A few days back we reported on Waze, the user-generated driving maps application available for Android devices. At that time, it was in alpha testing only for certain California residents. We’re happy to announce that the Waze alpha is now available to everyone.
If you haven’t heard of it yet, now is the time to check it out. Quite possibly the hottest new app for Android just released it’s live public alpha Tuesday night. Waze is everything you like about your Twitter, your radar detector and your GPS thrown into one sweet application. Waze works by constantly updating a live map with notifications from other Waze users. Essentially, this lets you know before you even get there if there are speed traps, police, construction problems, heavy traffic, and other accidents and incidents. Check out the official site and blog for further information.
Garmin Asia Pacific marketing director Tony An has purportedly stated that a “bunch of new handsets from Garmin powered by Google’s Android platform are set to ship sometime in the second half of 2009″. While this is the only news we have regarding functionality, you can be sure they will include at least as many features as the nuviphone as well as some top-notch GPS functionality. Apparently, the manufacturing process will be contracted out to a compant like HTC, although no specific word on which company is yet available. More news is sure to come on this one.
EDIT: Not so fast, says Garmin. Apparently a statement is being worked on right now to debunk the claims made by DigiTimes this morning. So much for getting our hopes up. We’ll keep you posted when the statement is released.
EDIT 2: Wired seems to have picked up the story as well and is still spinning it as confirmation from Garmin that an Android phone is in the works, although it’s not clear whether they are aware of Garmin’s reaction to DigiTimes’ post. Engadget seems to have the story straight, stating:
The company says that “the story contains a number of inaccuracies in both sales figures and product rollout schedules,” and while it does say it has “an Android-based phone under development,” it also reminds us that Nuvifone won’t be it; instead, Garmin’s first modern entry into the world of telephony will be based on a proprietary build of Linux, as was originally planned.
A new application called AndNav2 brings free real-time and turn-by-turn navigation capabilities to your favorite handset (the G1, of course). The release is public alpha, so be wary of bugs, but free is free and the developers sure look like they know where they want this project to go. Audible directions are also available with the included Text2Speech library. Apparently, small advertisements embedded in the application facilitate the free nature of the app, but they seem to be relatively non-intrusive. Address search, POI lookup and contact entry are all supported in the alpha. Check out a video below:
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