Waze - Outsmarting traffic, together

Every now and then you come across something that is just awesome.

I very recently had that very experience, and stumbled upon an iDevice app that is just that... awesome! In fact, it's so awesome, I think everyone should have Waze on their iPhone! And it's available on Android, but I can't comment on this platforms experience.

Waze is a social GPS navigation system, the key element here being social. In a nut shell, maps are generated by the user community (so no more waiting YEARS for map updates), and users (and the application itself) report traffic conditions in real-time. Combine this with navigation and routing abilities, add alerts from fellow commuters about traffic jams and accidents, and Waze gets you to your destination in no time avoiding major traffic obstacles. And Wazers are 19 million strong!

Add to the mix a social game element, and "Hey Presto!", you get a mix between TomTom/Garmin and Foursquare.

We live the Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, and the community using Waze here is still quite small, and with that the maps are far from complete, and not very usable at the moment. But I say give it a year or two, get some dedicated users updating it, and within that same time span you'll end up with the Lambourghini of GPS navigators, that is traffic aware and able to route accordingly.

The best part of it all, is that I as a Waze user, have the ability to login and edit the maps with a super simple, easy to use editor. In just a few short weeks, I've managed to edit the maps in areas that effect my routes, and now can navigate to and from work, following my preferred routes (Waze learns these over time) - and best of all, I get notified if there are traffic problems on those routes!

It's a real time saver, and this integrated with Foursqaure, Google Maps and Bing Maps, makes finding destinations infinitely easier. Again, it has a way to go, with regular outages as the system grows, but I use this every day. I loathe sitting in traffic and Waze has spared me many hours of unnecessary mental vacations, and encourage you all to try it at least. You don't have to actively participate in mapping, but everyone who just runs the app while they drive, helps the mappers accurately map the roads in your respective countries (it's a GPS thing).