Andre Yoskowitz
9 Jun 2010 11:38
Google has launched the popular free Maps Navigation turn-by-turn GPS in 11 new nations, says the search giant, while adding new language packs, as well, to the Search by voice feature.
Android 1.6+ users in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland can now use the turn-by-turn voice guidance, as long as they update to version 4.2.
Until this week, the turn-by-turn was only available in the U.S. and the U.K.
Google first announced the Maps Navigation app last year, and other mobile companies have adopted similar approaches, like Nokia's Ovi Maps, in an effort to catch up.
The search giant says voice search was first developed for English, and then for Mandarin Chinese and Japanese.
Search by voice can run on the iPhone and BlackBerry phones, as well.