Google already has one of the best turn-by-turn navigation systems around built into their Android Maps app — especially considering that it’s free. Still, there’s one key feature it lacks when put up against the competition: true offline navigation, for those times when a data connection just doable.
According to Dutch blog All About Phones, though, that very feature is on the way. Citing a “Dutch telecom industry source”, they say that the Navigation system should be able to direct you around sans connectivity as soon as this summer.
With Google already storing Maps as vectors (as opposed to massive, downloaded images) and handling all of the turn-by-turn voice generation on-device, much of the system already can work offline. Alas, once they manage how to pack everything else into an offline-friendly package, you’ll never be able to blame your lack of punctuality on at AT&T outage again.
