droidStory

One of the big topics in various news stories is that the Motorola Droid now had turn-by-turn directions from Google for free.  (It is called Google Navigation Beta.)  I admit that this feature shows that Garmin and Tom-Tom will have a challenge in the long run.  But, it is not time to get rid of your Garmin or Tom-Tom.  Not yet.  And, with recent price drops, it may be time to buy one.

I first received my Droid on Friday morning at the Verizon Wireless store in Leominster, MA.  I was excited to try my new windshield mount, which immediately placed the Droid into navigation mode.  My plan was to give it simple directions to check out the system.  I had it take me to Interstate 495, which is 15 minutes away via route 2.   It was a pretty simple shot.  However, this is the route that Google Navigation selected:

Why did Google Navigation take me around Fort Devens?

Google maps came up, took me to route 2, told me to get off of route 2, go around a non-existent Fort, and then get back onto the same highway?  Huh?  I stayed on Route 2 anyway.  There was no traffic, no construction, no delay and no reason to get off of the highway.

This was not the only time that Google Navigation picked a strange route.  I am guessing that there is some kind of bug in the software.

Of course, in defense, I would have reached my destination this way.  So, Google Navigation is clearly better than no navigation device at all.  But, the “Beta” in the description is well deserved.

There are a few other topics that are worth noting:

• Google Navigation traffic is the best traffic that I have seen so far.  It is up-to-date, covers small roads, and has fine levels of detail.  I would get this device just for the traffic reports.  Unfortunately, when you view the traffic reports, the screen is static.  So, you cannot view traffic and see visual directions at the same time.  By the way, I am happy with the traffic reports because they are much more current than the ones on Tom-Tom or Garmin.  I often joke that Tom-Tom and Garmin tell you the traffic from one hour ago.
• Google Navigation does not have 3-D view, which makes it much easier to see where to turn and when to turn.  This is not a fatal flaw.
• Google Navigation has an annoying voice for the TTS.
• Google Street View is sexy.  It shows a picture of the intersection as you approach it and the destination as you approach it.  This is much better than saying “your destination is on the right.”  You see your destination.
• Location search is very smart.  I was able to speak the instruction “Thai restaurant in Wakefield, Massachusetts” and it provided a list from which I could pick the right one.  I did not need to know the spelling or hope it was in my list of POI — as I would with a Tom-Tom or Garmin.  Really sexy.

Now — my biggest complaint and the reason why I will keep my Tom-Tom — when a phone call comes in, the call takes over the device and I no longer see where to turn.  I have received calls in tricky traffic situations before.  When a call comes into the Tom-Tom or the Garmin via Bluetooth, I receive a quick visual notification and the screen goes back to directions.

In conclusion, Google Navigation has some growing up to do.  It will get there.  And, some of the features like Street View and the flexible voice search are amazing.  When the other features of Google Navigation are updated, it will be hard for the Tom-Tom and Garmin devices to keep up.  But, keep your Tom-Tom and Garmin for now.

UPDATE: I was driving last night when a phone call came in. This gave me another chance to look at the Google Nav app with a phone call. As soon as the call came in, I received a message “Data Connection Lost.” This happened at the first ring … so even if I had not answered the phone, the data connection was lost. From that moment on, the maps stopped updating. However, the top bar still displayed directions based on the GPS. I assume that the directions are downloaded all at once, but only the current map is sent.

It was quite disconcerting to have directions on the top that did not match the map. Also, the directions are not enough as a very broad “turn right” could have meant a turn onto a different street than the one I chose. It would seem to me that Google could have downloaded more map information and kept the navigation going — at least for as long as I stayed on the original route.