We follow Waze pretty closely here. It’s kind of odd really. I don’t really drive that far normally. But the fun that Waze brings to driving (hands free of course) is too much fun to ignore. Today I received an email from Dan letting me know that a new and pretty substantial update was released, adding improved social networking abilities and *drum roll please* — geo-tagging. The latter is a biggie as it lets Waze users reach out and share driving information like never before.
There’s two ways to use the geo-tagging. First, let Waze take care of itself. If you have geo-tagging turned on, tweets will automatically appear on screen when in proximity to locations tweeted about by other users. If you’re going to get all manual with it, simply add the #wazelive hastag to your tweets to alert other users to everything from cheap gas to forrest fires shutting down the interstate. Your tweet will also then show on the Waze map, giving the community a much deeper and “real” interaction.
But Twitter isn’t the only hot spot in this update. Facebook integration has also received a healthy dose of TLC. Namely, profile images and info. But the real treat is that Waze will search through your Facebook contacts and present them on the Waze app, alerting you when you’re close to them. Necessary? No. Though it’s certainly useful.
A big update that will yet again, leave me driving around aimlessly just to conquer my own little part of the world. Bigger screenshot inside…
[Thanks, Dan]
Waze
It’s that time again folks — time for another Waze contest. On that note, who doesn’t like free stuff? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Everyone. With that said, who wouldn’t like to win one of three iPads Waze is giving away to users who simply collect the most points by driving around. Yup, simply driving around can net you a shiny new iPad.
The new contest being held by Waze is in support of the World Cup and features all new Soccer Ball “road goodies”. Over 100 countries will be able to participate, with the final 16 users being whittled down to the Final Four and eventually three winners.
The Schedule:
- June 11: Competition begins
- July 4th: Final Four selected
- July 11th: Competition ends at midnight GMT – winning country and iPad winners will be announced within 24-48 hours.
**After each elimnation/round, road goodies will be reset so it’s in your best interest to get your path of destruction marked down and memorized, ’cause all that matters at the end of the day is the person with the most points. That is, if you want an iPad. If you care more for aimlessly wondering about, well then…have at it…
The full rundown of the competition can be found over at Waze’s website. You in?
- February 17, 2010 7:28 am
We’ve covered Waze in the past for it’s simple use, nicely done UI, and robust + active user community which makes the user generated GPS application and service a joy to use. If you find your daily commute boring and unlively, I promise that after “Wazing” even one of your trips, you’ll be hooked. Dan from Waze just hit me up with another mail alerting me to a freshly released iPhone update that adds in two big features that should keep hooked users even deeper and newcomers intrigued.
- Personalized Alternative Routes: Hate taking the same path twice, like some variety from day-to-day, or need a quick second option because of a weather/road hazard? This feature is for you. After driving a second, third, or *insert number here* route 2-3 times, the Waze application will learn your new route and display it in addition to your normal route with info on each allowing you to make an educated decision as to how you want to go.
- Scoreboard: The scoreboard has been talked about several times now over the last few months. For Waze die hard Waze users, the scoreboard is by far the best new feature, allowing them to finally compare their points against other local Wazers. Nothing makes a boring task more lively and fun like the good ‘ol spirit of competition.
If you haven’t tried Waze yet, now is a better time than ever. The indecisive will find the new alternative routes feature a lifesaver as will the die-hard users with the scoreboard. Is there any reason not to use Waze?
Waze
I just received an email from Dan of Waze and decided that this little tidbit was worth sharing.
I’ve covered Waze before. If you still don’t know, Waze is a GPS/navigation/map app that plays on user generated content and social networking. By driving around and updating Waze’s database, users have the chance of winning prizes as they rack up points after “driving over” various icons spread around on the Waze’s maps.
Now that the preliminary chit chat is over, let’s get to it, shall we? From February 8th (yesterday) through February 14th, US and Canadian Waze users will be able to enjoy the Valentines day spirit with special Valentines Day edition icons such as cupid arrows, hearts, etc. Even better than “digital prizes” however are real, tangible ones. Each and every time a Waze user drives over a Valentines Day themed icon, they have a chance to win either a “Movie Night for Two” gift card or a heart-shaped box of chocolates.
For users outside of the US and Canada, Waze will be offering special “holiday themed” icons including the same cupid’s arrows and heart-shaped love balloons except with points attached instead of any physical prizes. These points will carry over to the next big Waze update in which a scoreboard will be launching, allowing users to compete with each other.
The level of interaction with Waze is of a higher level than other GPS/navigation apps. So much so that even though it isn’t always the best at getting me where I want to go, I at least enjoy getting there. Life’s too short not to enjoy it anyway.
Overall, the next few days of driving will be even more fun now that some chocolate is involved (remember, I’m a chocoholic) thanks to Waze’s unique twist on navigation. If you don’t have it now, you might want to give it a try at least for the Valentines Day special.
Enjoy.
(Thanks Dan)
- December 17, 2009 7:02 am
If you haven’t checked out Waze yet, you don’t know what you’re missing. The simple “find all of the state license plates on your cross country trip” now pales in comparison to the scope and cool factor that Waze offers. What started as a simple social GPS app that allowed end users to upload road conditions among other things has grown into a GPS game of sorts — enticing users to discover new paths to their destinations in order to collect the hidden presents on the map for the chance to win actual real life prizes dubbed “Road Goodies”.
For this latest update being released right in the middle of the holiday season, Waze has updated the Road Goodies with a special holiday flare. The new icons and gifts now feature snowflakes, candy canes and gift packages as the icons you must search out in your map quest across your local splotch of land.
We’ve all now had several weeks to get acquainted with Waze and the Road Goodies and I’m at least still finding it just as fun as it was several weeks ago. But today Waze is bringing some more “geo-gaming” (as it’s called) to the table by introducing foursqare support, allowing foursquare users to tap into their accounts and use said accounts all within the Waze application itself. A hit in the making for sure.
Finally, Spanish and Italian language support makes an appearance thanks to the help of the Waze user community.
User generated apps such as Waze that allow the user community at large to upload, edit, and update the app’s information for the rest of the world are quickly gaining a footing in the mobile sphere. With unique twists on such mundane things as simple navigation between point A, B, and everything in between makes me the technological world in which I live all the better.
The updated Holiday themed Waze complete with foursquare integration and Spanish/Italian language support is now available for Android, iPhone, Symbian, and Windows Mobile.
Give Waze a shot and let us know what you think! Press release after the gallery.
Press Release
WAZE’S HOLIDAY VERSION ENHANCES GAMING AND ADDS
USER-GENERATED MULTI-LANGUAGE SUPPORT
New Version Features Holiday-Themed ‘Road Goodies’, Waze ‘Treasure Hunt Contest’, Foursquare Integration and Multiple Language Deployment
Palo Alto, Calif. — December XX, 2009 — Waze, the first free provider of driver-generated maps and real-time road information, today announced a new holiday version of its free navigation app to include holiday-themed ‘road goodies’, a treasure hunt contest, integration with foursquare, as well as multi-language support.
Waze recently added ‘road goodies’ – small icons worth bonus points – to the map in areas where the waze system has identified map problems. As users drive around to munch these ‘goodies’, the system analyzes the driver’s GPS data to automatically solve the identified problems, improving map quality, and therefore navigation, for all drivers in that area. The holiday version features wintery, new ‘road goodies’ including snowflakes, candy canes and small gift packages, scattered all over the map.
Waze’s holiday version also announces the ‘Holiday Treasure Hunt’, featuring treasure chests that, when driven over, have the potential to reward users with anything from bonus points to valuable real-world prizes. From December 17, 2009 to January 1, 2010, users, worldwide, should start looking for treasure chests along their daily commute for their chance to win. More details can be found on the waze blog.
Taking the gaming aspect of waze even further, this version also features an integration with Foursquare, a new location-based geo-gaming app with a lot of buzz. Users of both apps can now ‘check in’ to various locations on Foursquare via the waze client – a feature that’s sure to become very popular – and even earn a waze ‘roadwarrior’ badge.
In addition the elements mentioned above, waze’s holiday version also introduces a new capability allowing for quick translation and availability of waze in any language. The version includes Spanish and Italian support, both on the client interface as well as the audio navigation prompts. These translations were fully undertaken by waze community members, and any other users who’d like to help translate waze into their language are invited to the waze wiki (www.waze.com/wiki) for more information on how to do so.
“There’s a lot of fun to be had on waze this holiday season,” says Noam Bardin, waze’s CEO. “In addition to the holiday-themed ‘road goodies’ and treasure hunt contest, we’re very enthusiastic about our collaboration with Foursquare. Individually, waze and Fourquare are taking geo-gaming to the next level, and, combined together, we’re positive that our users will be able to experience both apps in exciting new ways.”
About waze
Waze is a free mobile navigation application that allows drivers to build and use live maps, real-time traffic updates and turn-by-turn navigation to improve their daily commute. Waze also has a social element that gives drivers the ability to actively update one other on traffic, police traps, construction, speed cams and more – and because it’s 100% user-generated, the more people who use waze, the better (and more fun) it gets!
Waze is available on the Apple AppStore and the Android Market Place and can be downloaded from the waze web site for Symbian and Windows Mobile devices. To learn more about waze online, visit www.waze.com or @waze on Twitter.
- November 25, 2009 1:23 pm
Think what you will, but navigation apps are pretty much reaching the end of the “feature ladder”. That is, there really isn’t much else you can add to GPS/navigation apps or hardware that will make it any more beneficial. Sure you can find ways to connect the device to more aspects of our lives, but all in all, getting from point A to point B with some goodies in between is straightforward (figuratively). One part of navigation devices (especially software in mobile applications) that frustrates drivers most is coming into a “dead zone”, or an area without any helpful/useful information. This type of frustration usually pertains to user generated mapping services as such a set up is highly customizable and frequently updated though does suffer from basic flaws. Namely, if no one ventures to a particular spot, little information is collected and retained for future users.
With that said, you may recall an app by the name of “Waze” that we covered a couple months back here and here. Just in case you missed the previous posts, the basic concept is easy to understand: Waze is a fast and intuitive user generated turn-by-turn app that manages to retail for free. As mentioned above, areas with little user travel created dead spots in Waze’s mapping data. The problem is obviously figuring out how to get more people traveling though said areas. The solution is clever to say the least. Turn it into a game. A Pac-Man like game called “Road Goodies”… (Video and more inside!)
- September 22, 2009 8:25 am
Whatever walk of life you choose, whether it be Android, iPhone, WinMo, or Symbian (sorry BlackBerry users), Waze as of today has you covered. If you didn’t already know, Waze is a user input generated GPS app that provides real-time tracking of traffic as well as turn-by-turn functionality. For those looking for a quick look at the iPhone version, take a minute stop over here. While it has already been available for Android and the iPhone for some time now, those two platforms aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. For the individuals who hate all things Apple and aren’t quite down with Android and whom instead use WinMo or Symbian, the alpha testing that I mentioned in my earlier post has ended with the final WinMo/Symbian release announcement coming today at DEMO ’09. As soon as the details are announced, head on over to http://www.waze.com/download/ to enjoy one of the most helpful GPS apps in the mobile app sphere now on Windows Mobile and Symbian. Wrapping it up…if you’re on the fence about Waze, one important thing to remember is that it is FREE. Enticing isn’t it?
- September 14, 2009 12:42 pm
Want to get somewhere but need some help? For many years now, GPS units and more recently, GPS apps for mobile devices has made getting from point A to point B incredibly easy. The next step in GPS technology is that of user generated GPS content. That is, a turn-by-turn GPS app that incorporates user generated content such as traffic conditions etc. Waze, one such app has been available for some time now on the Apple App Store for the iPhone. I’ve given the app a good hour of usage on my iPhone and will continue to test it over the next couple of weeks as I have some travel plans coming up where this could come in handy. So far my initial response is pretty positive. The only complication some may have is that navigation is sort of involved as there are quite a few menu’s to navigate through. Still it’s a solid app worth more investigating.
More importantly however is a new alpha version of Waze for WinMo and Symbian. What is already appearing to be a great little GPS app for iPhone has a bright future on other platforms. If you’re interested in trying out this app and have either a WinMo or Symbian device, you can sign up for the alpha testing at http://www.waze.com/alpha_register/”. Since I don’t have a device with either of those operating systems I’ll have to relay on you fellow readers for any input. Care to share?
**Screenshots inside
