Droid Navigation

I tinkered with the Droid's navigation function today.  It uses the GPS in combination with Google Maps and the 3G network to deliver spoken turn-by-turn directions, with the usual mapping functions, searches, and whatnot you'd expect from a dedicated car GPS.  It has a few added features courtesy of Google, such as voice search and street view.  The street view is nice, but not really all that useful while driving - too distracting.

Photo courtesy of here

All in all, it works great.  It's not as sophisticated as my Garmin Nuvi.  Not as fast to update and reroute, the screen isn't as big.  The Droid made some odd navigation choices, but would have gotten me to my destination.  It also lacks a night mode, failing to emulate the Garmin's switch from white to black background after the sun has set.  Did I mention Google Navigation is free, and part of a device that can do very nearly everything except tie your shoes.  It could, however, display instructions on *how* to tie your shoes if you so desire.

The one big, big drawback to relying on the Droid solely for navigation is the fact that you must be in a 3G coverage area for it to work.  No internal storage of maps.  It would be nice to be able to put a few gigabytes of maps on the phone.  If you find yourself lost on the steppes of Siberia, I would imagine it wouldn't be much help.  Or maybe it would, I'm not really up on 3G coverage in Siberia.

Another quick mention of the voice search feature.  It continues to astonish me.  Astonishingly good, that is.  I don't know how it does what it does, but it works every time.  And I don't feel my enunciation is all that great, either.  "Navigate to Target" and bam, it's navigating you to the nearest Target store.  "Map of St. Louis" and pow a map of St. Louis is on the screen.  "Call Jimmy Joe Bob" and the phone pops up, requiring only the press of a button to call Jimmy Joe Bob.  And the most useful search: "STLbiking.com" and STLbiking.com shows up in the browser for your reading pleasure.  That's right.  Hit the voice search button, and say "Ess-Tee-Ell biking dot com" and you're there.  It's just that easy.

Win.