Some huge news has hit the world of GPS. Google is poised to fundamentally change the GPS market. They have released the beta version of Google Maps Navigation for the Android platform.
This directly pits Google up against major GPS manufacturers like Garmin and TomTom. Here is what it’ll be able to do:
- Live traffic data
- Search by voice or text (in plain English)
- Satellite or Street View
- Turn-by-turn navigation
Here’s why I think this is an industry changer. GPS turn-by-turn has traditionally been something you have to pay for. Garmin and TomTom both sell their devices as well as the maps. Sure enough, it costs a bunch of money to make GPS maps. Now, Google is coming in and doing it for free.
Proof that this affects the GPS market lies in the stock market. Both Garmin and TomTom saw significant drops in stock price on the news.
That drop represents a BUNCH of money in market value – gone because Google came in and said they’d do it for free.
Both Garmin and TomTom have something to worry about here – big time. Google Maps Nav isn’t a crappy product. Google Maps is extremely robust. The satellite and street view is something no regular GPS can pull off.
The only saving grace for these companies, for now, is that Google Maps Navigation will only be on the Android platform. Suddenly, Android has a new shine to it. It is only a matter of time before we see it move onto other platforms, including the Iphone.
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its about time someone gives gps some real compition know hopefully other opensource companies will start developing gps software
Just a little clarification, Google is the source of TomTom and Garmin’s maps. TomTom and Garmin dont make their own maps.
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5391966/google-and-the-deadly-power-of-data
David M – you are wrong sir. Google is not the source of their maps and never has been. Maps for Garmin come from MapSource, which comes from the US Census Bureau’s TIGER files database which is public and free to all that know how to use the data. The same place Google, Delorme, MS, and all others get their map data. I know, I worked on the TIGER files database for 7 years as a mapper.
Wow, good time to short Garmin and Tom Tom stocks hey?
I love Google maps basicly except for the fact that you can not store the maps on your cell phone memory, which is really annoying.
I’d like to see Google give users the option to download a static, simple map of the entire country for failover when there’s no data coverage. Users can manually update this static map to keep data costs down. But even though this map will be outdated and light on features, it can still guide drivers when there’s no data coverage.