I've been pleasantly surprised by a recent announcement about the back-port of Google Maps Navigation to Android 1.6, which all happy T-Mobile G1 owners are supposedly running.
For the few days since the announcement I've been test-driving the new application to get a feel of whether it's an epochal event or a blip on the technology radar.
I also happen to have Garmin Nuvi 265WT GPS unit at hand, which currently goes for $159.99 at Amazon, thus feeling to be in position to make comparisons and draw conclusions.
Without further ado I'm going to present my humble findings to the avid reader.
The best part of the deal with Google Maps Navigation is that it comes to your nearest Android phone at absolutely no cost, i.e. free no strings attached.
The worst part of the deal with Google Maps Navigation is that you get pretty much what you paid for.
Diving into the details now...
GMN (that's Google Maps Navigation) is nicely integrated with GM (that's Google Maps). You get your directions as usual, then choose Navigate option and you are in the game.
Soon after the device gets itself oriented a nice metallic female voice tells you something. After a little practice you come to realize that what is being said at this point is the direction to the start of the route such as "drive South-West ...". Garmin unit would just say something like "proceed to route", which is more succinct and understandable. Garmin's voice sounds much more human-like and is quite a bit more understandable.
Next goes the regular routine of voice commands that makes you feel good about your navigational abilities. I'm still trying to decide if I prefer quarter miles GMN style or decimal miles Garmin style. I do prefer "turn to Main Street" Garmin style announcement to "turn at Main Street" GMN style announcement.
I happen to live in an area where a lot of road construction is going on and was expecting GMN to beat Garmin to the punch with the accuracy of the maps. No such luck. Google maps are as inaccurate as one year old Garmin maps installed on my GPS unit.
My major expectation about a GPS navigation system is it's going to tell me where to go when I need it and that's exactly what my Garmin unit does. GMN does the same except when it doesn't feel like that... At one point on a test drive I realized that my phone was rebooting itself instead of telling me where to go.
GMN builds routes as quickly as Garmin but Garmin's routes are generally faster in terms of travel time and better in terms of convenience.
My Garmin GPS unit came with a nice dashboard mount and a car charger. My phone didn't. Unless you are voice-guiding your short office commute, which you probably know as the back of your hand, you'll want a charger. Unless you absolutely don't care about the route your GPS unit happened to choose, you'll want a dashboard mount. Both the charger and the mount are going to spoil that great "get-for-free" feeling for some.
There's been a lot of talk recently on how Google Maps Navigation is going to drive traditional providers of GPS navigation systems out of business. My brief testing makes me believe that as of now GMN is highly beneficial for Garmin, TomTom, and other GPS nav manufacturers as it essentially provides them with free marketing services demonstrating what one can expect from a GPS navigation system to a crowd that might have not ever considered such a system otherwise.
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