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Christopher Dawson
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Google Maps update: death to Yelp, standalone GPS (again)?

By | July 27, 2010, 11:21am PDT

Summary: Updated Places and Google Maps applications for Android are two more nails in the coffins of standalone GPS models. Yelp, I’m afraid, is next.

When Google introduced turn-by-turn navigation in its Maps application for Android, Tom Tom, Garvin, and other manufacturers of standalone GPS products tried to brush it off as an inferior product that wasn’t a threat to their business. Uh, yeah, OK. Now, with Google’s Maps 4.4 update (downloading as we speak on my phone), the Navigation features just got more powerful, adding a Places search that is clearly aimed at Yelp and one of the features that differentiated many standalone GPS devices.

As the AndroidGuys blog put it,

Places offers you the ability to search and locate a place sorted by distance from your current location…With the update comes an updated Place Page where you can find out all you need to know about the location price, directions, reviews and other business details. The Place Page also incorporates Directions, Turn By Turn Navigation, Calling, Street View and a show on Map function as well.

So clearly Yelp and traditional GPS devices are in Google’s crosshairs here. Although Yelp has users well outside the Android faithful and GPS users are, arguably, a different group with little overlap with the current market segment dominated by Android, Android phones are selling at an extraordinary rate across all major carriers. If you have a device in your pocket that can not only find a restaurant, tell you what other people thought of it, call ahead for reservations, and then get you there, why would you possibly buy a GPS? And, of course, you could browse to Yelp on your mobile browser, but why? Yelp is quite mature and well-liked by loyal users, but convenience and integration are key. Google has those two elements down cold.

It will take a while and Android needs to continue building critical mass, but as the phone-based GPS applications become richer and more full-featured, I fail to see how a standalone device makes any sense whatsoever. Similarly, it won’t be long before iOS and other smartphone operating systems begin to support this sort of integration to compete with Android. If you disagree, talk back below.

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Topics

Google Inc., Google Maps, GPS, Handhelds, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Hardware, Christopher Dawson

Chris Dawson is a freelance writer and consultant with years of experience in educational technology and web-based systems. In 2011, he became the Vice President of Marketing for WizIQ, Inc., a virtual classroom and learning network SaaS provider.

Disclosure

Christopher Dawson

Christopher Dawson is the Vice President of Marketing for WizIQ, Inc., by day and a freelance writer and educational technology consultant by night. Well, most of his colleagues at WizIQ are based in India, so really he's working with them whenever he can stay awake. He has worked for his local school district as a teacher and technology director, for the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, and for Biogen, Inc. (now Biogen-IDEC, Inc.). He has also consulted with STATNet and Cytyc Corporation and retains close ties with X2 Development Corporation (now owned by Follett Software, the supplier of the student information system he administered for several years). Follett is paying him a monthly honorarium to act as a presenter for their "SIS Voices for Student Achievement" community (he produces occasional blog posts and hosts a monthly webinar on the use of student information systems to inform data-driven instruction and school-wide change. He regularly purchases and/or recommends Dell hardware. This is because Dell makes good hardware and has truly committed itself to education in innovative ways, particularly with their "Connected Classroom" initiative. It isn't because he has dealings with the company through his role at WizIQ (which he does) or because they have provided him with long-term loans of a variety of equipment for in-depth testing (which they have). Intel (reference designer for the Classmate PCs he has implemented in his local schools) has provided him with long-term loans of Classmate PCs for testing, as have Dell and Lenovo with their educational offerings. He may report on any of these companies as his experiences with them have direct bearing on educational technology; positive reports are not necessarily an endorsement and he receives no direct financial compensation from these companies or any others. Intel paid all expenses for his attendance at the 2009 Intel Classmate PC Ecosystem Summit which he attended as the sole representative of the technology press. He was invited to attend in 2010 but his wife would have killed him if he spent 3 days in Vegas geeking out and left her home alone with a new baby. Acer provided him with a 50% discount on an Aspire One netbook in early 2009 after he tested it for 30 days through their educational seed program. He liked the netbook at the time but it has since broken and sits unused in his office. Canonical sent him Ubuntu lanyards, t-shirts, and mousepads for his kids. He stole one of the lanyards and proudly hangs his keys from it and occasionally features his 8-year old wearing an oversized Ubuntu t-shirt on his Facebook profile. Gunnar Optiks sent him a pair of computer glasses to evaluate for a holiday gift guide. He is wearing them now as he types this because they never asked for them back and they rock out loud. Seriously - they work brilliantly and make it much easier to spend 20 hours a day staring at an LCD. If they ever asked for them back, he would fork over the $99 and buy a pair. Microsoft gave him 2 free copies of Office 2010 professional, a desktop clock, and a useless book on Office 2010 when he attended the launch of Office/Sharepoint 2010. He occasionally uses the SharePoint lanyard they gave him instead of the Ubuntu lanyard for his keys, but feels dirty afterwards. Adobe provided him with a pre-release version of the CS5 Master Collection for evaluation and ultimately provided a full, licensed copy for ongoing testing of educational applications of this admittedly expensive software. Like the Gunnars, if the license expires or they come out with CS6, he'd actually go out and buy it himself. Which is saying something, because he's actually pretty cheap. Any other companies wishing to send him cool things to evaluate, wear, or otherwise adorn his kids are more than welcome to; he promises to disclose it here if he keeps any of the stuff. Finally, because WizIQ is a virtual classroom and learning network provider, Chris, as VP of Marketing, frequently interacts with, seeks out deals with, and directly or indirectly competes with a whole lot of LMS, SIS, and other Education 2.0 companies. In general, he'll limit his reporting about these companies to news that does not impact his relationship with them or with WizIQ. If he reports on them, it's because what they are doing is newsworthy or worth the attention of his readers and not because he's trying to broker some deal, damage competition, or otherwise advance his position in his day job. LMS and SIS companies, along with other online learning communities, are a pretty important part of Ed Tech. If he stops reporting on them completely, there won't be a whole lot left. He'll be sure to call out any overt conflicts of interest if they are unavoidable. Finally, Follett Software Company pays him a little tiny honorarium every month to present on their SIS Voices webinars and to write the occasional blog or discussion thread for them. Since Follett recently bought X2 (maker of an awesome web-based SIS that Chris just happened to have used, served in advisory groups for, and frequently reported on), this is probably also worth disclosing.

Biography

Christopher Dawson

Christopher Dawson grew up in Seattle, back in the days of pre-antitrust Microsoft, coffeeshops owned by something other than Starbucks, and really loud, inarticulate music. He escaped to the right coast in the early 90's and received a degree in Information Systems from Johns Hopkins University. While there, he began a career in health and educational information systems, with a focus on clinical trials and related statistical programming and database modeling. This focus led him to several positions at Johns Hopkins, a couple-year stint in private industry, teaching high school math and technology, and 2 years as the technology director for his local school district. Most recently, he started his own consulting business and is now the Vice President of Marketing for WizIQ, Inc., a virtual classroom and learning network provider. He lives with his wife, five kids (yes, 5), 2 dogs, and a hateful cat in a small town in north-central Massachusetts. Although he is no longer teaching, his roles with WizIQ and ZDNet allow him to continue helping students and teachers add value to education with technology rather than merely adding to the bottom line.
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RE: Google Maps update: death to Yelp, standalone GPS (again)?
kudos2u 29th Jul 2010
@SpiderTech Hahahaaa!
View in thread
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RE: Google Maps update: death to Yelp, standalone GPS (again)?
Loverock Davidson 27th Jul 2010
I disagree. I can't see someone constantly looking at their phone to determine where to turn next. Its as bad as texting while driving. You will be driving and then get a call, there goes your map. Or if you go on a road trip, the phone battery isn't going to last long.
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RE: Google Maps update: death to Yelp, standalone GPS (again)?
JT82 27th Jul 2010
@Loverock Davidson You do realize she SPEAKS to you right? Same as your stand-alone GPS. However I wouldnt have expected you do use this - Stevie Balmer didnt make it...
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RE: Google Maps update: death to Yelp, standalone GPS (again)?
maskman01 27th Jul 2010
@Loverock Davidson

Its a Turn by Turn app that provides voice directions and can also be searched by voice.

I don't think it is fully there yet but I think they are on their way.
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RE: Google Maps update: death to Yelp, standalone GPS (again)?
KBot 27th Jul 2010
@Loverock Davidson
They also make clip-on stands to attach your phne to your wind shield like a stand-alone GPS would
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Nope, do not need to look at it...
BubbaJones_ Updated - 27th Jul 2010
@Loverock Davidson
Hey Loverock, you blew this one. Mapquest on the iPhone has text to voice. Set the cell phone on the dash, she tells you the street, exit number, etc., is coming then which way to turn. Maybe not as good as Googles app but, it is a nice program.

Not to worry about the battery use your car charger. Do you have a car charger?
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RE: Google Maps update: death to Yelp, standalone GPS (again)?
vkelman@... 27th Jul 2010
@Loverock Davidson,
From your theoretical comment it's clear you never had a chance to drive following Google Maps turn-by-turn directions. Try it, it's not that bad happy
And a phone could be connected to your car's charger too.

A month ago or so I tried to find a nearest store (or, whatever it was - I forgot) while driving, and I couldn't. It was clearly missing. With Google Maps 4.4 update we're finally getting this "Places" functionality integrated with Google Maps and turn-by-turn directions. (Oh, yes, there already were Yelp, Where, Geodelic, Places Directory, etc., but Google is in a unique position here, allowing it to wonderfully integrate new Places app with Maps, Latitude, directions... And I like horizontal scrolling between individual place detail pages too.)

It looks like that this Maps upgrade requires to reboot your Android phone afterwards and to explicitly launch new Places app; then you can access it directly from Maps.
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RE: Google Maps update: death to Yelp, standalone GPS (again)?
MLHACK 27th Jul 2010
Dude it will take a long time if ever. Granted i have a droid hoping to get a droid x here later on. The GPS is a nice second device to use while walking or in a cab. However i would not use it as my primary driving GPS it is still in BETA and even if google removes the beta in 4 years (look @ gmail) i am still not convinced that is will over take the standalone market.
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RE: Google Maps update: death to Yelp, standalone GPS (again)?
delopez32 27th Jul 2010
@Loverock Davidson
You clearly have never used an Android device... Not only can I hold one button and say "Navigate to ___," The phone will show a narrowed down list and list places in ascending order of distance from you, but will also give you spoken turn by turn directions, that if wired correctly will shortly interrupt your phone's music (playing through your car stereo) to give you spoke turn by turn directions. To top that off, my screen on a Droid is comparable or bigger, and better resolution than most standalone GPS units available (outside of trucker models or specifically larger models). Oh, and if the place you were headed to moved, went out of business, etc., you wouldn't know that until you got there, or updated next (which you will more than likely pay for). Maybe if you called and checked, (not with your Tom Tom, which, by the way runs with a CAR CHARGER, and sits on a cradle; which is available for most android phones as well), you would know that. And when you do get that phone call, your map does go away... but your turn by turn directions will still voice over the call... avoiding staring at the screen, which is what you wanted anyway
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Using my phone as a GPS? No way
Cylon Centurion 27th Jul 2010
I still prefer a stand alone model. That way, I still have my phone free, for oh you know, phone calls!
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Yes, I understand wanting a stand alone model...
BubbaJones_ 27th Jul 2010
@NStalnecker
Hi Nstalnecker. Does your phone/carrier not allow your phone to do both at the same time? Not being a smart alec, just asking, maybe your carrier allows both.
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RE: Google Maps update: death to Yelp, standalone GPS (again)?
atari_z 27th Jul 2010
I fail to see what google really want to do, except stealing the market for everyone else. We already had news and books, we we soon have music and games. Google found important to build a new browser where there are so many, etc... What is their real market. It is like Microsoft when they had so much money that they did not know how to spend it. They spend everywhere, and not always wisely IMO.
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RE: Google Maps update: death to Yelp, standalone GPS (again)?
jorjitop 27th Jul 2010
This should be banned as phone screens are far too small to be viewed safely while driving. As for the voice instructions, they might work where there are nice square intersections, but when you go somewhere where there are lots of small streets, and diagonal intersections, you need to look at the screen to judge angles and distances.

Furthermore, who wants Google following your evey move on top of all the rest of the spying they do on your life. Not me.
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RE: Google Maps update: death to Yelp, standalone GPS (again)?
SpiderTech 27th Jul 2010
@jorjitop Obvious troll is obvious

I was going to address each one of your ignorant comments, but I've determined you're either an idiot that has never used google maps on a smart phone or any other turn by turn voice guidance on a GPS, OR you're honestly just that oblivious to common sense. BTW, I look at the actual streets and intersections to judge angles and distances, but my GPS still does a damn good job at it on it's own.

I bet you're one of those people that if your GPS told you to take a sharp right turn you would do it despite that turn taking you off a cliff. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/25/satnav_mishap/
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RE: Google Maps update: death to Yelp, standalone GPS (again)?
kudos2u 29th Jul 2010
@SpiderTech Hahahaaa!
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What do you use 75 miles from the paved highway?
wwgorman Updated - 28th Jul 2010
I use a PDA with a GPS to 4-wheel into the Utah wilderness where there isn't a cell phone signal. I have topographic maps loaded into the PDA which are more accurate than Google Earth in locating remote roads------some barely visible due to the slickrock on which they are laid out. I'll stick with the GPS, thank you!
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What about poor coverage areas
nick@... 28th Jul 2010
Its not just Utah wilderness that doesn't have mobile coverage - there are plenty of large coverage holes in the English countryside and on major, let alone minor, roads. I read that Google Maps is supposed to load the whole route as soon as it can but it didn't work for me - one wrong turn recently and I was completely lost....

Unfortunately my GPS was in the other car.

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