With Android 2.0 just around the corner, Google's pushed out an enticement for those considering making the smartphone switch: a dedicated turn-by-turn GPS application, hooked up to Google Maps, aware of traffic, and powered by plain English voice commands.
Google points out a few unique features of its super-upgraded Google Maps, arriving first on Verizon's Droid (which premieres Nov. 6 at $199 with a two-year Verizon Wireless contract) and then on any phone that gets the 2.0 Android update and has the 'with Google' branding. The big ones are plain English voice and text search ('Navigate to Burger King on Main Street,' or even 'Navigate to the museum with the 'Body Worlds' exhibit in Buffalo'), inclusion of traffic information gleaned from other Maps users, and a Street View image of your destination. It also searches along your route, so asking it to find a Jiffy Lube while you're road tripping won't make you break out the compass or take you far off your itinerary.
Some of those features aren't just unique to a phone GPS app—they're unavailable on a number of dedicated GPS navigation devices. Those of us who've been watching Google slowly add in Maps features, and its competitors do likewise, have been wondering when this shoe would drop, and it's neat to see what it finally looks like. In other words, Adam totally called it.
Check out video demonstrations of each feature at Google Maps Navigation's home page below, and Google's own blog post about it below that. And tell us if a seriously buffed-out Google Maps navigation tool makes you think twice about an Android phone in the comments.
Announcing Google Maps Navigation for Android 2.0 [Official Google Mobile Blog]
.jpg)
