Google is looking to make driving much easier in India with the addition of voice-guided lane instructions to Google Maps.
The new feature, which launched Thursday in 20 cities in the country, works with Android and iOS devices and provides turn-by-turn instructions on the best lanes to take while on you're on your way to work, a family get-together or other destinations, according to the Hindustan Times. The search giant said drivers will be told if they should stay in the lane they are currently in or move into another one while in navigation mode.
The company added that drivers will receive guidance for lanes while on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and other major expressways, as well. They will also have the option to listen to instructions in English or Hindi.
The launch follows six months after Google made Maps available in Hindi, allowing people who spoke the language to see names of cities, important roads and different locations like public parks and schools in their language, the Hindustan Times reported.
The lucky cities that are getting the voice-guided instructions are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Mysore, Nagpur, Pune, Surat, Thiruvananthapuram, Vadodora and Visakhapatnam.
Suren Ruhela, director of product and program management at Google, said the company wants to make Google Maps for mobile "a handy travel companion for daily commutes and trips around India, and we hope the new lane guidance will help make road travels easier to navigate for English and Hindi speaker across the country."
