Google has announced a free mobile satellite navigation
application and a music element to its search, but both are limited
to US users for now.
Google has stepped up its challenge to rival Apple with a
sat-nav application for Samsung and Motorola smartphones running
Google's Android operating system.
Although Apple's iPhone features Google Maps, the new navigation
application will add real-time directions, Google Street View
photos, live traffic data and voice technology. Industry analysts
say this combination could pose a serious challenge to established
sat-nav suppliers like Garmin and Tom-Tom.
Google search results in the US now automatically include links
to audio previews of artists, songs and albums. They also contain
links to purchase tracks from partners such as
MySpace and Lala.
Google has also partnered with
Gracenote to enable users to search for songs by lyrics if the
full titles are not known.
This feature improves search and helps users discover new
sources of licensed music online and helps artists connect with new
generations of fans, Google said in a statement.
Music search is limited to the US, but Google has indicated it
is open to talking to possible overseas partners to expand the
feature to other regions.
Another innovation introduced by Google this week was its
Social Search feature, which is live in Google Labs, but not
yet integrated in the main search engine.
With Social Search enabled, Google search results will include
entries that relate to people in each user's social circle.