UPDATE 3: As pointed out in the comments, there’s no sign of ad support in Google Maps Navigation (at least not yet). It’s just free as in free.

UPDATE 2: According to Gizmodo, Google:

implied they are working closely with Apple now on [Google Maps Navigation].

iPhone 2.2 saw Google Street View, could iPhone 3.2 see Google Maps Navigation? Let the drooling begin!

UPDATE 1: Replaced video with official version, moved TechCrunch preview below the fold. Enjoy both!

ORIGINAL: Just a few hours ago TiPb posted about the rumors surrounding a free (with ad support, of course) Google Navigation app, and now TechCrunch has the goods — it’s real, and it’s (so far) exclusive to Android 2.0. And we quote:

• Search in plain English. No need to know the address. You can type a business name (e.g. “starbucks”) or even a kind of a business (e.g. “thai restaurant”), just like you would on Google.

• Search by voice. Speak your destination instead of typing (English only): “Navigate to the de Young Museum in San Francisco”.

• Traffic view. An on-screen indicator glows green, yellow, or red based on the current traffic conditions along your route. A single touch on the indicator toggles a traffic view that shows the traffic ahead.

• Search along route. Search for any kind of business along your route, or turn on popular layers such as gas stations, restaurants, or parking.

• Satellite view. View your route overlaid on 3D satellite views with Google’s high-resolution aerial imagery.

• Street View. Visualize turns overlaid on Google’s Street View imagery. Navigation automatically switches to Street View as you approach your destination.

• Car dock mode. For certain devices, placing your phone in a car dock activates a special mode that makes it easy to use your device at arm’s length.

To quote our own editor-in-chief, it looks “bad@$$”, and so far it also looks exclusive to the US, and to Android 2.0, at least for now. But come on Google, you want to give it to everyone outside the US too, right?

[via Chad!]

Google has just posted the above video tour of Android 2.0 Eclair, but does it look as yummy to you as its namesake? Android Central has already dished the specs, but it’s nice to see them in motion and all official.

Meanwhile, talk sure seems to be shifting from the initial Droid ad’s “iPhone killer” aura to scuttlebutt that Google is really targeting Microsoft and Windows Mobile with this OS. The New York Times, TechCrunch, and Daring Fireball (twice), all bring up great points, Gruber especially:

Microsoft’s angle is that because Android is freely available to handset makers, that Google has no business model for Android. But they do: search advertising. (Another case where I wonder whether Microsoft says this because they think people are stupid and will believe whatever Microsoft says, or, worse, if their executives actually believe this.) What Google wants are lots of mobile search queries. The one angle Hansell misses, which further makes the point that Android is not targeted against the iPhone, is that the iPhone generates a ton of mobile search queries for Google. Apple may see Android as a competitor, but Google loves the iPhone.

So, what do you think of Android 2.0, and should Apple worry, or Microsoft, or both?

[Daniel Sandler via Daring Fireball]

The first screenshots of Google’s upcoming Android 2.0 Eclair OS have leaked and, aside from being a cream-filled, chocolate covered confectionary of a codename, eh… we’re not quite sure what to make of them. They’re better, but are they HTC Sense UI better?

TiPb made no secret about thinking Android 1.0 (did that one have a tasty codename? Snickerdoodle maybe?) looked a tad under-polished, and 2.0 certainly improves on that, and adds in Exchange support (like iPhone 2.0), Facebook integration (like webOS Synergy), improved WebKit browser (as fast as the iPhone 3GS?), maps with data layers (like PlaceBase?), unified email inbox (yes!), YouTube widget, big honking buttons for use while driving, voice control (like iPhone 3GS).

Check out Boy Genius Report for the full gallery and Android Central for Casey’s commentary, then come back and tell us if this is the Android you’ve been looking for…