Imagine
Wouldn’t it be loverly if all the tech companies could just lower their weapons and work with one another to make the ultimate GPS app? Here’s my fantasy GPS app, but it’s incomplete so help me design it: Go with Google Maps as the foundation, got the best interface, best voice recognition, best speech generation, street view, public transportation, largest user base which probably yields the best accuracy for the map and traffic data aggregation. Google’s is pretty impressive, but I understand Nokia has true offline capability, so mix that in. Because of that contribution from Nokia, I’m unaware of anything that the likes of TomTom and Garmin could bring to the table. Here’s a video demonstrating Nokia’s superiority with respect to offline use:
http://youtu.be/u6G_MRW9Rko
Kudos, Nokia. Wonder why Google couldn’t figure that out first. So, then scoop in Waze’s more aggressive and liberal traffic routing and subsequent rerouting decision making which from my experience, I think, outperforms Google Maps. Also more under-the-hood options to tweak, crowdsourced-data like road hazards and police. Then mix in Trapster’s database of known traps and willingness to offer its users warnings of speed and red light cameras, speed limit info, by how much you’re exceeding it and other tools to evade tickets and incarceration. I heard Apple Maps has contact integration, Siri, some sort of 3D flyover thing, great, scoop that in too.
This app is getting pretty awesome, right? Did I miss anything? Now imagine how much better other things we use could be if competitors could cooperate like this. Won’t happen of course (well, maybe), but it’s Sunday, slow news, so let’s imagine a little.
Doug Simmons
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Doug Simmons
Biographical info.. hmm. I have a history of not being able to strike the balance between what is "safe" to put into these forms and what is, in my mind at least, funny. Can't do it.
Soon there will only be a couple mapping solutions. All the cool smaller ones will be acquired by the larger Nokia & Google. So the future isn’t so far off. I’m sure Google is continuing to invest heavily in their mapping and ready to push the boundaries even more. I’ll be curious how much Waze contributes to the value of Google Maps going forward.
I just hope Google’s interest in Waze is not either to somehow neuter it or shut it down entirely… wouldn’t be the first time they pulled something like that.
I’ve used most GPS systems. As a delivery driver I’m a very heavy user. Garmin has the best combination of features in their high end line of devices. Much better customization options than any phone based GPS. Route sorting is very useful for me (I enter 30-40 destination and it sorts them for the best route). Alternate routes for blocked roads. Generally easier to use as well with better hardware mounts and speakers. For single destinations, I often just use my Lumia 920, which I find easier to use than Google. Garmin maps seem to be the most accurate to me, though not perfect, I often find mistake and have to check google or Nokia (I have all 3 with me at work).