Announcing Google Maps Navigation for Android 2.0

Announcing Google Maps Navigation for Android 2.0

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 7:00 AM

(cross-posted on the Official Google Blog)

Since 2005, millions of people have relied on Google Maps for mobile to get directions on the go. However, there's always been one problem: Once you're behind the wheel, a list of driving directions just isn't that easy to use. It doesn't tell you when your turn is coming up. And if you miss a turn? Forget it, you're on your own.

Today we're excited to announce the next step for Google Maps for mobile: Google Maps Navigation (Beta) for Android 2.0 devices.

This new feature comes with everything you'd expect to find in a GPS navigation system, like 3D views, turn-by-turn voice guidance and automatic rerouting. But unlike most navigation systems, Google Maps Navigation was built from the ground up to take advantage of your phone's Internet connection.

Here are seven features that are possible because Google Maps Navigation is connected to the Internet:

The most recent map and business data
When you use Google Maps Navigation, your phone automatically gets the most up-to-date maps and business listings from Google Maps — you never need to buy map upgrades or update your device. And this data is continuously improving, thanks to users who report maps issues and businesses who activate their listings with Google Local Business Center.

Search in plain English
Google Maps Navigation brings the speed, power and simplicity of Google search to your car. If you don't know the address you're looking for, don't worry. Simply enter the name of a business, a landmark or just about anything into the search box, and Google will find it for you. Then press "Navigate", and you're on your way.

Search by voice
Typing on a phone can be difficult, especially in the car, so with Google Maps Navigation, you can say your destination instead. Hold down the search button to activate voice search, then tell your phone what you want to do (like "Navigate to Pike Place in Seattle"), and navigation will start automatically.

Traffic view
Google Maps Navigation gets live traffic data over the Internet. A traffic indicator light in the corner of the screen glows green, yellow or red, depending on the current traffic conditions along your route. If there's a jam ahead of you, you'll know. To get more details, tap the light to zoom out to an aerial view showing traffic speeds and incidents ahead. And if the traffic doesn't look good, you can choose an alternate route.

Search along route
For those times when you're already on the road and need to find a business, Google Maps Navigation searches along your route to give you results that won't take you far from your path. You can search for a specific business by name or by type, or you can turn on popular layers, such as gas stations, restaurants or parking.

Satellite view
Google Maps Navigation uses the same satellite imagery as Google Maps on the desktop to help you get to your destination. Turn on the satellite layer for a high-resolution, 3D view of your upcoming route. Besides looking cool, satellite view can help you make sense of complicated maneuvers.

Street View
If you want to know what your next turn looks like, double-tap the map to zoom into Street View, which shows the turn as you'll see it, with your route overlaid. And since locating an address can sometimes be tricky, we'll show you a picture of your destination as you approach the end of your route, so you'll know exactly what to look for.

Since there's nothing quite like seeing the product in action, we made this video to demonstrate a real-life example:

The first phone to have Google Maps Navigation and Android 2.0 is the Droid from Verizon. Google Maps Navigation is initially available in the United States. And like other Google Maps features, Navigation is free.

Click here to learn more and browse a gallery of product screenshots. Take Google Maps Navigation for a spin, and bring Internet-connected GPS navigation with you in your car.

Asurion Mobile AddressBook App for Android

Date Posted: October 26th, 2009

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Asurion Mobile AddressBook I think is the best App for G1 MyTouch or any Android OS device when it comes to Address Book and Social Networks. I was lucky enough to have first look at the Address Book about week ago and since then I can’t stop playing with it.You can download this awesome application at Get Address Book

So what is Asurion Mobile AddressBook?

In short, it’s an Address Book which is tied to social networks like Flickr, Youtube, Twitter and other popular social networks, yes Facebook as well. So you might ask your self why do I need that? Now imagine having address book that shows persons phone, address, bla bla bla and then on top of that it shows last tweets, last status updated on facebook or simply latest video they uploaded. Now that is something I haven’t seen on Market place.

Downside of the Asurion Mobile AddressBook is that you have to actually install the Address Book and also other apps like twitter app flickr etc (called MixIns) so you end up with few more buttons on your menu, but developers are working on getting all in one app soon!

So to visualize bit about Asurion Mobile AddressBook here are some screenshots:

You can clearly see above that not only you can call Lisa but also check her FB updates , Twitter and more.

This is your favorites contact list, yeah it looks definetly different and better don’t you think?

Notification tab I think it’s really cool as well because you get updates from all social networks about your friends that are in address book.

Overall I think Asurion Mobile AddressBook is going to be downloaded by thousends and will love it as I did for past week.

Bluetooth in Android

Android Bluetooth UI application from Aurora

Finally, I can use a friendly UI application in Android and it allows to use Bluetooth OPUSH/FTP profiles. I was working on porting obexd and merged some patches from Aurora forum to Donut tree. Here is a discussion in 0xlab-devel mailing list about OBEX integration in 0xdroid.

How is this Bluetooth UI application and what I can do? let's check some screen shots! Some examples between my nokia N73 phone and Android Dev phone.

Connect to other Bluetooth devices from G1 / Magic

* scan nearby devices from Remote tab
* pair with it
* connect to it



Pull file from other Bluetooth device from G1
* explore file manager from Remote tab
* download an image file
* open it from Local tab



Push file from G1 to other Bluetooth device
* open Local tab
* choose a file
* send it out



Receive a vcard from other Bluetooth device to G1
* bluetooth authorize dialog
* accept a *.vcf file?
* press OK, it would store to Contact
* open Contact




Receive a mp3 file from other Bluetooth device to G1
* bluetooth authorize dialog
* accept a *.mp3 file?
* press OK, it would store to sdcard
* open Music

Android and Open Source

Posted on April 2nd, 2009 in Android Hacking, Android News by Disconnect

A lot of noise has been made recently about Android and it’s “openness” (from both sides.) If you follow me here, or on the lists, or on twitter, etc, you probably already know I have strong feelings on the matter. Although I don’t usually write articles for this site (mostly it is just announcements) I had this one that I didn’t post to the lists. (It got away from me, and was mostly off-topic to the discussion.) I liked it enough to finish it, and so here you go. My take on Android, open source, and how we get this thing from a toy up to world domination.

Lets think about the big players in Android right now. Google, of course, hosts all of the developers. Tmobile and Vodo and company pay all the bills. HTC and others make the handsets, although mostly under contract to the other members. But why? Where is the money supposed to come from? How does open source make money at all? Through the community. Community provides free support, free application coding, free advertising. In an open project, it even provides free debugging, patching, even security auditing. (In the “here’s a fix” style, not the usual “Its jailbroken now!” style..)

Google isn’t doing this out of their love of the community. (That should be obvious from their hatred of the community..) Google is doing this because Tmob (and to a lesser degree Vodofone and company) are paying them to do this. If Google was doing this for love, it would be working in the open and letting dev teams (either internal or external) fork AOSP into the closed source device trees.

Instead, its the other way around, for the simple reason that that is where the fast money is. “We’ll pay you to build us a handset” is what is happening. (”We’ll pay you to work on open source (and give us a couple of custom apps)” is what they claim, and its arguably where they need to be if they are to succeed.) Some very small number of their developers - I would bet fewer than 3 - currently work primarily in the open. They are noticeable because of the large quiet room they are standing in, with empty desks where the other devs should be.

Think I exaggerate? Ask where your open source SDK is for 1.5, and why its not out even though the final 1.5-compatible images already exist. (And the phone is due out in less than a month..) That will tell you where the priorities of Google lie in respect to the AOSP. (Contrast that to an open source release cycle - public bugs, alpha and beta releases, a roadmap that actually goes into the future(!!) ..)

In a successful hybrid open/closed project, the open source releases drive the closed source forks. Witness Apache httpd (open) and IBM httpd (closed). They have the same codebase, and - shockingly - its not the one in IBM’s secret dungeons that generates new releases. IBM does do their own set of releases, but they work just like everyone else - by taking changes from the open tree and integrating their closed code.

Google works with Android in exactly the opposite way - development is done mainly in secret, and occasionally someone takes the time to audit it and dump a huge, unmanagable set of changes into the open source tree. (In all but one case, this comes without including changelogs. And never do outside contributors see relevant discussions, code reviews, etc.) Periodically developers such as jbq volunteer their time to try to make the open project work vaguely correctly without the closed pieces.

So it is, technically, open. But not so fast - you cannot expect to contribute to the community version without knowledge of deadlines, requirements, UI guidelines and so forth that Google will not and can not publish. The closed source trees drive the open source development. (There are a bunch of browser changes in 1.5 - where are those patches in code review? Sure, some of them are there. Most, however, arrived - if they arrived at all - as part of a massive, opaque code dump. The same sort of bulk merging that they - correctly - refuse to do from outside contributors.)

All the handwaving and marketing in the world won’t change the way this is going. Want a happy ending? Push your developers out and make them work in public. Update the truly pitiful roadmap at least every quarter or so. Release binary versions of the closed source apps such as Gmail and Android Market. (Source is too much to ask, its not like this is open source or something.) Let Android users and community members have at least some of the capabilities that you give to rivals such as Apple’s iPhone, Nokia’s Symbian platform, and so many others. Stop talking and start acting.

The only thing Android has right now to recommend itself (to developers, handset manufacturers, carriers and community porters) is the code. The “hey neat” factor will wear off, and at the end of the day Symbian is right: Android is not an open project. Android is a closed source project with a related, incomplete pile of code. And if it is to succeed, that has to change.

Best Franchisee Award 2003 - 2004

We selected for Second Runner up for the said Award

Award Presented by Mr. Ramesh Damani, Reknowned Investor and Ex. Board Member of Bombay STock Exchange,

Venue. Hotel ITC Grand Maratha, Mumbai

Best Franchisee Award 2002 - 2003

Again for Best Franchisee we were Selected for said year. Across India

The Award was Prsented to us by Mr. Sameer Arora, Ex. MD Allince Mutual Fund, Asia Region.

Venue, BSE Convention Hall.

Best Franchisee Award 2001 - 2002

This was the First Best Franchisee award received by for 2001 - 2002,

We were Selected Best Franchisee in Motilal Oswal Securities Ltd at India Level.

Mr. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala had Presented this award to us. in

Venue - J. W. Marriot, Mumbai.