Google launches free mobile GPS navigation, only for Android 2.0

　　According to foreign media reports, Google launched a free mobile navigation system on Wednesday. The move is seen as a potential challenge to GPS navigation device manufacturers alone.

　　Verizon Wireless and Motorola, the US mobile phone maker, have also announced that they will start selling a smartphone, the Droid, in the US next week. The phone will be the first to use Google’s map navigation system.

　　The $200 Droid runs Android 2.0, Google’s next-generation mobile operating system, and is billed as a challenger to Apple’s iPhone and RIM’s BlackBerry.

　　Google’s map navigation system, which only works on smartphones running Android 2.0, includes many of the features of traditional GPS devices, such as 3D maps and turn-by-turn voice navigation.

　　Google’s internet-connected system allows navigation using English-language voice search and provides live traffic updates, including satellite imagery and street views from Google Maps, which also allows users to search for gas stations and restaurants along the way.

　　Industry analysts say the free Google Navigation feature could pose a threat to personal navigation devices made for drivers by companies such as Garmin in the United States and TomTom in the Netherlands.

　　Garmin shares fell 16.23 percent in New York, trading at $31.65, while TomTom shares fell 20 percent in Amsterdam.