Vodafone Wayfinder Falls Victim To Free Smartphone Navigation

on 03/13/2010 09:03 PST

With Google offering free turn-by-turn navigation for Android devices, and Nokia following suit with its Ovi Maps, it was only a matter of time before all these free navigation services claimed a victim, and it seems that the first victim to buckle under the pressure is Vodafone’s Wayfinder. This news comes just 16 months after Vodafone spent a hefty $30 million to purchase Wayfinder. While many might have thought that paid navigation services would be the next big thing, it seems that free navigation services have trumped that. With the announcement of Google’s free navigation service doing terrible things for TomTom and Garmin’s share prices, who do you think might be (or will be) the next victim to free navigation services?

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Android Android is mobile operating system from Google. The software was originally built by a company called Android Inc, that was purchased by Google in 2005. From its modest debuts, Android has become a powerhouse that powers not only smartphones and tablet, but a host of other less high-profile devices and gadgets. Although Android is not a community-driven project, Google does release the source code as open-source under the Apache license.

Google Google is an Internet Search company with profits mainly derived from its AdWords advertising program. Google is also known for other high-profile web-related products such as Chrome, GMail, Google Docs or Google Map, and it has also made a very successful entry into the mobile handset market with its Android mobile operating system. The company was created in 1998 and went public in 2004. Google is one of the most visited site in the world.

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