Ever thought of having someone on your side while driving car, helping out with the road direction and also knowing about the current traffic status in the area. Then Google is here to help you out with the launch of Google Maps Navigation (Beta) in India. Google has improved the comprehensiveness and usefulness of Google Maps through advanced features like voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation and live traffic updates.
Google Maps Navigation (Beta) offers turn-by-turn voice navigation feature with the help of your mobile GPS system. Users in India will have access to information about any of the thousands of cities, towns, roads, and points of interest that have been mapped by users in Google Map Maker. So now when you are heading to Bengaluru airport for a business trip or visiting Agra’s world-famous Taj Mahal for a weekend of sightseeing with friends then Google Maps Navigation will help you with accurate direction information. It will speak out upcoming directions to you as you move along your route and it will even use a friendly and familiar Indian accent if you’ve selected the Indian English language on in your phone settings.
If you have an android smartphone users then, Google Maps Navigation is already available on your Google Maps mobile app and this feature takes advantage of users mobile Internet connection. Users can type (or even speak) the name or address of their favorite destination into the app (currently only English language supported) and of-course Google will correct your spelling and get you the right result.
Google has also rolled out live traffic data for major roads in six large Indian cities and their surrounding suburb which includes Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Pune and Hyderabad. Google’s traffic data is shown in a simple and readable color scheme — red for significant congestion, yellow for minor slow-downs, and green for free-flowing traffic. Users can view live traffic information of this cities by enabling the traffic layer on Google Maps on desktop browser (maps.google.co.in) or in the Google Maps app on smartphone, or simply by visiting google.co.in and entering a search query’s like ‘traffic in bangalore’. Google Maps even allows users to check “typical” traffic conditions for a particular day and time, based on Google’s wealth of historical data.
Another implementation of this two features are, in places where traffic data is available, Google Maps Navigation will take traffic congestion into account to ensure that you’re always given the directions most appropriate to current conditions.
“Our goal in developing Google Maps is to provide users with the most comprehensive and accurate online maps in every country, and to share the features and benefits of Google Maps as widely as we can.
We hope that the many Google Maps users in India will enjoy these new ways to take advantage of Google’s extensive map data. The next time you’re on the subcontinent, just check the traffic, tap the blue arrow, and drive safely! “said Darren Baker, Product Manager, Google Maps of Official Indian blog.
Google Maps Navigation (Beta) feature is free and accessible to any smartphone user running Android 2.2 or later, and live traffic information is visible on both the mobile and desktop versions of Google Maps.