Technology is taking the way consumers get information to levels that would have never been imagined a decade ago. Information is power and having access to accurate, up to date information is what separates those keeping up with technological times from the rest of society. Mapping, and more specifically real-time mapping, has taken travel to a completely different level and for several amazing reasons.
Getting up to date traffic information once meant having to time radio listening or television watching to coincide with the live news reports that would come up from time to time throughout the day. Getting up to date traffic information is now more about having access to the right technology than it is about timing of any kind. With Google’s new real-time mapping, users with a smart phone now have access to traffic information and updates as they occur.
Live Traffic Reports for Droid & iPhone Users
Both Android and iPhone users who download Google Maps onto their mobile devices will now begin seeing live traffic reports as they are posted thanks to Google’s purchase of Waze. Waze is simply a community of real-time traffic reporters and users who post traffic updates as they are seen and as they are happening.
Waze users post information and updates on everything from construction to car accidents and everything else in between that might be causing traffic at the moment.
Thanks to the purchase by Google, this information now shows up on both the Waze App and the Google Maps App. It doesn’t get any more convenient than that and is great news for users who already use the Google Maps Application. While Google Maps was already a terrific application, it is just that much better with the inclusion of the real-time information made available during road trips.
Google Takes the Lead in the Map World
There was really only one line of competition for Google Maps and that was Apple Maps but with the inclusion of the new Wave feature, the competition is practically irrelevant. Google Maps is at the top of its game turning it’s previous encyclopedia style mapping system into a more Wikipedia style system allowing its users to instantly input information anytime, as it is happening.
Google Maps had, up until now, received and provided its traffic information from incident reports received from a variety of traffic reporting type services. The problem with this system is in the fact that it was rarely absolutely accurate and almost never live and up to date information that was happening as it was being reported. Without current real-time traffic information, a traffic reporting service is almost useless.
The phenomenal increase in advantages that have come about through this merger have provided new and fantastic opportunities for all users. The possibility of traffic creeping up on you is no longer a possibility with the new and improved Google Maps/Wave System. Traffic ticket attorney beware, police and accident incidents will now be fewer and further between thanks to the wonders of Google and its ever increasing concern with its users and their convenience where travel is concerned.