You may have heard that Google purchased a popular social traffic app called Waze on Tuesday for a reported $1.03 billion. For those who aren't familiar with Waze, we've detailed everything you need to know about the app, below.
Like other mapping services, Waze offers voice-guided GPS navigation with turn-by-turn directions. But what's really unique about the app is its social layer: Waze's active community of users share real-time traffic and road information. That means it gives you a heads-up about reported obstacles on your route (e.g. road closures, accidents, police traps), and can then redirect you to your destination.
Waze also learns the routes that users prefer to take towards frequent destinations, while also finding the cheapest gas station along the way.
Users have to option to report information via hands-free voice control, which is activated by waving your hand in front of your smartphone screen (and initiating the phone's proximity sensor). Saying prompts such as "report traffic" triggers the app to provide alerts on traffic flow.
Waze's greatest appeal is its social and gamification features. Users earn points whenever they contribute road information, and as points rack up, their ranking in the Waze community rises. (User designations begin at "Waze Baby" and go up to "Waze Royalty.")
Users can also contribute by editing Waze's maps to fix problems they may see. The more a user drives and edits, the higher their clout as a Waze editor, and the more their editing permissions expand.
The app also eliminates the need for "I'm-five-minutes-away" texts to friends. That's because users can see live updates of their buddies who use Waze, as they travel towards an event or meeting spot. Waze also has Facebook integration, so directions for Facebook events to which users have RSVP'd automatically show up in the app.
Awesome features aside, why did Google fork out so much money to buy Waze? Mashable's Todd Wasserman cites four reasons: Waze didn't have any real competitors in the mapping sector; it gives Google an active social layer for mobile; Maps is a very important product for Google; and the purchase was a defensive move by Google to maintain their dominance into the future.
Right now, Google Maps has a traffic layer with red, yellow and green lines that indicate how heavy traffic is on the road; but this feature is not as immediate as people submitting real-time specifics on their commute to work.
Despite the acquisition, Google hinted in its blog post that it will initially stay hands-off, saying Waze's product-development team will remain in Israel, for now.
The app is available for iOS and Android.
Mashable composite: image via iStockphoto, wildpixel; logo courtesy of Waze.
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