The latest Google Maps app update, released yesterday, has integrated minicab app Uber into its functions and features.
The link-up between Google and Uber comes as no surprise considering Google Ventures invested $US257.79 million into the rapidly expanding ride-sharing service last year.
Google outlined the new features on the Maps update, including the integration with Uber, in a statement released on the Google Maps official blog.
“If you have the Uber app installed, you can now compare your ride with transit and walking directions right from Google Maps in some cities. And if you choose the Uber option, you’ll jump right into the Uber app with just one click,” the statement says.
Uber was founded in 2009 and now operates in about 70 cities across the world, including Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne in Australia, with plans to launch the app in Perth soon as well.
It has a history of courting controversy in new markets because the taxi industry sees it as a service that operates outside the rules and regulations that bound entrenched operators.
The Uber X app was recently banned by the NSW Transport Department because it did not fully comply with the state’s Passenger Transport Act.
These are the other updates Google has made to its Maps app:
Lane guidance
Offline maps
Business hours information
Public transport schedules
Location saver
Location viewer
4 comments:
We now have that well known Badge reader Boris Johnson saying on the radio that Über is the best app.
Can everyone now admit that we have no chance with Johnson and his overpaid henchmen at TFL?
We now need that all trade group and union meeting ASAP, indeed it's understood that cab Unions throughout Europe are looking to launch European wide action.
Time to up our game!
Take a look at the badge online issue 197 page 2.
Every picture tells a story- this one tells it all.
It clearly explains why the cab trade is in the dire position it is in today.
You asked, I told !!!
All very interesting, now lets see what the cab trades new messiah... Steve MugNamarta can do ? His many life changing walk abouts in the wilderness must have enlightened him some... or is he just a charlatan preacher???
Very interesting article! With the wide success of Uber, it raises the question: Why haven't NYC taxis released an app of their own? Considering the business Uber takes away from traditional taxi associations, it only makes sense for them to create an app of their own. Ronn Torossian speaks on why New York City needs a universal taxi app on Wired http://insights.wired.com/xn/detail/6544125:BlogPost:91397?xg_source=activity#axzz30xjH5ChF
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