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It wasn’t long ago that getting somewhere required a map on paper. You know, something you bought or that came groaning out of your tired old printer. GPS navigation units made those maps obsolete, but now they too are under threat. With smartphones invading pockets everywhere it’s no surprise that their next assault would be on the dashboard, early volleys shaking up financial markets worldwide. That was just the beginning of a shock and awe campaign that will leave no automotive interior untouched — and hopefully no driver unsure how many miles until the next Dunkin’ Donuts. Google Navigation was the first to really shake things up, while Nokia’s Ovi Maps is a more recent addition to the battlefield and the latest VZ Navigator, 5.0, lets Windows Mobile and BlackBerry users join the fray. We’ve taken this sampling of the best built-in smartphone navigation options (the set of paid add-on options for iPhone is a beast we’ll be taming later), learning which you should trust to get you to where you’re going and to dodge construction and traffic on the way there. Read on for a turn-by-turn exploration of each option’s highs and lows.

Continue reading Smartphone GPS shootout: Google, Ovi, and Verizon go head-to-head

Smartphone GPS shootout: Google, Ovi, and Verizon go head-to-head originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like Android’s getting in on the new Google Buzz party in more ways than one today — in addition to support in the browser, Maps 4.0 is now in the Android Market and it’s all Buzz-ed up and ready to go. We’ve heard from both Droid and G1 owners that it works on their devices, so we’re guessing every other Android set out there running 1.6 or higher will work as well — let us know if you find anything else cool, won’t you? Same goes for you S60 and WinMo kids out there.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Google Maps 4.0 with Buzz support now available in Android Market originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google just announced that it’s bringing some serious location-based integration to its services, all centered around the new Buzz social networking tool built into Gmail. Google’s going to do location better than the usual latitude / longitude coordinates — it’s able to snap those to actual place names and then take context-aware actions depending on where you are. The new location services is integrated into the main mobile Google.com search page and the new buzz.google.com page for the iPhone and Android, and into maps for Android, S60, and Windows Mobile. Buzz is rolling out starting today, and it should hit everyone within “the next few days.”

Continue reading Google Buzz takes mobile location services to the next level

Google Buzz takes mobile location services to the next level originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When it rains, it pours, huh, Google? Not even a week after announcing the big multitouch update for its own Nexus One, Google has turned loose a new version of Google Maps that enables pinch-to-zoom support on the Droid. Of course, it was no secret that Android 2.0 had the framework in place to support this kind of stuff — Moto enabled it all by its lonesome on the Euro-spec Milestone — but it looks like this could be the watershed moment where multitouch finally becomes a must-have feature on Android devices across the board, as Moto CEO Sanjay Jha recently suggested would happen. The new version 3.4’s available as a software update in the Market right now, so grab it if you’ve got your Droid handy.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Motorola Droid gets official multitouch support — in Google Maps, anyway originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel Atom processors, capacitive touchscreens, NVIDIA Tegra 2 graphics, Moblin installs… sounds like a suite of hot next-gen ultra-portables, right? Think again. Those are just some of the technologies used in the dashboards of cars that will be appearing on showrooms in the coming months and years, dashes that were largely on display at CES — minus the cars themselves, usually. There we were treated to mobile glimpses of Google Earth, Pandora, and Slacker Radio on the go, plus the ability to lock and unlock your car via Ye Olde Internets. It’s the future, and it’s coming soon, so click on through already and get a sneak peek.

Continue reading Next-gen dashboards get Tegra 2, Moblin, Atom, we go hands-on

Next-gen dashboards get Tegra 2, Moblin, Atom, we go hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 12:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We were sort of hoping Google would turn a blind eye to the Android hackers who’d enabled Google Maps Navigation for use internationally, but it appears we’re just hopelessly optimistic: El Goog’s shut Navigation down outside the States. The changes are apparently “anticipated,” and the hackers in charge are hard at work getting around it, so there’s hope yet — and at some point Mountain View is going to have to actually launch Navigation abroad for real, so this all just seems a bit petty.

[Thanks, Ace of Spades]

Google blocks hacked Navigation from international use originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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