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Google Introduces Free GPS Navigation for Android 2.0

str1f3 said:
You're right. On CDMA it sill prioritize a call and quit other apps. Google's way around this with maps is to cache the maps.
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LagunaSol said:
I thought CDMA couldn't handle simultaneous voice and data, similar to EDGE? :confused:
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All I can tell you is what I saw on the Droid page.

http://phones.verizonwireless.com/motorola/droid/

"Make a call, answer an e-mail, and switch between up to 6 apps simultaneously"

Of course they don't say how it's accomplished, nor do they say the e-mail you're answering is immediately sent.

Still a definite lead in that area though over the iPhone.
 
Whats the catch with Google navigation services? I mean they are in the money making business so they expect to get something out of it. Are there any facts about what their expectations are now / in the future?
 
Nuvi said:
Whats the catch with Google navigation services? I mean they are in the money making business so they expect to get something out of it. Are there any facts about what their expectations are now / in the future?
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The answer to your question is the other question "How does Google make money from a free search engine?"

It's not just advertising, but it's also data collection and marketing. There's a tremendous amount of valuable data each time a user asks directions to a destination or ask where the nearest movie theater or Starbucks is. Finally, there's a price to be paid for having a particular theater or coffee shop being the first on the search result list.
 
MTI said:
The answer to your question is the other question "How does Google make money from a free search engine?"

It's not just advertising, but it's also data collection and marketing. There's a tremendous amount of valuable data each time a user asks directions to a destination or ask where the nearest movie theater or Starbucks is. Finally, there's a price to be paid for having a particular theater or coffee shop being the first on the search result list.
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Yes, I know that. Unfortunately this really doesn't explain how they are making money with turn by turn navigation -> is data about user location collected -> will there be advertising etc. etc. thats what I would like to know. As said, no speculation but some facts.
 
Nuvi said:
Yes, I know that. Unfortunately this really doesn't explain how they are making money with turn by turn navigation -> is data about user location collected -> will there be advertising etc. etc. thats what I would like to know. As said, no speculation but some facts.
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How does Google's present business model not explain how they're making money off of their free apps?
 
Perhaps it's similar to corporate "taunting" . . . but Google did state yesterday that they would like to offer the free turn x turn GPS app on the iPhone, IF Apple permits it.

I guess the ball is now in Cupertino's side of the Bay Area court . . . :cool:
 
This is making Google and Android look even better. It seems they're improving daily, while Apple is all secretive (not a bad thing, I always like a surprise! :D)
 
Nuvi said:
Yes, I know that. Unfortunately this really doesn't explain how they are making money with turn by turn navigation -> is data about user location collected -> will there be advertising etc. etc. thats what I would like to know. As said, no speculation but some facts.
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They're not making any money out of it. They're taking a punt on it as they reckon it will be a good source of advertising revenue in years to come - which is why they've spent so much money on street view and have been quietly working on making their maps 3D for a while.

I'm sure Google will come up with some clever ways of selling advertising, but having ads for businesses pop up as you're driving past them is the most obvious.
 
babyj said:
They're not making any money out of it.
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This is so wrong. ;)

Keep in mind, that in addition to selling the top spots in any search result to the highest bidder, every search run through Google, or Bing, or any other search engine, makes that engine's algorithms better by providing more data points to refine and increase accuracy. Google's economic plan isn't in the future, it's now.
 
Jesus .. Please tell me that Apple isn't going to hold off on approving this as long as it's taking them to approve Google Voice.

I would trade 90% of my Apps just for this one.
 
Khryz said:
Jesus .. Please tell me that Apple isn't going to hold off on approving this as long as it's taking them to approve Google Voice.

I would trade 90% of my Apps just for this one.
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Unfortunately, I'll be surprised if this makes it to the iPhone at all.
 
MTI said:
This is so wrong. ;)

Keep in mind, that in addition to selling the top spots in any search result to the highest bidder, every search run through Google, or Bing, or any other search engine, makes that engine's algorithms better by providing more data points to refine and increase accuracy. Google's economic plan isn't in the future, it's now.
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What has any of that got to do with Google GPS?

As far as I'm aware they're not showing any ads in it at the moment, which means they're not making any money from it at the moment. Hence they're just taking a punt that they'll be able to make money from it in the future through advertising - the same as with a lot of things they develop.
 
babyj said:
What has any of that got to do with Google GPS?

As far as I'm aware they're not showing any ads in it at the moment, which means they're not making any money from it at the moment. Hence they're just taking a punt that they'll be able to make money from it in the future through advertising - the same as with a lot of things they develop.
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1) As of today, Google Maps Navigation is beta, they have nothing to "sell" but;

2) Google sells, as one writer puts it, you. It sells information about you, which you provide via using Google's freeware, to the advertising world to make their product placement more precise and likely to get your attention.

3) Google's sites don't have pop up ads or divert you to other sites; however they do have the ability to rank and filter search results to favor their advertisers and their offerings. Type "apple" into the search engine . . . where in the first ten "hits" is there anything about fruit? ;)

Google's apps might not come with a retail price tag, but they are hardly "free" when you consider that you, in the sense of the data you provide Google, are what's being sold.
 
twoodcc said:
i really hope this makes it way onto the iphone
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You see... I don't get that statement. I'm not calling YOU a fanboy, but fanboys here always b***h "come up w/ your own ideas" to other companies like Microsoft. When there's a must-have invention not yet created by Apple, you hope it comes to THIS (an Apple) platform. :eek:
 
Google Navigation

I know the new Google Navigation has voice turn by turn navigation. Is it Text to Speech?
 
MTI said:
3) Google's sites don't have pop up ads or divert you to other sites; however they do have the ability to rank and filter search results to favor their advertisers and their offerings. Type "apple" into the search engine . . . where in the first ten "hits" is there anything about fruit? ;)
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There is absolutely no bias in the main search results, except to produce the best results that Google thinks match what you are searching for. If they start messing about with the main search results they will start losing users - their search is successful because it works so well.

There are actually two entries in the first ten results for Apple about the fruit. The low number isn't because they are screwing with the results, its because they know its a lot more likely you're searching for the company and not the fruit.
 
macshill said:
You see... I don't get that statement. I'm not calling YOU a fanboy, but fanboys here always b***h "come up w/ your own ideas" to other companies like Microsoft. When there's a must-have invention not yet created by Apple, you hope it comes to THIS (an Apple) platform. :eek:
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What's not to get?

We want this app on the iPhone. Your logic here is incredibly flawed and makes no sense. How does Microsoft, for example who straight up copied Apple Stores fall into the same category as us wanting a Google App on the iPhone?
 
Ray38 said:
Sorry, I didn't mean to run into the back of your car. I was watching my Android phone. :mad:
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How would that be any different from "Sorry, I didn't mean to run into the back of your car. I was watching my (insert GPS navigation device of your choice here)"?

Nice play by Google. Let's see who responds.
 
babyj said:
There are actually two entries in the first ten results for Apple about the fruit. The low number isn't because they are screwing with the results, its because they know its a lot more likely you're searching for the company and not the fruit.
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Your results may vary; when I ran the apple search on Google 10 seconds ago, using the lower case form of the noun . . .

Top of page result is the ad that Apple pays for placement, denoted by "Sponsored Link" (surprise!); then the next 3 are for the Apple web site; the next one is for "News Results for Apple"; then there are "Local Results"; then there are the links to the Wiki pages, Apple Support page, mobile me, Developer Connection, Slash Dot . . . it's not until over a dozen or so hits that the Washington Apple Board (growers of apples) arrives. ;)
 
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