The Android app will be released alongside the Gear S smartwatch
Google Maps may be one of
the undeniable strengths of the Android platform, however Samsung has
decided to offer an alternative in the form of Nokia's Here maps. A beta
version of Here for Android will be made available exclusively for Samsung Galaxy devices when the newly announced Gear S smartwatch
arrives in stores. The Gear S will include Here turn-by-turn pedestrian
navigation and will be able to sync its routes with compatible
handsets. The partnership bringing Here to Samsung's Android smartphones
is just an extension of the same licensing agreement that provides the
mapping functionality on the Korean company's Tizen-powered smartwatch.
Google and Samsung's
relationship has been growing increasingly fractious in recent times.
Efforts like the Google-free Gear S and the perpetually delayed Tizen smartphone
show Samsung's commitment to diversifying away from its dependence on
Android and the rest of the Google ecosystem for its device sales. Here
for Android is a small step on the same path, though it's debatable how
much of an impact it will have. The iOS Here app was pulled from the App Store late last year, having originally been announced alongside an Android software developer kit
back in November 2012. Nokia also makes a big deal out of the web
version of Here that all mobile devices can access without a dedicated
app, though it doesn't seem to have made much of a dent in Google's
dominant position.
Today's announcement identifies
offline capabilities and performance as the leading advantages of the
Here for Android app, although that leadership has been significantly
eroded by Google's most recent Maps update, which added offline map support and lane guidance for drivers. Still, more choice never hurt anyone, right?
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