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25th July 2006 - Google Inc. says it plans
to offer live traffic information for mobile phones in
more than 30 cities in the United States, including Seattle,
starting today
The feature expands Google's mapping technology into
an area where Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo already have
a presence, but in different ways. Yahoo and Microsoft
offer real-time traffic information on their Web-based
mapping services for PCs, and Microsoft's research unit
has licensed traffic-monitoring technology for mobile
devices to a Kirkland-based startup, InRix Inc.
Google's new mobile traffic service doesn't predict
upcoming road conditions, unlike the technology that
Microsoft Research licensed to InRix. At the same time,
the mobile version of Microsoft's MSN mapping technology
for consumers doesn't include traffic information.
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The Google traffic feature will be released as an update
to the free Google Maps for Mobile service, said Gummi Hafsteinsson,
a product manager with the company. In the cities where it
works, the feature will show traffic conditions on most major
highways -- indicating green for clear roadways, yellow for
medium congestion and red for high congestion or stopped traffic.
Google Maps for Mobile works on Java-enabled mobile devices.
For now, the new Google traffic service isn't available on
the version of Google Maps for PCs, Hafsteinsson said.
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