Google Maps powered some of the phones carrying a AGPS. Dedicated services like TomTom, Garmin clearly beated them in features like Turn-by-turn navigation.
Google has done it again, one giant leap ahead of industry by introducing new GPS
navigation “Google Maps Navigation“.
Google’s map play brings bad news for the iPhone 3GS even with TomTom navigation App. Google Nav probably won’t make way to iPhone and would remain on Android 2.0 Devices (at least for now). Good news for those who are buying Verizon’s Motorola Droid. As we talked in Droid vs. iPhone 3GS, Droid will have better GPS Navigation.
Why? Because Google Maps Navigation is free and more feature full. As this demo video illustrates, the nav program is a useful tool that deftly blends Google’s map and Street Views with traffic information and Voice commands.
Have a Look:
Too good, I never saw anything like that on Garmin or TomTom. The $100 price for either TomTom GPS software for the iPhone, etc. To many consumers, these apps will now seem wildly overpriced. GPS app vendors may have to cut their prices, offer ad-supported free versions (and I wonder if Google’s nav app will ultimately take that route), or trot out amazing new features to warrant their high costs.
Google Maps Navigation could have a huge impact on the overall smartphone market as well. This is one the second killer app for Android, after Google Voice.
Of course, the iPhone has its fair share of advantages –100K apps come to mind — and Apple has less to fear than the GPS vendors. It’s no surprise that both TomTom’s and Garmin’s stock prices took a dive on the day of the Google announcement. Google, someday, will eat the world business with free alternatives.
