Waze

Google is reportedly merging its Maps and Waze teams. The two navigation apps will remain separate but the company will house both teams under its Geo organization, which also oversees Google Earth and Street View products. The merger begins today, a Google spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal.You are probably already familiar with Google Maps and Waze. These are two of the most widely used navigation apps globally. But what many don’t know is Google owns both of them. Well, the former already has the Google…

Google operates two of the most popular navigation apps out there, Google Maps and Waze. It developed the first one from the ground up and acquired the second in 2013. Waze has always had a key advantage over Google Maps: support for crowd-sourced incident reporting. This lets the app adjust your route in real-time based on the most current data. But in recent years, Google has started adding Waze features to Google Maps, and vice-versa. A new report now claims that Google will go one step further to streamline…

Google said that it will merge teams working on the mapping service Waze and products like Google Maps, effective December 9, in a bid to consolidate processes. The Alphabet Inc.-owned company will integrate Waze, which it acquired in 2013 for $1 billion, into Google Geo, its portfolio of real-world mapping products that include Google Maps, Google Earth, and Street View, a Google spokesperson said. Waze CEO Neha Parikh will exit the company following a transition period, Google said, adding that Waze will continue to be…

Image: Justin Sullivan (Getty Images)Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., announced it’s doing some restructuring to merge Google Maps and Waze employees amid pressures to streamline the business and cut costs. The company has said both mapping apps will continue to operate independently.The merge will take effect on Friday, December 9, and while Google has said it does not have plans for layoffs, the move is expected to shift Waze’s 500 employees to Google’s Geo organization, which manages Google Maps, Google Earth,…

As part of recent cost-cutting measures, Google is planning to merge its Waze and Maps divisions, The Wall Street Journal has reported. The move is aimed at reducing duplicated work across the products, but Google said it will still keep the Waze and Maps apps separate.  "Google remains deeply committed to Waze’s unique brand, its beloved app and its thriving community of volunteers and users," a spokesperson told the WSJ. Waze CEO Neha Parikh will leave her role after a transition period, but there will reportedly be no…

Alphabet Inc.’s GOOG -2.22% Google plans to combine the team working on the mapping service Waze with the group overseeing the company’s Maps product, as the search giant faces pressure to streamline operations and cut costs. Google plans to merge Waze’s more than 500 employees with the company’s Geo organization, which oversees the Maps, Earth and Street View products, beginning on Friday, according to a Google spokeswoman.…

Google has released a dedicated Waze app for Android Automotive. The popular navigation app is rolling to “select cars with Google built-in,” the company announced on the Waze Blog on Tuesday. A wider rollout is planned for 2023.For those unaware, Android Automotive is different from Android Auto. The latter is a mobile app that lets you project a customized interface to your car’s dashboard display. It offers big touch targets and gives you access to navigation and music apps. Thanks to Google Assistant support,…

That annoying friend who’s constantly telling you how superior Waze is over your crappy navigation app during road trips may soon have to put their money where their mouth is. For the first time, the Google-owned social navigation app is getting its own dedicated in-car app, though it will only work with two new Renault cars for now.Waze announced the new feature in a blog post Tuesday, saying the built-in app, which will run through Google Built-In, would let users take advantage of Waze’s real time routine, navigation,…

<!----> Renault claimed to be the first car brand to offer the Waze application directly integrated into the vehicle’s multimedia system. The integration of Waze into the OpenR Link multimedia system with integrated Google is visible on the 12-inch vertical screen of the Austral and…

Waze is France's most popular navigation app, to the point that it was recently updated with three regional accents (Toulouse, Provençal and ch'ti). So it makes sense that Waze elected to partner with French automaker Renault to launch a new, dedicated version of the app for cars. It's available on infotainment systems via Google integration, starting with the Austral Hybrid and Megane E-Tech EV.  To be clear, it's already possible to use Waze on Android Auto by installing it as an app from your smartphone. What's…