Here’s one for Chippy, the much anticipated Google Maps Navigation yesterday went live in 11 more countries. The UK and USA have been using the free turn by turn navigation service on Android for a while now and so far has proven very popular among its users.
Google Maps Navigation is an Internet-connected GPS navigation system that provides turn-by-turn voice guidance as a free feature of Google Maps. It uses the devices inbuilt GPS and also the data connection to download maps before your journey starts, this means if you go off route then you will need an active data connection and allowance for the application to reroute you. It also provides Street View images when available on the roads you are travelling on.
The new countries that have been added are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland for Android devices 1.6 and higher. Google have also flipped the switch on the beta of Search by voice for the countries listed above meaning no device handling is require while your on the move.
Let us know if you are located in one of the above countries on how Google Maps Navigation is working for you.
It works….with issues.
Re-routing doesnt work if you’re offline. (Somethign that I need a lot!)
You can’t plan a route without an Internet connection.
It’s great for in-town, in city use but if you want to go further, you still need downloadable maps. Nokia’s free service is still better IMO.
Chippy