Jump to content

Waze

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Bevo (talk | contribs) at 16:20, 20 December 2012 (section header edits for capitalization and whitespace consistency within the article). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Waze
Developer(s)Waze Mobile
Stable release
3.5 (iOS)
3.5 (Android)
Operating systemAndroid, BlackBerry OS (beta), iOS, Symbian, Maemo, Windows Mobile
TypeGPS navigation software
LicenseSoftware and Maps: Proprietary
Websitehttp://waze.com

Waze is a free GPS application featuring turn-by-turn navigation, developed by the Israeli start-up Waze Mobile for mobile phones. It currently supports iOS, Android, Windows Mobile, Maemo, Symbian, and BlackBerry OS (beta only).

Overview

File:Waze 3.5 Screen.png
The Waze app with visible users, traffic volume, and noted red-light cameras

Waze differs from traditional GPS navigation software as it is a community-driven application and learns from users' driving times to provide routing and real-time traffic updates.[1] It is also free to download and use, as it gathers map data and other information from users who use the service. Additionally, people can report accidents, traffic jams, speed traps, police and can update roads, landmarks, house numbers, etc. Waze also helps users find the cheapest, closest gas station around them or along their route. As of January 2012, the app has been downloaded 12 million times worldwide.[2][3] In July of 2012, Waze announced that it had reached 20 million users, half of those gained over the previous six months. [4]

Waze is available for download and use anywhere in the world, but while some countries have a full basemap, other countries still require users to record the roads and edit the maps. Currently Waze has a complete base map in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Israel (claimed to be the best map for that country[5]), South Africa,[6] Ecuador, (parts of) Argentina, Chile and Panama, but the company has plans to make it available in other countries in Europe and elsewhere.[7][8]

In addition to turn-by-turn voice navigation, real-time traffic, and other location-specific alerts, Waze simultaneously sends anonymous information, including users' speed and location, back to its database to improve the service as a whole. This crowdsourcing allows the Waze community to report navigation and mapping errors and traffic accidents simply by running the app while driving. Waze uses cupcakes and other gaming conventions to further engage users, allowing users to drive over icons of cupcakes and other road goodies located in certain locations to earn points. The mini-games encourage more user involvement and competition, and that means more valuable road information for the users and the database where those details are otherwise slim or lacking. In addition to mini games, Waze offers points every time a user reports traffic or road hazards. These points can be used to change the users avatar, and to "level up" one's status in the community. [9]

In 2011, Waze Mobile updated the software to display real-time, community-curated points of interest, including local events such as street fairs and protests.[10]

In June 2012, Waze launched an update that brought real-time fuel prices to its users. As with any other Waze real-time updates, these prices are submitted by their user base of over 19 million people.[11]

In July 2012, Waze hit 20 million users. It doubled its population from 10 million to 20 million in only 6 months. Over 3.2 billion miles have been driven by Waze users.[12]

Waze Ltd.

Waze Ltd. was founded in 2008 in Israel by Uri Levine, software engineer Ehud Shabtai, and Amir Shinar. The company was originally called Linqmap. As of December 2011, Waze employs 80 people – 70 at its facility in Ra'anana, Israel and an additional 10 in Palo Alto, California.[13][14][15][16]

Funding

In 2010 the company raised $25 million in the second round of funding.[17] In 2011, the company, which plans to monetize through location based advertising and to expand into Asia, raised an additional $30 million in financing.[3]

Patents

  • US Patent 7,936,284. System and method for parking time estimations. Issued May 3, 2011.

Licensing

Although the Waze v2.x software was distributed under GNU General Public License v2, this license does not extend to map data.[18] Free map data published under open content licenses was available before the Waze project began, but Waze CEO Noam Bardin felt that Waze was fundamentally different from projects like OpenStreetMap and was wary of map data licensing that would restrict commercialization of the Waze service.[19] Starting with Waze v3.х the program switched to a proprietary license.[20]

Source

The last officially published open source client version for the Android Operating System as of June 1, 2012 is 2.4.[21]

References

  1. ^ Terdiman, Daniel (2009-08-06). "CNET News - Waze iPhone app provides real-time, crowdsourced traffic data". News.cnet.com. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
  2. ^ Gilbert, Jason (9 Feb 2012). "Waze, A Free GPS Driving App, Features Spoken Turn-By-Turn Directions And User Input". The Huffington Post.
  3. ^ a b Devindra Hardawar. Waze raises $30M for its crowdsourced driving app, hits 7M users. Forbes, October 18, 2011
  4. ^ Lardinois, Frederic. July 5 2012. "Waze Doubles Its User Base To 20 Million In 6 Months." http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/05/waze-20-million/
  5. ^ "Community car GPS navigation - WAZE - at DEMOfall09". YouTube. 2009-09-27. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
  6. ^ "Waze Blog - Waze launches in South Africa". Waze.com. 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
  7. ^ "Waze Blog - Waze now available internationally – put your country on the map!". Waze.com. 2009-11-10. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
  8. ^ "Waze Forum - European Maps Schedule Update". Waze.com. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
  9. ^ Furchgott, Roy (2010-05-06). "Waze in a New York Times blog". Wheels.blogs.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
  10. ^ "Waze Introduces Redesigned App for iPad, iPhone & iPod touch, Steering Drivers from Local Search to Local Discovery". Sfgate.com. 2011-10-13. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
  11. ^ Ha, Anthony. June, 20, 2012. "Navigation App Waze Adds Real-Time Fuel Prices." http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/20/waze-fuel/
  12. ^ waze.com, July, 5, 2012 "Waze Hits 20 Million Users!" http://www.waze.com/blog/waze-hits-20-million-users/
  13. ^ Blum, Brian (19 December 2011). "Waze steers you clear of traffic". Israel21c. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  14. ^ Hoge, Patrick (18 October 2011). "Waze raises $30 million". San Francisco Business Times. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  15. ^ "Company Overview of Waze Ltd". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  16. ^ Singh, Sukasha (16 March 2012). "Social network paves the Waze". TechCentral. Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  17. ^ Waze revs up crowdsourced driving app with $25M. Venturebeat. December 7, 2010
  18. ^ "Waze Terms of Use". Waze.com. 2012-05-31. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
  19. ^ Brady Forrest (2009-08-14). "O'Reilly Radar - Waze: Make Your Own Maps in Realtime". Radar.oreilly.com. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
  20. ^ "Waze вече няма да е под GPL. Затваря си сорс кода. » Корабен дневник на MiCRoPhoBIC". Tonev.net. 2012-06-30. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
  21. ^ "Waze Wiki Source code". Waze.com. 2012-04-29. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Waze&oldid=528975354"