I’m a big fan of mobile maps and more recently, mobile navigation. In all honesty, I’ve never really had a need or desire to pay a monthly fee for navigation and it seems many others are in the same boat. Well now, as could be expected, Google is rolling out Navigation (Beta), great news for Android device users… not sure what this will mean for other device users (iPhone, Symbian s60 etc…) The service appears to adopt a similar approach that Waze and INRIX has been using where connected users act as sensors and provide live, real-time traffic information and even data updates. The results are compiled and redistributed to the user base in the form of navigation instructions and directions.
Features include voice recognition search, live data and traffic updates, alternate route suggestions, added layers of suggested POIs, and perhaps the coolest feature, the availability of viewing in satellite or street view more. I can’t wait to grab my MyTouch and give this a test run to see how it compares… you have to wonder what’s going on in the meeting rooms inside TomTom, Garmin, and others! The video below describes 7 things you can do with Google Maps Nav… See more on the Google Mobile blog