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Google set to map the world — and push out GPS makers as a result?

Google (GOOG) changed the game of many global GPS appliance makers this month by announcing a completely free and quite capable GPS product as part of the Motorola Droid handset announced and now being sold by Verizon Wireless.

In what seems to be the norm for Google, it is once again disrupting an entire market by giving something away for free that's both competitive and capable. TomTom and Garmin saw their share prices plummet upon Google's announcement, and rightfully so.

But Google is just getting started. The enhancement to the Android mobile operating system to include a full GPS navigation solution was just for the U.S. What if Google wanted to bring global navigation to a free product instead of just a country or continent?

If Google really had its head buried in European mapping data, this should scare every single GPS device manufacturer to its core. Yes, there are many more dedicated GPS devices than Google Android handsets in the world right now, but that could change pretty fast as Android-powered devices start popping up on every carrier throughout the world. 2009 was already a banner year for the Google operating system product, with a ton of introductions just in the last few months alone.

One company -- AND from The Netherlands -- has already partnered with Google to provide it with detailed map data for much of Europe. While the competition won't join Google's Maps Navigation product as data suppliers in order to safeguard their own GPS-based businesses, it doesn't matter. Google's creed to provide all information to anyone in the world on any device should say something: that it will provide GPS maps to anyone on any Android device it can. As fast as it can. Period.

http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2009/11/25/google-set-to-map-the-world-and-push-out-gps-makers-as-a-resul/