Google has reportedly been hard at work developing glasses with a built-in heads-up display (HUD) on one lens. The glasses reportedly look very similar to Oakley’s Thump sunglasses, which allowed users to load songs onto a small flash drive and listen to tunes through integrated ear buds. According to 9to5Google, the glasses will be equipped with “hardware near the equivalent of a generation-old Android smartphone,” which means we’ll likely see a 1GHz processor and internal storage in the 8GB to 16GB range. The glasses will also be capable of voice input and output according to the report, and they will be able to capture photos using a front-facing camera. A user may even be able to navigate through menu items by tilting his or her head, 9to5Google said. The pilot program for Google’s HUD glasses is expected to launch soon but the devices are reportedly still far from ready for a mass roll out.

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TeleNav just announced that the company will soon introduce a brand new voice-guided GPS navigation service for use in mobile apps and web sites. The innovative navigation solution will be HTML5-based and it will include spoken turn-by-turn directions. By using one line of code, TeleNav will provide free navigation to any mobile app or mobile web site, supplanting the need in many cases for something static like Google Maps. TeleNav let us know that this service will be free even for non-TeleNav subscribers, which is amazing if you think about it. The service will be launching “early next year,” though developers can start testing the service starting today. TeleNav’s full press release is included after the break.

TeleNav Announces World’s First HTML5 Browser-Based, Voice-Guided, Turn-by-Turn GPS Navigation Service

Free for both developers and consumers; Access available now for select developers

Sunnyvale, California — Dec. 15, 2011 – TeleNav, Inc. (NASDAQ: TNAV), one of the largest global wireless location-based services providers, today announced that it has created the first HTML5 browser-based, voice-guided, turn-by-turn GPS navigation service for mobile devices. By simply adding one line of code, developers of mobile websites or of apps with local content will have a free and easy way to integrate full GPS turn-by-turn directions into their services, creating a more seamless user experience and increasing user engagement and time spent within their applications.

Similar to TeleNav’s award-winning GPS navigation application, the HTML5 navigation service will include full-color moving maps, audio directions, and automatic rerouting if the driver misses a turn. TeleNav’s HTML5 navigation service will be free for both developers and consumers and will support all major mobile platforms. 

“This is an enormous amount of added value for any mobile, location-based website or app focused on travel, shopping, local search, deals and more,” said Sal Dhanani, co-founder and vice president of products for TeleNav. “With one line of code, you can give your customers one-click access to premium, voice-guided turn-by-turn directions to any location, including hotels, restaurants, merchants or deal locations. Customers never need to leave your app.”

TeleNav would like to partner with select developers to test the service. Interested mobile website publishers and app developers can apply for early access by visiting TeleNav’s website at www.telenav.com/developer/HTML5.

TeleNav expects to publicly launch its HTML5 service in early 2012. Consumers will not need to be current TeleNav customers but will need to have an HTML5-compatible feature phone or smartphone.

Microsoft secretly participated in a recent $25 million funding round for Israel-based navigation solutions provider Waze, Israeli tech site TheMarker reported last week. Microsoft makes very few investments each year according to TheMarker’s source, but the tech giant apparently took quite an interest in Waze’s unique brand of navigation apps. “Waze is a social mobile application providing free turn-by-turn navigation based on the live conditions of the road. 100% powered by users, the more you drive, the better it gets,” the company’s website states. The company’s apps provide free voice-guided navigation to users, and also provide real-time data such as traffic conditions and speed trap alerts based on both automatic and manual feedback from each of Waze’s 4.5 million users around the world. While the terms of Microsoft’s investment were not revealed, the move is an interesting one — Microsoft is now in bed with Nokia, owner of navigation giant Navteq, and it will supply the OS for Nokia’s smartphones moving forward. Microsoft has already announced that it will use Navteq to power future navigation solutions in its Windows Phone OS, but it looks like a unique version of Waze for Windows Phone is in the works as well.

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TomTom on Monday lowered its 2011 financial outlook again as consumer interest in dedicated navigation devices dwindles. Despite beating second-quarter revenue estimates, the Dutch company cut its full-year revenue guidance to €1.23 – €1.28 billion from its previously forecasted range of between €1.43 billion and €1.48 billion. This marks the second time this year that TomTom has lowered its 2011 guidance — the company had already reduced its full-year revenue forecast this past April. TomTom made a name for itself selling sleek Personal Navigation Devices that could be mounted in any car to provide the user with voice-guided GPS navigation. Following the emergence of smartphone-based solutions over the past few years, however, dedicated navigation companies like TomTom and Garmin have not been able to recover business lost to free solutions like Google Maps and inexpensive paid mobile solutions such as those offered by CoPilot and TalaNav. TomTom does offer a series of mobile applications, but the relative high price points and the flood of competition have proven to be difficult barriers.

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We’re back with another one and this time it’s thanks to TeleNav, our launch partner for our new podcast series. Want to get your hands on the hottest tablet on the planet, which is still sold out almost everywhere? Here’s how you can enter to win:

• First of all, make sure to check out our very first podcast with information on the giveaway!
• Install the free GPS by TeleNav app on your iPhone or your Android smartphone and start the 30-day trial.
• Leave a comment below letting us know your feedback on the podcast, your thoughts on the TeleNav app, or why you’d like to win a brand new iPad 2.

The content will run for one week until July 4th at 11:59 p.m. EDT. For official terms and conditions click here.

Good luck!

P.S. You can also follow @TeleNav on Twitter, along with the @BGR team at @boygenius, @zacharye and @robotodd!

On Tuesday Garmin announced that Navigon’s shareholders have signed an agreement for a Garmin subsidiary to purchase Germany-based Navigon. “This acquisition is a great complement to Garmin’s existing automotive and mobile business. Navigon has invested significantly in the European automotive OEM business, and we feel that we can rapidly expand our automotive OEM footprint and capabilities through this transaction,” said Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and COO. “With Navigon, we are also acquiring one of the top-selling navigation applications for the iPhone and Android platforms – something that we expect will help drive revenue for the combined company going forward. Combining Navigon’s and Garmin’s strength also improves our competitiveness and standing particularly in Europe.” Garmin said that Navigon will continue to operate as a subsidiary of Garmin and that the deal is still subject to regulatory approvals. Financial terms were not disclosed. Hit the jump for the full press release.

Garmin® Ltd. Announces Signing of Agreement To Acquire Navigon® AG

Schaffhausen, Switzerland and Hamburg, Germany /June 14, 2011/Business Wire — Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN) and Navigon AG announced today that Garmin Ltd. and the shareholders of Navigon AG have signed an agreement for a subsidiary of Garmin to acquire privately-held navigation provider Navigon AG (“Navigon”).

“This acquisition is a great complement to Garmin’s existing automotive and mobile business.  Navigon has invested significantly in the European automotive OEM business, and we feel that we can rapidly expand our automotive OEM footprint and capabilities through this transaction,” said Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and COO.  “With Navigon, we are also acquiring one of the top-selling navigation applications for the iPhone and Android platforms – something that we expect will help drive revenue for the combined company going forward. Combining Navigon’s and Garmin’s strength also improves our competitiveness and standing particularly in Europe.”

Navigon is headquartered in Germany.  In addition to its automotive OEM and navigation application for smartphones, the company has an estimated seven percent share in portable navigation devices (PNDs) in Europe.  In regards PNDs, Navigon’s products are known for their compelling design, performance, and innovative software features.

“We look forward to sharing expertise, technologies, and relationships between Navigon and Garmin in order to serve more customers, expand product offerings, and lead the market in hardware and software innovation,” said Egon Minar, CEO of Navigon.  “Our two companies each bring complementary strengths to the table, but what we share is a passion for customer satisfaction through innovation.”

Navigon will operate as a subsidiary of Garmin Ltd.  The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Financial terms of the transaction will not be released.

Google — noting that 40% of its Google Maps users are on mobile devices — updated its Google Maps Web app for iOS and Android today. We’ve been pretty satisfied with the native applications on Android and iOS, but the website allows you to access many of the options that are available from a desktop browser, too. That includes the ability to view your location, search nearby areas with suggestions and auto-complete, get directions for driving, transit, biking, or walking, view different lays, view Place pages, and access your starred locations. We’re particularly excited about the option for accessing our starred locations, a feature that’s not available in the native iOS application. You can access the revamped interface by visiting maps.google.com from your iOS or Android device.

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Several new features set to be introduced in Microsoft’s upcoming “Mango” update for Windows Phone were revealed this past weekend. We already knew that Mango is set to be a major update to the Windows Phone platform — perhaps the most anticipated new feature is improved multitasking support — but Microsoft had been keeping several upcoming additions under wraps. Newly revealed features include Bing Audio, which will identify songs by listening to music, a la Shazam; Bing Vision, which will provide barcode scanning along with a host of camera-assisted search functions; the addition of turn-by-turn navigation to Bing Maps; speech recognition support in the messaging app; and a new native podcast player. None of these new features have been confirmed by Microsoft at this point but considering the proven track record of the source, it looks like Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.5 update is going to be even more exciting than we thought.

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Google Maps has hit a new milestone as the first Android application to surpass the 50 million download mark. The free application has seen many revisions since its public introduction in 2008 — as part of Android 1.6 — and now includes 3D modeling with multi-touch zoom and panning, free voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation, and support for Google’s Latitude and Places products. Given that it’s available on every iteration of Android — that we can think of — we’re not surprised to learn it’s the most downloaded application ever. Congrats to the Google Maps team. 

[Via Mobile Burn]

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Research In Motion announced on Monday that it has updated its BlackBerry Traffic navigation software to version 2.0.0.1749. The latest iteration includes the following changes:

• Select between two routes to a destination, and can use a new traffic view that displays predicted traffic conditions for each route.
• Pre-set destinations, such as work or home, or get an ETA to destinations from within their BlackBerry® Contacts, enter an address manually, or find new places using the search feature
• Quickly share ETAs with contacts via SMS, email, or PIN message

RIM also said that, by anonymously collecting user data, the software will now optimize your estimated time of arrival, and will suggest the best time to leave based on current traffic conditions. BlackBerry Traffic requires a GPS-equipped device running BlackBerry OS 4.6 or newer. The app will be rolling into the App World over the next 24 hours. Hit the jump for a link to save yourself some commuting time.

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At SXSW, Google’s VP of  Location and Local Services, Marissa Mayer, took the stage and dished out some interesting Google data, including mobile stats. During her talk, Mayer revealed the following statistics we found interesting:

• 40% of all Google Maps usage is from mobile devices, and Christmas and New Years day mobile usage surpassed desktop usage for the first time.
• 150 million mobile users on Google Maps
• Google Maps Navigation, included on Android handsets, has guided users 12 billion miles a year, and the latest version with traffic routing saves users 2 years per day in time that would have been spent in traffic.
• Google Maps could get smarter, and become contextually aware. For instance, if you were trying to catch a flight, Google Maps could see your flight schedule to see when your flight was, then look and analyze real-time traffic data and weather conditions to try and figure out the exact time you should leave
• Google would like there to be better Google Maps for iPhone. “We like being the default provider, but we’d like to get some of these updates out to a broader audience. That’s still a debate/question we’re considering.”

With Google’s Android explosion continuing, it looks like there will plenty more Google Maps and Navigation users over the next few years.

Oh Google Maps, is there anything you can’t do? Via a blog post just moments ago, Google announced an incremental update to its Maps application for Android. The update, which is still technically in beta, brings real-time traffic routing right to your smartphone. “You don’t have to do anything to be routed around traffic; just start Navigation like you normally would, either from the Navigation app or from within Google Maps,” reads the announcement. “Before today, Navigation would choose whichever route was fastest, without taking current traffic conditions into account.” The software will work in both North America and Europe, and is waiting for you in the Android Market. Enjoy.

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So you just read our Nexus S review and are feeling a bit jealous of the new device, it’s understandable. Your current Android handset may not have all the computational prowess of the latest and greatest “pure Google” offering, but rest assured knowing that you can get your hands on some of the software goodies the device runs (no, not Android 2.3… yet). Google has just dropped Maps 5.0 into the Android Market for your downloading pleasure. The new bits include 3D mapping, vector-based mapping, offline rerouting and navigating, as well as offline map storage. It all looks so sexy. Hit the jump to check out a quick promo video from Google then be sure to download the new goodies from the market. Enjoy!

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Today, via a press release, German-based navigation company NAVIGON announced the release of its MobileNavigator product on the Android platform. Touting the software as the “first on-board navigation app from a major navigation company,” the company is hoping that some of the software’s extras — on-device maps, live traffic, real traffic-sign displays and red light camera locations — will help it to compete with the free Google Maps Navigation option. One leg-up MobileNavigator does have on said alternative is that it will run on devices running Android 1.5 or higher — Google Maps Navigation has a baseline of Android 2.0. The software requires 1.5GB of storage space and, after a free 30-day trial period, it will be priced at $39.99 for the next two weeks, or $59.99 thereafter. MobileNavigator is available in the Android Market starting today.

NAVIGON Launches On-Board Navigation App for Android Smartphones

Provides Premium, All Inclusive Experience with On-Board Map Material, Industry First Reality Scanner and Traffic Live

Hamburg, Germany October 27, 2010—NAVIGON AG, a leading provider of mobile on-board navigation, today announced the release of the US version of its award winning MobileNavigator for the Android platform. The first on-board navigation app of a major navigation company to launch on the Android platform, MobileNavigator brings premium navigation to the growing Android user base. Among many signature functions, the app includes the industry-first feature Reality Scanner that identifies points of interest by showing them in a live camera view. MobileNavigator is available now from the Android Market and includes Traffic Live and without an additional cost.

MobileNavigator brings first-class developments in GPS navigation technology and real-time travel information to the Android platform. “For almost two decades NAVIGON brings preeminent navigation technology; this long standing experience enables us to deliver sophisticated navigation solutions that transform smartphones into navigation solutions comparable to standalone devices,” said Gerhard Mayr, NAVIGON vice-president worldwide mobile phones and new markets. “Other than free navigation apps for the Android platform, NAVIGON’s app provides on-board premium maps and driving related features that go beyond providing simple directions, helping to make driving a more relaxed experience.”

Reality Scanner is an industry first feature for the Android platform. Utilizing the phone’s build-in camera, positioning, and compass components together with NAVIGON’S extensive POI database to project POI (points of interest) icons directly on the camera’s image. Users can point the device and instantly identify POIs in or around the location. Other premium features include, Reality View Pro, displaying photo-realistic 3D views of actual road, highway/interstate, signs and exits, and lane guide markers for easy driving decisions. Traffic Live uses real-time data from over a million drivers to route around traffic. NAVIGON MyRoutes analyzes driving habits, patterns, location, time/day and provides up to three routes clearly displayed in-map with ETA, distance and driving times for each (a comprehensive list of features is below). The NAVIGON Red Light Cameras feature provides drivers an advanced visual warning for most red light and speed cameras.

MobileNavigator relies on the devices’ GPS receiver as well as the pre-loaded NAVTEQ® maps, providing full function navigation capabilities when a cell signal is not available. Off-board navigation, in comparison, is dependent on a cell phone connection to download map and routing data. Therefore, no cell signal renders navigation useless or interrupted until a connection is re-established. “MobileNavigator addresses the concerns of savvy consumers who are dissatisfied with the inconsistent performance of off-board turn-by-turn navigation solutions using lower quality data that has recently entered the market. NAVTEQ maps are a key differentiator and part of NAVIGON’S overall strategic vision for enabling a more sophisticated navigation experience for consumers,” said Jeff Mize, executive vice president, Global Sales, NAVTEQ. “The superiority of NAVTEQ® maps is defined by its verified accuracy, richness of content and its breadth of coverage data. Equipped with proprietary data collection tools and state-of-the-art technologies, NAVTEQ’S Geographic Analysts continually drive the roads to collect, verify and update over 260 attributes, many of which can only be captured through direct field collection. This in-depth “human factor” delivers data consistent with real world conditions and is one of the most robust and accurate geographic databases in the world.”

In addition to the benefits of an on-board solution, NAVIGON’S hallmark navigation capabilities and third party partnerships come together in MobileNavigator customized and developed for the Android platform.

The extensive set of features and capabilities include:

• Reality View™ Pro clearly displays photo-realistic 3D views of actual road, highway/interstate, signs and exits, and lane guide markers for easy driving decisions.

• Traffic Live The most precise traffic information available today, using real-time speed data from over a million drivers including commercial fleets such as trucks and taxis and non-commercial drivers with GPS capabilities.

• Reality Scanner helps finding points of interest by showing them in a live camera view.

• Lane Assistant Pro prepares drivers to make an upcoming exit or turn with a lane map complete with arrows and actual road geometry.

• Speed Assistant Adjustable audio-visual warning alerts drivers of speed and can be turned on or off.

• Text-to-Speech Complementing turn-by-turn directions; informs the driver of both the street name and the direction to turn.

• NAVIGON MyRoutes analyzes driving habits, patterns, location, time/day and provides up to three routes clearly displayed in-map with ETA, distance and driving times for each.

• Day & Night Mode for map display.

• Direct Access to Contacts Allows navigation to contacts saved in the phone’s address book.

• Route Planning

• Branded POIs and POIs along the route and in Reality Scanner.

• 2D and 3D map view

• Coordinate Input Employ longitude and latitude coordinates as a destination as an alternative to traditional input like an address or POI by name. Email geographical coordinates for precise location identification.

• Automatic Portrait or Landscape

• Intelligent address entry for quick text entry and lookup results.

• Real Street and Hwy sign display

• Directly call POIs

• Pedestrian Navigation

• Google Local Search Connected instant search of local points of interest.

• Red Light Cameras provides drivers an advanced visual warning for most red light and speed cameras.

Pricing and Availability

MobileNavigator is available now in the Android Market and Google Checkout for *$39.99 for two-weeks. Post promotion the app retails for a one-time fee of *$59.99. The price includes the Traffic Live services. MobileNavigator is equipped with maps of the U.S.A. from NAVTEQ®.

*NOTE: Price subject to slight variations based on exchange rates between Euros and US Dollars.

Compatibility

NAVIGON MobileNavigator is compatible with most Android phones and runs with Android 1.5, 1.6, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2. The application requires a minimum of 30 MB of free RAM and about 1.5 GB storage space for maps, voices etc. Supported screen resolutions are 320×240, 480×320, 800×480, 850×480 and vice versa.

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Hot on the heels of the public break-up between GPS giant Garmin and handset maker ASUS, the navigation company has announced that it will still work with the Taiwanese handset providing its GPS software and some location-based service applications on select ASUS, Android handsets. The exact verbiage of the statement looks like this:

ASUS will design and manufacture new models of ASUS-branded mobile phones, some of which will include preloaded Garmin navigation and Location Based Service (LBS) applications. Garmin will expand its mobile handset application development and plans to offer navigation and other applications through certain consumer application stores.

DigiTimes is reporting that the deal between Garmin and ASUS is exclusive on the Android platform; DT also notes that Garmin will be offering “software on Apple’s App Store and RIM’s BlackBerry App World for free download.” The blog cites Asustek as the source of its information.

UPDATE: Garmin contacted BGR this morning to let us know about a few inaccuracies in DigiTimes’ report. Here’s Garmin’s statement:

It is possible that we will offer navigation apps on Apple and Blackberry devices, but we haven’t announced when they will be available or how much those apps will cost. They will not be free.

Read [Garmin] Read [Digitimes]