As expected and rumored, Google just announced the acquisition of Waze, which is said Google to help users to "outsmart traffic" as Google said in its blog entry. If you are a long-time reader of the::unwired, you should know Waze already, I wrote about it back in 2009 when Windows Mobile was still alive and even supported. It's said that the Waze product development team will remain in Israel and operate separately for now but Google is excited about the prospect of enhancing Google Maps with some of the traffic update features provided by Waze (see here for a video introduction) and enhancing Waze with Google's search capabilities.

Google also said that it will also work closely with the vibrant Waze community, who are the DNA of this app, to ensure they have what's needed to grow and prosper. The Waze community and its dedicated team have created a great source of timely road corrections and updates and Google welcomes them and is looking forward to work with them in our ongoing effort to make a comprehensive, accurate and useful map of the world.

Cheers ~ Arne