Waze Announces Availability of CrowdSourced NAvigation Application On Majority of Smartphone Platfor
Written by Waze
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
Real-time map, traffic and navigation company launches first free
turn-by-turn navigation product for iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile and
Symbian devices
SAN DIEGO, Sept. 22 -- Today at the DEMO conference, waze, Inc. launched the first free service for the majority of smartphone users to offer voice guided turn-by-turn navigation, real time traffic updates and driver-generated reports. The consumer application is now available on the Apple AppStore, Android Market Place and can be downloaded from the waze web site for Symbian and Windows Mobile devices. Waze uses driver-contributed data to build road maps and provide real-time traffic information to commuters. Unlike static maps and first-generation traffic networks, waze relies on a community of drivers to both populate the maps and provide daily traffic information.
Previously available as a beta version on Android and iPhone, today marks the first time the service is also available for Symbian and Windows Mobile users. During the beta period, wazers have driven millions of miles, helping validate roads, pave new ones and provided real-time traffic to the rapidly growing network of drivers. As more users download and use the application, the maps and traffic information becomes more robust and accurate. Now that most major smartphone users have access to waze, the service will be able to accelerate user adoption and provide rapid improvements to service coverage.
"We are still in the early days of waze in the US and every new driver helps improve our service for other drivers, so it was obvious that we needed to develop for all major smartphone platforms," said Noam Bardin, the company's CEO. "Waze users contribute driving information passively via our free mobile application and all members get the benefit of free turn-by-turn navigation and real-time traffic information. In the background, we're using the data to build real-time driving maps that will radically change the established map market. I would like to thank our enthusiastic and active community for their participation, suggestions, ideas and ongoing support of our project. Together, we can make commuting faster, smarter and a whole lot less frustrating."
Waze was the first free application company to bring real-time mapping and traffic information to the increasingly crowded "nav app" space, by providing a free service to consumers that can take the place of traditional, expensive GPS devices. The application works by running on a user's GPS enabled smartphone and sends back GPS points as they drive. This data is used to build and constantly update the road grid, real-time traffic information, driving directions, road changes, traffic flow, and more. Information is collected automatically and anonymously, but drivers can also take a more active role, reporting road events or map inaccuracies easily from their mobile device. Community members can help solve these inaccuracies and manually update the map itself via the web at www.waze.com.
Waze was originally launched in Israel early this year, where it is now the most widely-used source of traffic information. Over 180,000 have downloaded waze in Israel today, which represents twenty percent of smartphone users in the country.
About waze
Waze is a social mobile application that enables drivers to build and use real-time road intelligence. By cluing users in to the most optimal routes possible to their destination, waze saves drivers time, fuel, and most importantly, frustration. Waze is Series A funded by Blue Run Ventures, Magma Ventures and Vertex Venture Capital. The executive team brings experience from Openwave, DeltaThree and Comverse.
To learn more about waze online, visit www.waze.com and follow us on Twitter @waze.
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