Free Android Apps Update 2Day: Google Maps 2.0 (Beta) Nav on Moto Droid

By Contributor Wireless and Mobile News on October 28, 2009 1:10 PM

Google Maps for Android 2.0 Beta offers stiff competition to paid GPS navigation services. This free app is loaded with new features and familiar Google Maps features.

The video that follows shows the new Android Map app on a Verizon Moto Droid phone used a on a dash mount in the car. The mount is called a car dock and when the Droid phone is the car dock it automatically goes into car mode. It reminds us of the AT&T's Nuvifone without the added cost of mapping. The Verizon Moto Droid has many high-end features and will be available November 6.

This new Goggle mapping apps comes with everything you'd expect to find in a GPS navigation system, like 3D views, turn-by-turn voice guidance and automatic rerouting. But unlike most navigation systems, Google Maps Navigation was built from the ground up to take advantage of your phone's Internet connection. It includes popular Google Maps features including street and satellite views.

When you use Google Maps Navigation, your phone automatically gets the most up-to-date maps and business listings from Google Maps. If you don't know the address you can put in the business name and still get directions.

With voice search, you can say your destination and hold down the search button to activate voice search, then tell your phone what you want to do (like "Navigate to Pike Place in Seattle"), and navigation will start automatically.

For those times when you're already on the road and need to find a business, Google Maps Navigation searches along your route to give you results that won't take you far from your path. You can search for a specific business by name or by type, or you can turn on popular layers, such as gas stations, restaurants or parking.