Google Map India
Google Maps India Gets Voice Navigation, Live Traffic UpdateReuters

Google Maps service in India has now come handy for users to select the best route to their destinations. The official blog has announced the availability of two new features in India - the turn-by-turn navigation Maps service and live traffic information for several major cities.

Users can access Google's new services through the features available on Android phones and tablets.

“We’re excited today to announce that both of these features are now available for Google Maps users in India — one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing markets for online map services worldwide. Google Maps Navigation (Beta) is free and accessible to any smartphone user running Android 2.2 or later and live traffic information is visible on both the mobile and desktop versions of Google Maps,” said Darren Baker, Product Manager for Google Maps.

According to the official blog of Google,  users will have access to about thousands cities and towns road maps which have been listed by users in Google Map Maker. Although there were speculations on Tuesday about the voiceover navigation feature as seen on a Google video, the video was withdrawn by evening. The official announcement was seen on the blog on Wednesday.

Google Maps Navigation equipped with the turn-by-turn navigation will help the user identify the route by just typing or speaking the destination address. Once the user inputs the commands the phone will give directions to that place. India is the latest country to get the added features.

Google has also announced the launch of Live Traffic updates within maps for Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune, giving directions in Indian accent. Google traffic data will be shown in simple and readable color schemes in order to help the user get traffic analysis, red being for significant congestion, yellow for minor slow-downs and green for free-flowing traffic.

Understanding the importance of navigation and map related features, Apple also recently decide to use its own map service in iOS 6. However,it will not come easy for Apple to create routes and maps for India where routes are not well organized like other foreign nations.

For those who have not tried the new features yet,here is a video.