While we may have caught up with the main features of Android 2.0 earlier this week, Google have been keeping one surprise. Google Maps Navigation Beta is an update to the company’s free GPS app, initially exclusive to Android 2.0 devices such as the Verizon DROID by Motorola, adding in turn-by-turn directions, vocal prompts, speech-recognition and more.
The software – which is likely to strike fear into the hearts of standalone PND manufacturers and GPS software providers – has Google search is built in; you can tap in – or, by holding down the search button, search by voice – an address, landmark or business and get a list of results. Points of interest (such as gas stations) along the route are also given priority in searches, while both satellite mapping and Street View imagery is shown.
You can place shortcuts to commonly-accessed destinations on the Android 2.0 homescreen, and of course there’ll be integration from the Contacts. There’s also a new UI more suited for in-car use, which has larger icons and a predominantly voice-controlled menu system.
[via SlashGear]
This Google Navigation is very impressive!! And FREE
Ward comes out of hiding!
That would have been an awesome feature of the holster and would keep your Droid juiced up while using it as a GPS to navigate in the car. Now you will have to worry about plugging in a charger and placing it in the car mount
Also, I have not seen any videos or reviews yet on what occurs when you are using the Google Navigation and you receive a call on the Droid... I know you can run simultaneous apps, but do you think you could be on-call and still receive voice notifications of your next turn. I am sure the people at Google have thought all of this through, but they were just concerns that came to mind.
Navigation and loading data for traffic and POIs and whatnot will surely drain your battery, so hopefully an elegant solution will arrive for charging while in the car cradle.