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notbenjamin1

10:51 AM on 29 October, 2009

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"Plan english?"

I like the sound of this! Makes me even more desperate for the motorola Droid now!

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drdark

11:02 AM on 29 October, 2009

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{Quote}

the first Android powered GPS devices within six months...

{/Quote}

I was under the impression Google's Navigation needs a data connection?

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Sukanta

11:31 AM on 29 October, 2009

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@drdark ya might be.. infact all AGPS chip need that..(Am I wrong?) So there should be one sim slot too(in that unit)

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BOFH UK

12:33 PM on 29 October, 2009

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Hmmm.... while this is clearly a big change for the sat nav industry I'm not entirely convinced it's the disaster that everyone's making it out to be. Google Maps needs a data connection, if you drop that connection then you've only got the cached data for the route. Go off that and you're blind. What it hopefully will do is force TomTom, Garmin et al to really think about what they're offering. TomTom's IQ routing data is a good example of value add for this but they need MUCH more. Include the current LIVE functionality for TomTom as a free service would be another great example.

Also, I really think we need to be a bit concerned with Google's power to utterly destabalise a market. Look at what happened to the share price of all Sat Nav companies yesterday when this was announced. Google may do many good services and make them free but they're not the final word in their respective fields and if its entry into a particular market makes it impossible for specalists to compete we will eventually end up in a position of no competition, precious little innovation and suddenly all those 'free' apps may magically get a price tag attached. By all means shake up established manufacturers but if they can kill competition then that's a problem.

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Peter20

12:54 PM on 29 October, 2009

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Am I the only one to think that a GPS device that needs a constant connection to some kind of Data service is not a GPS device at all? If I travel to another country and my cell phone provider does not offer data plan across the nations (or at least not for a reasonable price) the so called GPS becomes a paper weight. The right move for google would be to come up with a navigation app that allows downloading or some kinna cashing of the map data for entire countries at a time so that you can go off the network and still be able to use your GPS for navigation. Well that's just my view.

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Williamn

1:13 PM on 29 October, 2009

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Can someone PLEASE clarify if android 2.0 will only be for new handsets or not??

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piesforyou

1:48 PM on 29 October, 2009

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@Peter

It's not hard to envisage a google-maps powered device which, upon loss of data connection, simply reverts back to normal garmin/tomotom/whatever functionality.

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Kaurisol

1:51 PM on 29 October, 2009

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@drdark

@Sukanta

The clue is in the name - A-GPS is Assisted GPS. The data connection is used to assist the GPS unit - if you don't have a network connection then it should still work (my N95 8GB certainly does). Refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_GPS.

Google Maps do require a data plan (otherwise expensive) as, unlike with Nokia Maps, there is no facility to download the maps for a country / region.

Having said that - I prefer Google Maps, but use Nokia Maps when there's no network connection.

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rav

2:15 PM on 29 October, 2009

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HTC have already announced that they're working on an Anrdroid 2.0 update for the Hero. Can't wait to try this out. The reliacnce on a data connection is annoying but then it is free. The voice search demo in the video was very impressive.

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drdark

2:40 PM on 29 October, 2009

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@Kaurisol: Indeed you are correct on the AGPS front. And as a further comparison, my E71 around 1 minute to get a fix with assistance turned on, and around 5-7 without, which is about the average.

@BOFH_UK: As far as I know, Google's Traffic data only currently works in the US, so I'm not sure how good it is in terms of accuracy and regular updates, but if it's as well implemented as the video shows then it'll actually be better than IQ routes, as you're basically talking: Memory of previous Traffic (IQ) VS Live Traffic

@Williamn: I don't think anyone knows yet for sure, but give it about a week. There seems to be a lot of Android news coming... (Search YouTube for Acer Liquid, I have a feeling that'll ship with 2.0 too but be cheaper than the Droid)

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Gordon394

2:43 PM on 29 October, 2009

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@Williamn Android 2.0 should come to most Android models, though unlike iPhone updates that will be up to each individual network to decide.

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farki80

3:12 PM on 29 October, 2009

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What is the point of the data has to be streamed? There are areas in the UK with no mobile phone signals, much less HSDPA coverage...

"It's not hard to envisage a google-maps powered device which, upon loss of data connection, simply reverts back to normal garmin/tomotom/whatever functionality."

What is the point then? You may as well just use Garmin/TomTom the whole time if you have it installed on the device already. You'll save on data connection at the very least.

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xbrumster

3:13 PM on 29 October, 2009

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hmm... does Apple's license cover this?

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Tim Sutton

4:09 PM on 29 October, 2009

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Wow. Completely free, huh? Thankfully this doesn't make the 7/10 value mark given to the iPhone TomTom app look even sillier. At all :-)

I absolutely agree with all the worries over network coverage posted above. Devon has enough Lithuanian lorry drivers getting stuck under bridges due to sat nav errors already. If they're going to be relying on non-existent HSDPA for directions as well then they'll all end up lost in my garden.

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drdark

4:43 PM on 29 October, 2009

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@xbrumster: cover what?

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piesforyou

4:47 PM on 29 October, 2009

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@farki80

What do you mean, what's the point? The point is that in cities and most other places, you'll have all the glory of google behind you. But when you head up into NW scotland for a jolly with your tent, you'll still be able to find your way.

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Chris

5:20 PM on 29 October, 2009

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As long as it relies on a data connection it's a backup / occasional use offering at best, since you couldn't rely on it, but hey it's free. I'd rather have it than not and it looks far more capable than any competition in the FREE satnav sector...

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farki80

5:28 PM on 29 October, 2009

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"What do you mean, what's the point? The point is that in cities and most other places, you'll have all the glory of google behind you. But when you head up into NW scotland for a jolly with your tent, you'll still be able to find your way."

The point made by people are it is free, and people would stop buying TomToms and Garmins all together. If Google Maps is free (it isn't because data stream via HSDPA won't be free), then what is the point of buying third party navigations or dedicated satnav any longer?

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piesforyou

5:59 PM on 29 October, 2009

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@farki80

OK, I'm confused as to what you're trying to argue for now. I was simply saying that it would be nice if, upon loss of data connection, the google software started using a built in map, like the usual satnavs do and have done for years. That way it doesn't matter if you loose data connection every so often.

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xbrumster

8:49 PM on 29 October, 2009

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@drdark, as the title reads: google is building free turn-by-turn nav for android, i'm just wondering if we would see this being available to iphone os as well... remember long time ago Apple mentioned they are not licensed to use google maps for sat-nav purpose. And this comes from google themselves, so i assume any phone with google maps should be able to use this function.

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xbrumster

8:51 PM on 29 October, 2009

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ah, read the artilce again. here we go, now i can wait patiently for it to come on to iphone in ... 2010?

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