Google Maps with turn-by-turn navigation coming soon

Google Maps with built-in turn-by-turn navigation is coming soon, but so far this has only been confirmed for phones running the new Android 2.0 platform.

(Credit: Google)

(Credit: Google)

Overnight in the US, Google announced that it would be releasing the Google Maps Navigation app for GPS-equipped mobile phones running Android 2.0. The app will provide turn-by-turn directions powered by Google Maps and feature a 3D view familiar to users of nav devices from TomTom, Garmin, Navman, et al.

Google Maps Navigation, like seemingly everything that emerges from Google, will be free for consumers. The user interface will feature goodies like voice recognition, traffic and the ability to show a Street View image for every turn. The app is also able to detect when it's been placed in a windshield mount, enlarging the size of its on-screen buttons and bringing voice controls to the fore.

Motorola's soon to be released Droid will be the first phone to ship with Google's Android 2.0 operating system and will also bethe first phone to feature Google Maps Navigation. Indeed, during the press conference, Google's Vic Gundotra, vice president of (mobile) engineering at Google, demonstrated the app on a Droid. Whether the app works with older Android phones that are upgraded to Android 2.0 will depend on the carrier and phone maker, Gundotra said.

Google is also working with Apple on bringing Google Maps Navigation to the iPhone. According to Gundotra, the process involving Apple is slightly different from the usual App Store submission process, because Maps is a built-in iPhone application. The company also isn't ruling out licensing the software to makers of portable navigation devices.

Via CNET News