Waze
Encyclopedia
Waze is a free GPS application featuring turn-by-turn navigation
, developed by the Israeli start-up Waze Mobile for mobile phones. It currently supports iOS, Android, Windows Mobile
, Symbian, and BlackBerry
. Waze differs from traditional GPS navigation software
as it is a community-driven application and learns from users' driving times to provide routing and real-time traffic updates. It is also free to download and use, as it gathers map data and other information from users who use the service. Additionally, people can report accidents, traffic jams, speed traps, police and can update roads, landmarks, house numbers, etc. , the software is in use by 7 million drivers.
Waze is available for download and use anywhere in the world, but some countries have a full basemap, whereas other countries still require users to record the roads and edit the maps. Currently Waze has a complete base map in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Israel (claimed to be the best map for that country), Ecuador, (parts of) Argentina, and Panama, but the company has plans to make it available in other countries in Europe and elsewhere.
In addition to turn-by-turn voice navigation, real-time traffic, and other location-specific alerts, Waze simultaneously sends anonymous information, including your speed and location, back to its database to improve the service as a whole. This crowdsourcing
allows the Waze community to report navigation and mapping errors and traffic accidents simply by running the app while driving. Waze uses cupcakes and other gaming conventions to further engage users, allowing users to drive over icons of cupcakes and other road goodies located in certain locations to earn points. The mini-games encourage more user involvement and competition, and that means more valuable road information for the users and the database where those details are otherwise slim or lacking.
In 2011, Waze Mobile updated the software to display real-time, community-curated points of interest, including local events such as as street fairs and protests.
In 2011, the company, which plans to monetize through location based advertising and to expand into Asia, has raised an additional $30 million in financing.
and was wary of map data licensing that would restrict commercialization of the Waze service.
Turn-by-turn navigation
Turn-by-turn navigation is a feature of some GPS navigation devices where directions for a selected route are continually presented to the user in the form of spoken and visual instructions. The system keeps the user up-to-date about the best route to the destination, and is often updated according...
, developed by the Israeli start-up Waze Mobile for mobile phones. It currently supports iOS, Android, Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft that was used in smartphones and Pocket PCs, but by 2011 was rarely supplied on new phones. The last version is "Windows Mobile 6.5.5"; it is superseded by Windows Phone, which does not run Windows Mobile software.Windows Mobile is...
, Symbian, and BlackBerry
BlackBerry
BlackBerry is a line of mobile email and smartphone devices developed and designed by Canadian company Research In Motion since 1999.BlackBerry devices are smartphones, designed to function as personal digital assistants, portable media players, internet browsers, gaming devices, and much more...
. Waze differs from traditional GPS navigation software
GPS navigation software
GPS navigation software usually falls into one of the following two categories:# Navigation with route calculation and directions from the software to the user of the route to take, based on a vector-based map, normally for motorised vehicles with some motorised forms added on as an afterthought.#...
as it is a community-driven application and learns from users' driving times to provide routing and real-time traffic updates. It is also free to download and use, as it gathers map data and other information from users who use the service. Additionally, people can report accidents, traffic jams, speed traps, police and can update roads, landmarks, house numbers, etc. , the software is in use by 7 million drivers.
Waze is available for download and use anywhere in the world, but some countries have a full basemap, whereas other countries still require users to record the roads and edit the maps. Currently Waze has a complete base map in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Israel (claimed to be the best map for that country), Ecuador, (parts of) Argentina, and Panama, but the company has plans to make it available in other countries in Europe and elsewhere.
In addition to turn-by-turn voice navigation, real-time traffic, and other location-specific alerts, Waze simultaneously sends anonymous information, including your speed and location, back to its database to improve the service as a whole. This crowdsourcing
Crowdsourcing
Crowdsourcing is the act of sourcing tasks traditionally performed by specific individuals to a group of people or community through an open call....
allows the Waze community to report navigation and mapping errors and traffic accidents simply by running the app while driving. Waze uses cupcakes and other gaming conventions to further engage users, allowing users to drive over icons of cupcakes and other road goodies located in certain locations to earn points. The mini-games encourage more user involvement and competition, and that means more valuable road information for the users and the database where those details are otherwise slim or lacking.
In 2011, Waze Mobile updated the software to display real-time, community-curated points of interest, including local events such as as street fairs and protests.
Funding
In 2010 the company has raised $25 million in a second round of funding.In 2011, the company, which plans to monetize through location based advertising and to expand into Asia, has raised an additional $30 million in financing.
Patents
- US Patent 12/199,212. System and method for parking time estimations. Issued May 3, 2011.
Licensing
Although the Waze software is distributed under GNU General Public License v2, this license does not extend to map data. Free map data published under open content licenses was available before the Waze project began, but Waze CEO Noam Bardin felt that Waze was fundamentally different from projects like OpenStreetMapOpenStreetMap
OpenStreetMap is a collaborative project to create a free editable map of the world. Two major driving forces behind the establishment and growth of OSM have been restrictions on use or availability of map information across much of the world and the advent of inexpensive portable GPS devices.The...
and was wary of map data licensing that would restrict commercialization of the Waze service.