If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Google raised the stakes on GPS navigation this morning when the Internet mega-beast announced the release of Google Maps Navigation (Beta). Basically a TomTom or Garmin for your phone, Google Maps Navigation is a significant step up from the current application smartphone users have grown accustomed to.

What’s the best part? It’s free. As if you’d expect anything else from the company that made “free” cool again.

Google’s announcement coincides with Motorola’s release of the Droid and Android 2.0 operating system (Motorola and Verizon’s answer to the iPhone). It’s also the only phone Google Maps Navigation is currently set to work on, though that could change if Google and Apple ever agree to play nice with one another.

In the meantime, Android users should cozy up to Google Maps Navigation quite well. It’s got all the services of a standard GPS system, without the fuss of wires — which equates means you can take it with you anywhere andf on any trip, your automobile or a friend’s.

Not to mention the abundance of features; Google Maps Nav is stacked with them. You can expect this puppy to run comparably to that of the web-based Google Maps program. Unlike the iPhone’s Maps app — which is looking more and more elementary with every new development Google pumps out — Google Maps Nav is continuously connected to the Internet, so what’s displayed on the map is what’s actually happening. We’re talking traffic reports, road condition reports, updates on road closures… And, Android users will have the the option of searching by voice, searching in plain English (in case you don’t know the exact address you’re looking for), and the capability to search for businesses and (most importantly) restaurants en route without losing your way.