I guess I’m spatially aware so I never bother with navigation, but given how many TomTom devices I see on dashboards these days others are. Well Google has a little announcement this morning which is?not a huge surprise.
Today we’re excited to announce the next step for Google Maps for mobile:?Google Maps Navigation (Beta) for Android 2.0 devices.
This new feature comes with everything you’d expect to find in a GPS navigation system, like 3D views, turn-by-turn voice guidance and automatic rerouting. But unlike most navigation systems, Google Maps Navigation was built from the ground up to take advantage of your phone’s Internet connection.
And those words that every other company fears…
Like other Google Maps features, Navigation is free.
The Walmartization of technology continues. Why pay for anything if Google will eventually give it away free? Heck why invest any time working on anything since Google will just kill it later anyway. Verizon, welcome to the Google ecosystem. Don’t bother porting Verizon Navigator over to Android (though you probably already did and are wishing you didn’t about now)
Now there are two great limitations on this product. First it is only on Android which like the Microsoft Zune is irrelevant. Second it is only available in the USA which means that my friends around the world won’t be able to navigate to amusement parks that closed 25 years ago in their neighborhood.
So here comes Google ready to obliterate everything in its wake…
Spatially Adjusted 