Roewe 350: The first car to run on Android

Jonathon Ramsey — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:39:00 EST

Google and the Chinese government are having a little row right now, but that hasn't stopped China's love for Google goods. The production lines for the Roewe 350 have started rolling out sedans, and the little four-door, designed as a sign of SAIC's automotive futur,e is certainly headed for hundreds of thousands of Chinese homes. In the process, it will employ Google's Android operating system, up until now only seen primarily on mobile phones and a handful of cheap PCs.

Android was developed from Linux, and is a highly customizable OS with a huge range of adaptability. In the Roewe 350, the Android interface running through the DVD system will give occupants web access and even online chatting, in addition to mundane things like real-time traffic. It's a neat choice to make, and with Android's app possibilities it might mean you could share information from car to car and skip the step of reading directions and other information from your phone. And if there's a virus... well, we won't worry about that just yet...

[Source: China Car Times]

Roewe 350: The first car to run on Android originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Review: Google Maps turn-by-turn navigation on Android 2.0

Sam Abuelsamid — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:58:00 EST

Filed under: Technology, New Car Reviews

Google maps turn by turn navigation - Click above for high-res image gallery

It's no secret that we've been openly critical of the prices charged by automakers for built-in GPS navigation systems. Frankly, paying $2,000 or more for an in-dash system when you can buy stand-alone navigation units for as little as $100 is ridiculous. Even the newer, larger seven-inch screen units are now down to as little as $250, and even though they aren't tied in to a vehicles' wheel sensors, they tend to be plenty accurate. Now, however, there is a new option that is even cheaper - as in (sort of) free.

It's only "sort of" free because the Google maps turn-by-turn navigation app is built into the new Motorola Droid smartphone (see sister-site Engadget's full review of the Droid here) that recently became available from Verizon Wireless. In this case, you have to sign up for two years of mobile phone service, which includes a data plan. I've been a Verizon customer for a decade and just happened to be up for a biennial discounted phone upgrade. When the Droid appeared a few weeks ago, the plan to wait until the new year for a Palm Pre was discarded. We've now had the chance to play with the Droid and its new navigation software, so follow the jump to find out if it lives up to expectations.

Gallery: Motorola Droid Google Navigation

Continue reading Review: Google Maps turn-by-turn navigation on Android 2.0

Review: Google Maps turn-by-turn navigation on Android 2.0 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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