A recent update brought Waze traffic reporting to Google Maps. Now Waze is getting a little something out of their acquisition by Google: a new default search engine. With a new update, Google now shows as the first option for search (though users still have a choice of several other providers).
The latest version of Waze also comes with a tweaked UI for cleaner presentation, sleep mode, and other optimizations. Future versions of the social mapping/navigation software will include Google Street View.
Ultimately, we’d love to see complete integration of Waze features into Google Maps, which may or may not be where things are heading. It’s rare that Google buys a competing service only to keep it afloat alongside their own product, but then again Waze serves a slightly different audience.
My feeling is that Google will eventually take Waze’s social features, give them a Google+ makeover, and offer them as a linked service with Google Maps. That, or the two continue to operate independently, sharing and borrowing features as Google sees fit.
[via Waze]
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TAGS: Waze
