waze

Any developer making navigation apps for the iPhone has to be looking at the impending arrival of Apple Maps with fear, as it will come pre-installed on iOS 6 and offer turn-by-turn voice prompts for free. But Waze can make a few arguments why its navigation app trumps the upcoming Apple Maps.

The Waze app's initial focus was crowd-sourced traffic, and it has evolved to offer full-blown, free navigation. Its social focus is something that Apple Maps will have a difficult time duplicating, but also limits Waze's usefulness in some areas. Waze's traffic features make it useful … Read more

You ready to play the tech name game?

For starters, it's a juicy day for iPhone 5 rumors. The next iPhone could have a smaller dock connector with 19 pins, instead of Apple's typical 30-pin port. TechCrunch is reporting that three manufacturing sources say Apple will be using a port that's roughly the size of a micro USB. If there's truth to this, get ready to dish out money for new accessories. It won't fit that pretty little iHome charging dock anymore. (But hey, Apple fans always dish out money for new accessories. So no … Read more

It's a phone-tastic episode today:

Microsoft's new Windows Phone 8 operating system will be in new Windows Phones this fall, but existing Windows users won't be able to get the full upgrade. That's because the Windows Phone 8 OS requires better hardware, like multicore processors and NFC support. The next OS will also have more enterprise-friendly features and Nokia's maps. (Maps are becoming a new battle ground in mobile phones.) However, current Windows Phone users aren't completely ignored. There's a slight upgrade coming that gives the live tiles in the home screen new … Read more

There's already a lot to like about the Waze, the social GPS and live traffic app for Android and iOS devices. It saves you time with its turn-by-turn directions, saves you fuel by helping to avoid jams with its crowd sourced traffic data, and (possibly, most importantly) it doesn't cost a penny. With the new 2.3 update that should be hitting the app marketplaces today, Waze now moves toward actively saving you money by helping you and other drivers to find and buy the cheapest fuel around.

Starting in version 3.2, users will be able to … Read more

When it comes to mapping out the best driving route to your destination, sometimes the most direct route turns out to be the longest thanks to traffic congestion.

Silicon Valley startup Waze has designed an app to enable drivers to alert one another of road conditions by sharing real-time traffic information.

It takes a user's information such as where they are and how fast they're traveling, as well as the same information on others in the vicinity who are using the app. It then combines that data to figure out where the traffic is and where it isn'… Read more

Waze, one of my favorite free GPS applications on the Android platform, is just a bit older and just a bit better with the version 3.0 update that hit the Android Market today.

New in this version is a complete interface overhaul with a less cluttered design that makes it both easier to look at and easier to use. Also new is an increased emphasis on social network integration, including Yelp and Foursquare search and the ability to check into Foursquare locales from within the app.

But seeing is believing, so check out our Waze 3.0 new feature … Read more

A network of dashboard smartphones that monitors traffic lights and congestion can tell drivers when to slow down to avoid idling, cutting fuel use by 20 percent, according to researchers at Princeton University and MIT.

SignalGuru (PDF) collates traffic data from images captured by dashboard smartphones.

It also graphically shows drivers how fast to go to avoid stopping at the next light; a commercial version would have audio suggestions. The system could also be developed to advise motorists to take a side street to avoid congestion ahead.

The researchers deployed iPhones on car dashboards in Cambridge, Mass., and in Singapore. In the former, where traffic signals with fixed schedules are used, SignalGuru could predict when lights would change with an error margin of two-thirds of a second. In Singapore, which has signals that adapt to traffic volume, the error increased to one second up to just over two seconds. … Read more

Waze, one of our favorite free GPS apps for Android and iOS, gets a version 2.4 update today that adds text-to-speech guidance, a commuting widget for the Android app, and a host of smaller improvements.

The biggest change is the addition of a text-to-speech (TTS) engine powered by Nuance that adds spoken street, exit, and highway names to its turn-by-turn directions. Users will also receive spoken alerts as they approach road hazards reported by other Waze users. TTS is currently only available to Android and iOS users in the U.S. and Canada, though there are plans to roll … Read more

Crowdsourcing meets broadcast during the July 15th weekend closure of the Los Angeles' 405 freeway, an event that has been dubbed the "Carmageddon" and is expected to cause traffic issues for as many as 500,000 drivers. Social traffic and navigation app Waze has announced a partnership with KABC-TV in Los Angeles to provide live maps, feedback of incidents, and traffic flow for the station's broadcasts.… Read more