Google Takes Maps Offline
Going after "the next billion users," the company adds both search and turn-by-turn directions to the much-used app's offline mode
Attendees gather before the opening keynote at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco.
Photoggrapher: Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
With all the talk of cloud services and streaming media, it's easy to forget that for many people around the world, a mobile data connection is a scarce, expensive resource. To make such existing products as Maps better suited to these customers, Google is adding both search and turn-by-turn directions to the much-used app's offline mode.
Google dedicated a central segment of today's I/O conference keynote to what it calls "the next billion users," those customers in developing markets who are just now coming online in the mobile ecosystem. This is where Jen Fitzpatrick, vice president for engineering, showed off the new offline map features.