Google Maps Navigation is currently in beta testing, and will be available for free on phones using Google’s Android 2.0 operating system. Google’s Vice President of Engineering Vic Gundotra demonstrated the feature at a press event yesterday. You just say your destination out loud, either a specific address or the name of the location — instead of typing in the start and stop spots, you just say, “Navigate to the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.” Then Maps Navigation tells you each turn you need to take as you drive.
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Asked why Google is getting into this market, Gundotra and chief executive Eric Schmidt were both a bit vague, although they repeated the usual Google statement that they’re not looking to unseat any competitors, but rather to solve problems, often by taking advantage of their existing technology. Over the next year, Schmidt said, you can expect Google to release more applications and features that allow your phone to do “magical things” when it connects to the Internet cloud.
“This is the most visually obvious example of that, but don’t limit your imagination to this set of problems,” he said.
Reporters were also curious about why Google is announcing this now, since there are no Android 2.0 phones currently on the market. Gundotra said he couldn’t speak for Google’s partners. But a likely guess is that there will be an Android 2.0 phone available very soon, maybe even today.
If you want to use this on your iPhone, Google says it’s working with Apple to make it happen. And if that process seems to drag out, well, maybe that’s another reason to consider the Droid.
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