Google unveiled a free navigation system for mobile phones in a move seen as a potential challenge to the makers of standalone GPS navigation devices.US telecom carrier Verizon Wireless and US handset maker Motorola announced simultaneously that a smartphone going on sale in the United States, the Droid, would be the first to feature Google Maps Navigation.The Droid, which will cost 200 dollars and is being touted as a challenger to Apple’s iPhone and the Blackberry from Research in Motion, is powered by Android 2.0 software, Google’s next-generation mobile phone operating system.Google Maps Navigation, which will only work on smartphones running Android 2.0, includes many of the features of a traditional GPS device such as 3D map views and turn-by-turn voice guidance.Google’s Internet-connected system allows navigation using voice search in English, provides live traffic updates, includes satellite imagery from Google Maps and features “street view” — real ground-level pictures of destinations. Google Maps Navigation also allows users to conduct a search along their route for gas stations or restaurants, for example.Verizon and Motorola said the Droid, which features a touchscreen, a slide-out Qwerty keyboard, a five-megapixel camera and DVD-quality video capture and playback, will go on sale in the United States on November 6.Verizon is the latest US telecom carrier or manufacturer to adopt Android software in a bid to mount a challenge to the Blackberry and iPhone.

Source : http://tech.yahoo.com