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Further evidence that our personal devices are getting smarter could be set to come from Google, which is adding a new feature to the Android version of Maps which will make it even cleverer.
According to unofficial Google news site Android Police, a new feature called Driving Mode is being introduced which will take into account journey history and current location before trying to guess your destination.
The app will then suggest information about the route – such as travel times and any relevant journey information.
This is not entirely new territory for Google, with some of the Cards that pop-up in Google Now already on the pre-emptive side based on your location or the time of day.
The new feature appears to just be in beta for now, and appears as part of an update to the Maps app on Android and is tailored for driving routes. Android Police installed the update to a device manually, found activating it quite difficult – clearly this is not quite ready for a full roll out, and a general release is still some way off.
Nonetheless, Google has clearly taken the first steps to towards more responsive and artificially intelligent navigation, and it’s probably no coincidence that it comes at a time when its self-driving car technology is becoming increasingly prominent.
