.  The company’s instead asserting that a corporate representative was misquoted, and although it might allow Apple devices to use Google Maps Navigation at some point, no promises were made.

    "We did not say we would bring it to iPhone, we said to date we’ve had it on Android and that in the future it may come to other platforms but did not confirm this will be coming to iPhone at all," a spokesperson told Daniel Ionescu.

    So it looks like the introduction of Google Maps Navigation in the UK and Ireland that occurred on Wednesday will be about the only big news on this front this week.

    We’ll definitely keep an ear out with regards to what those "other platforms" are, though, since that issue still hasn’t been clarified.

  • Google Maps Navigation Introduced In UK, Ireland

    People who – deep breath – live in the UK or Ireland, don’t like to get lost, can tolerate beta software, and own a new-ish Android phone are in luck.  An unfinished version of Google Maps Navigation has been made available in the UK and Ireland for Android devices 1.6 and higher.

    Google’s idea here is to simplify the task of driving around.  A post on the Google Mobile Blog explained, "Like other satnav devices, Navigation includes 3D views, turn-by-turn voice guidance, and automatic rerouting.  But because Google Maps Navigation is connected to the Internet, it also features powerful functionality you can’t get from other satnav services, including the most up to date map, business, and traffic data, access to satellite and street views, and of course, search."

    And Google Maps Navigation offers voice search, too, perhaps making the tool safer to use than some alternatives.

    Of course, this rollout isn’t exactly huge.  However, the release of something in the UK has often represented the start of a domino effect, with Google offering it in several other countries soon after.

    We’ll see what happens.  At any rate, there’s at least a certain segment of the population that should appreciate this development, and Google’s shown it remains interested in the mobile market.