http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/01/review-google-maps-turn-by-turn-navigation-on-android-2-0
Autoblog recently posted a review of Google's turn-by-turn navigation system, running under the Android 2.0 environment on a Motorola Droid phone. Conclusion: It works well, and it's a bargain.
The Google Maps application has three big advantages, and one disadvantage.
First, the application is available for free. Navi services from Garmin, Tom Tom, Navigon and Magellan cost close to $100. In-dash navi systems sold by auto manufacturers often cost more than $2000. Free sounds a lot better!
Second, Google's database of roads and points of interest along the roads is second to none, and it's updated constantly. In comparison, other navi services are behind the times. And the DVD-based in-dash navi systems offered by auto makers are hopelessly out of date the day you leave the showroom. Updates via DVD are offered periodically, but they are months or years old by the time you can buy them.
Third, on major streets in many cities, Google Maps offers Street View, the photographic image of the street at your GPS coordinates. This is less valuable when driving than the traditional map and 3D views that Google Maps also offers, but it can be useful, too.
The disadvantage is that Google Maps does not hold a database of maps internally. It downloads the required maps as you travel. This saves memory, and keeps the maps as up-to-date as Google can make them. But you can be left map-less when you're out of cell phone range. It's possible to plan a trip before you depart, downloading all the necessary maps ahead of time. But if you depart from the planned itinerary and you're out of cell phone range, you're off the map.
To make Google Maps work, you have to have a phone that uses Android 1.6 or 2.0 OS, and a contract for data services with a cell phone company. Today, that means a Motorola Droid phone on Verizon, the HTC G1 on T-Mobile, and the HTC Hero on Sprint. A cell phone contract with data services is expensive. But you need a phone anyway, right?
Chip Haven
Autoblog recently posted a review of Google's turn-by-turn navigation system, running under the Android 2.0 environment on a Motorola Droid phone. Conclusion: It works well, and it's a bargain.
The Google Maps application has three big advantages, and one disadvantage.
First, the application is available for free. Navi services from Garmin, Tom Tom, Navigon and Magellan cost close to $100. In-dash navi systems sold by auto manufacturers often cost more than $2000. Free sounds a lot better!
Second, Google's database of roads and points of interest along the roads is second to none, and it's updated constantly. In comparison, other navi services are behind the times. And the DVD-based in-dash navi systems offered by auto makers are hopelessly out of date the day you leave the showroom. Updates via DVD are offered periodically, but they are months or years old by the time you can buy them.
Third, on major streets in many cities, Google Maps offers Street View, the photographic image of the street at your GPS coordinates. This is less valuable when driving than the traditional map and 3D views that Google Maps also offers, but it can be useful, too.
The disadvantage is that Google Maps does not hold a database of maps internally. It downloads the required maps as you travel. This saves memory, and keeps the maps as up-to-date as Google can make them. But you can be left map-less when you're out of cell phone range. It's possible to plan a trip before you depart, downloading all the necessary maps ahead of time. But if you depart from the planned itinerary and you're out of cell phone range, you're off the map.
To make Google Maps work, you have to have a phone that uses Android 1.6 or 2.0 OS, and a contract for data services with a cell phone company. Today, that means a Motorola Droid phone on Verizon, the HTC G1 on T-Mobile, and the HTC Hero on Sprint. A cell phone contract with data services is expensive. But you need a phone anyway, right?
Chip Haven
