I'm excited about this. I actually wouldn't mind if Waze was shut down instead of the 3-year period, as long as Google assimilated all of its technology.
It would be fantastic to have Google both data mining traffic data (as it does now) and also combining this with user-volunteered traffic reports. Each technology has something to offer the other, and it will be really cool to bring in the best of both worlds. I'm very confident about this acquisition, it feels like it wasn't just an acqui-hire.
It would have been interesting to see Waze remain independent and as an alternative map solution. With 34 million users, it could have been a very profitable business for the long-run.
What do others think about the safety of using Waze? One thing that I have noticed is that the app encourages me to interact with it as I'm driving in order to add data to the system. It's a little hypocritical of me to complain about this because sometimes I text or check email while driving, which I know I should not do, but it still feels weird that Waze actually encourages me to read the screen and interact with UI while I drive. I wonder if there are any liability issues around this or if the core UI will change as a result of the acquisition.
Also, I wonder if Waze will become irrelevant if Google happens to productize self-driving cars (which can presumably talk to each other).
Great news for both Google Maps and Waze. From my understanding, Waze negotiated a 3 year period where they would be allowed to continue independently, but I imagine there will be quite a bit of data sharing between the two (Waze can now use Google's maps and POI data, and Google can use Waze's data to improve its realtime directions)
This will allow more specific user information, like which lane is blocked up or " eople can report accidents, traffic jams, speed traps, police and can update roads, landmarks, house numbers, etc." From the Waze wikipedia page.
Thanks for the clarification. But now that I think about it, when I'm walking out of the office, I want to know whether I should take "Route A", "Route B" or "Route C" to get home. What causes the traffic whether it is construction, an accident or plain old traffic doesn't matter to me. I wish Google Now (GN) would tell me that instead of me having to double check by clicking the alternate routes button in navigation…
Having that info can make routing better, though. For example, if it's just normal traffic volume, the delay is probably fairly predictable. On the other hand, if it's a massive accident, it could take some time before the road gets backed up enough for regular GPS monitoring to notice it, but you know as soon as the massive accident is reported that things will be bad for a while.