Ford and General Motors Navigation Systems to Process Google Maps Entries
By Scott Doggett June 8, 2010
No one's ever calculated how many gallons of gasoline have been burned by lost, stubborn drivers who refuse to ask for directions, but at least Ford and General Motors appear to be addressing the issue.
The automakers said today that people who buy their cars will be able to use home computers to seek out a destination on Google Maps and send them to the cars' on-board navigation systems.
GM's OnStar navigation system, which sends out 1.4 million routing directions a month, will be able to integrate Google Maps destinations sent into its so-called Turn-By-Turn Navigation feature, GM said in a statement today.
Ford, in a separate statement today, said drivers will be able to send Google Maps destinations to Ford's SYNC system, which will be able to calculate the best route using current traffic information. Drivers can then activate the system through a voice command.
The agreements pair two of the largest U.S. automakers with the world's biggest search engine's free mapping service, which was launched in 2005. Both companies touted the new feature as a possible safety improvement because they say drivers will be less distracted by paper maps and written directions.
Ford said the Send to SYNC feature with Google Maps will be available later this month. The automaker previously announced a similar feature integrating AOL's MapQuest feature with its SYNC navigation system.
GM said the Google Maps feature will be available for all navigation-system enabled cars starting with the 2006 model year.
Danny King, Contributor
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