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Waze's maps and traffic app gets a cleaner and smarter design
Waze is one of the most popular maps and traffic apps on iOS and Android. For good reason, too: It's fast, intuitive and, often times, more accurate than the highly rated Google Maps. Today, Waze's making its mobile application even better, thanks to an overhaul designed to offer a cleaner, prettier user interface and quicker access to useful actions. With a single tap, you can now send directions, location or estimated time of arrival to your contacts. You can also get traffic-based reminders, making it easier to get to any destination on time -- as long as your calendar is synced with Waze. Last but not least, this new version of the app "significantly" reduces battery consumption, according to the company; if true, that'll definitely be appreciated by users who rely on the app for their daily commutes or casual trips. The 4.0 update is already available for iOS, while Android's expected to get it "soon."
Edgar Alvarez10.19.2015
Waze sued for allegedly stealing map data
Google and its mapping service Waze are being dragged to court over allegations that Waze stole data from a rival's map database. The lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court on Tuesday by PhantomAlert alleges that the navigation app used proprietary data from PhantomAlert without permission. Both apps share road, red light and traffic information. According to PhantomAlert CEO Joseph Seyoum he noticed that Waze was using the same fictitious location information in its app that his company had used to test PhantomAlert. The only way Waze would have that fake location data is if it was using information from Seyoum's company.
Roberto Baldwin09.03.2015
Stephen Colbert is the latest celebrity to guide you on Waze
Stephen Colbert is going from talking about tech to getting involved with it. He's joining the ranks of comedian Kevin Hart and former Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger as a celebrity voice for Waze, the crowd-sourced mobile GPS app. Based on the video below, his audible suggestions don't go quite the distance we'd hoped in terms of hilarity but that's probably for the best. I mean, explaining to a cop that the reason you totaled your car was because The Late Show's new helmsman said there was a bear in the road and you needed to punch its face with your bumper probably wouldn't go over well -- for you or CBS's legal department. Sadly the former Colbert Report host's' voice will only be available through September 22nd. [Image credit: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP]
Timothy J. Seppala09.02.2015
ICYMI: A super selfie, 'GTA' wildlife doc and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-437566{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-437566, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-437566{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-437566").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Australia's tourism board is winning the selfie game by offering a selfie that merges tourist's own selfies with the same scene, expanded, taken with a second camera. Land Rover is demoing a trailer concept system that allows drivers to see what's behind a trailer with a video feed. And Grand Theft Auto V fans cobbled together an amusing wildlife documentary from the game that is worth a watch.
Kerry Davis09.02.2015
Google's Waze testing carpooling program in Israel
Google's navigation subsidiary Waze is getting into the carpooling business via a pilot program in Israel, according to Reuters. The application, called RIdeWith, will use the company's traffic reporting system to figure out popular routes and match drivers with users going the same direction. Unlike contentious ridesharing services from Lyft and Uber, however, Waze's program won't allow drivers to earn a salary. Instead, they can only claim two trips a day, and collect just enough from riders to cover gas and vehicle wear-and-tear.
Steve Dent07.06.2015
Arnold Schwarzenegger is giving voice directions to Waze users
There's a new Terminator movie coming out, and what the studio saved on spellcheck it was able to pay Arnold Schwarzenegger for extra promotional work. As such, the actor has teamed up with Waze to lend his unique voice to the company's crowdsourced sat nav service. If you want to be steered around town by the governator, you just have to head into the settings menu and select Terminator Genisys from the options.
Daniel Cooper06.16.2015
Waze will tweet if there's unusual traffic in your area
Unless you live in California, it's not that often that you make an effort to specifically check the traffic conditions for your morning commute. That's probably because you'll be spending a big chunk of your time with your face buried in Twitter instead. That's why Waze thought it'd be a good idea to launch a traffic alerts program on the social network, called Unusual Traffic. The system compares current journey times with historical data and, when there's a noticeable difference, will send a tweet letting you know.
Daniel Cooper04.30.2015
Waze knows how long you'll be stuck in traffic
It happens: you get caught in a traffic jam, because you either ignore Waze's warnings or have no other choice. Thankfully, an update for both iOS and Android versions of the app adds a feature that should make the delay (at least a little) less excruciating. The Traffic Bar shows your progress along a road with heavy traffic, plus how much time it estimates you'll spend stuck in the jam. This Waze refresh also makes it easier to retrieve an old account on a new phone and adds a voice prompt ("Let's go via [insert road here]") that tells you the best routes to take. Finally, both apps were tweaked to run faster, which is always a welcome upgrade for something you're supposed to use in a moving vehicle.
Mariella Moon04.02.2015
Waze now alerts you to nearby child abductions
Waze is mostly meant to help you avoid traffic snarls and speed traps, but it's now performing a valuable public service. Effective immediately, the navigation app will notify you about AMBER Alerts for abducted children wherever you're driving. Stop for at least 10 seconds and you'll get details for both the victims and any vehicles they might be traveling in. It's a simple upgrade, but it could make all the difference if you spot a child or captor in time for police to stage a rescue. [Top image credit: The Washington Post/Getty Images]
Jon Fingas03.04.2015
Google OKs pre-installing Waze on Android devices
Next time you buy an Android phone, you just might find Waze among its pre-installed apps. See, it's now part of Google Mobile Services, or what you call the list of Android apps that manufacturers and carriers can install before shipping devices out to buyers. If you recall, Mountain View snapped up the navigation app back in 2013, and it remained separate from Google Maps. In Google's and Waze's announcement at the Mobile World Congress, spokesperson Julie Mossler wrote: "If a leading telecom pre-installs Waze in his handsets, a large percentage of the population would immediately have access to blocked roads, dangerous intersections traffic and more in real time."
Mariella Moon03.03.2015Boston partners with Waze to clear up clogged streets
Whether or not Boston's twisted streets really are the product of meandering cows, the city famously struggles with traffic these days. To help things out, the city announced a data sharing plan with Waze, where it will share information on expected road closures (like say, a championship parade) with the traffic app. On its end, Waze will pump data on its 400,000 or so drivers in the area back to the city's Traffic Management center, which engineers there can use to adjust signals at intersections to improve traffic flow. Waze announced Boston as one of ten cities participating in its Connected Citizens program last year, and helping untangle traffic jams could go a long way towards helping the Google-owned service be more appreciated by local officials. [Image credit: The Washington Post/Getty Images]
Richard Lawler02.21.2015
Daily Roundup: NASA engineer Annie Easley, a new View-Master and more!
Get caught up on today's news in the latest edition of the Daily Roundup. Learn about Annie Easley, an African-American woman who helped make early spaceflight possible, go hands-on with us as we take Mattel's View-Master for a spin and find out how the UK plans to test autonomous vehicles. All that and more can be found past the break.
Dave Schumaker02.13.2015
Miami cops flood Waze with fake police sightings
Hundreds of Miami police officers aren't happy with Waze's police-finding feature, and they're not content with asking Google to remove it. According to NBC Miami, a number of cops in the city are taking matters into their own hands, downloading the app and inundating it with fake police sightings. We're sure a lot of people love the app for that particular feature, as they can use it to make sure they're driving well below the speed limit in the presence of law enforcement. Some American officers told AP last month, though, that the app could pose a threat, as wanne-be cop killers can easily use it to find a target.
Mariella Moon02.12.2015
The police want Waze to pull speed trap tagging feature from app
When selecting a GPS device there are many factors to consider, like map quality, points-of-interest integration, and if it can help you avoid tickets. That last feature is a big one. According to the Associated Press, Waze, a GPS app that Google bought in 2013, is facing pressure from law enforcement around the United States to disable its police reporting software. Waze has built an audience by allowing users to crowd source information, telling drives exactly how long it takes to bypass bad traffic and, yes, where police have set up speed traps. This has drawn the ire of sheriffs in towns like Bedford County, Virginia who have made the slightly hyperbolic claim that Waze empowers smartphone users to be a "police stalker." It isn't just small town departments who are complaining. Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck complained in a letter to Google's chief executive on Dec. 30 that Waze could be "misused by those with criminal intent to endanger police officers and the community." In a statement to the Associate Press Jim Pasco, the executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police said: I can think of 100 ways that it could present an officer-safety issue. There's no control over who uses it. So, if you're a criminal and you want to rob a bank, hypothetically, you use your Waze. Currently there have been no confirmed instances that connect Waze to any attacks on police officers. The AP article doesn't address one of the major issues that may also be contributing to law enforcement's stance on Waze: speeding tickets. US Police departments use revenue from traffic tickets to help fund their departments. Sometimes that money is used in ways that gives police a personal incentive to keep the money rolling in. How much money though? According to Statistic Brain, an average of 112,000 people receive a speeding ticket each day, with an average cost of US$152 apiece. That adds up to an average of 41 million tickets each year, of which only 5% are ever contested in court. US citizens pay out $6,232,000,000 in speeding tickets every year. That's $6.3 billion dollars in revenue every 365 days taken in by law enforcement. At the risk of appearing cynical, that sounds like an equally viable reason for these agencies to be worried about Waze spreading. You can read the rest of AP's article here. Let us know what you think about Waze in the comments below.
John-Michael Bond01.27.2015
Police think Waze's traffic app puts officers in danger
You may use Google's Waze app primarily to avoid traffic jams and watch out for speed cameras, but some American police see it as a threat -- and they want Google to do something about it. Officers speaking to the Associated Press believe that Waze's police finding feature, which is mainly meant to warn about speed traps, makes it too easy for would-be cop killers to find targets. These critics hope to muster support from law enforcement groups and push Google into disabling the feature so that it's not relatively trivial to "stalk" uniformed people from a phone.
Jon Fingas01.26.2015
One of Waze's earliest rivals is calling it quits
If you were quick to embrace smartphones as navigational tools, you may know Trapster. It gives you crowdsourced alerts for speed traps, road hazards and other conditions that can affect your commute. Unfortunately, you won't have access to it for much longer; Trapster will shut down in the next few weeks after looking at its "ongoing investments." We've reached out to the company for more details on what's happening, but it's easy to see why it might close up shop. One of its main rivals over the years, Waze, is now under Google's wing -- it's difficult to imagine most crowdsourced location services competing against a company with that much clout. The news is undoubtedly sad if you're a loyal fan, but you'll at least have some alternatives (including Waze and Cobra Electronics' gear) for keeping tabs on driving conditions.
Jon Fingas12.01.2014
Google Search on Android now warns you when traffic grinds to a halt
Your Android phone can now warn you when traffic is likely to crawl to a standstill on the drive home. Google has updated the platform's search app to send Google Now notifications if road work, accidents and other incidents might create major delays. The alert system won't be as slick as having your very own traffic drone, but it should help you find an alternate route before you're caught up in gridlock.
Jon Fingas03.24.2014
Waze for Windows Phone 8 promises not to drain your battery anymore
Windows Phone 8 fans got a pleasant surprise when social GPS app Waze arrived on the Marketplace after Google snapped it up. That's why it's such a shame that it caused massive battery drain issues for some users. After months of people airing grievances on various forums, the service has finally unleashed a new version that promises improved battery life along with the usual bug fixes. Unfortunately, the WP8 app stills lags behind its iOS and Android brethren, lacking Facebook and calendar integration, among other features. If you're cool with what the app can do and could use the battery fix, though, head on over to the Windows Phone Marketplace.
Mariella Moon02.22.2014
Waze navigation app now reads destinations from iOS and Android calendars
Google-owned Waze updated its navigation app for iOS and Android just before the new year, improving the user experience with all manner of tweaks. Evidently, it neglected to add one specific feature, hence another update dropping today that'll allow Waze to talk to the calendar apps on both those platforms. It means that if you're organized enough to associate locations with calendar appointments, you can ask Waze to take you there with but a single prod from inside the calendar app. The navigation list within Waze will also auto-populate with destination info poached from appointments. Waze is eager to highlight the feature is easily disabled from within your device's settings -- you know, if you'd rather that Miley Cyrus concert date be kept as discreet as possible.
Jamie Rigg02.20.2014
Waze speeds up its sat nav app with quicker search and simpler interface
Even though Waze is now under Google's umbrella, it's continued to operate as if nothing has changed, other than the fact that it now has a billion dollars. To that end, it's just rolled out a new release for Android and iOS with some welcome new features, most significantly an auto-complete function for addresses and categories that plays well with its new Google search powers. Other goodies include a redesigned main menu, easier waypoint editing and new icons on the map view to see traffic reports or nearby pals. Hopefully, other than borrowing its tech, Google will continue to leave the new acquisition alone -- after all, how many apps let you be guided around by a celebrity?
Steve Dent12.12.2013