The release last week by Google of the beta version of its new Google Maps Navigation software is a groundbreaking move in the competitive arena of mobile applications.

Google Maps Navigation is a game breaker. First, the application undercuts an oligopolistic market. Second, it unlocks the potential for a whole new world of mobile applications built on satellite navigation.

Previously this area was blocked by three large providers who were cashing in by charging what now seems like huge fees for use of their maps. This practice prevented the unlocking of mobile phones and other devices for location-based services (LBS) as a mass market application.

The companies included TomTom (Tele Atlas), Garmin and Nokia (Navteq). Now Google's free application has brought that cost to zero by offering real-time, turn-by-turn walking or driving directions that can be used on any phone or device with an Android platform. Wait until Apple accepts the application for its platform, then we then will see how powerful navigation can be as an enabler.

A free satnav app unleashes an enormous potential for location-based applications. The era of social networking will be taken to another level.

Your device does not have to have a satellite navigation receiver. Satellite navigation location can be achieved by determining your position via your GSM mobile phone connection. Connecting to Google Maps Navigation via an internet connection through your GSM network provides you with a ready-made car and personal navigation device.

While the initial beta release is available only in the US, here is what you can expect when Google makes the software functional elsewhere over the next year. As basic navigation software you get updated 3D views, turn-by-turn voice guidance and automatic rerouting.

You never have to buy map upgrades or update your device as it will have the latest information right from the Internet. You can also search using your voice and search using general terms. I currently have a cheap car navigation device by Garmin. It forces me to know exactly where I am going, and I cannot pick a different route, so I would welcome this feature.

Google Maps Navigation will also provide live traffic data over the internet. The software displays a traffic indicator light in the corner of the screen, which glows green, yellow or red, depending on the current traffic conditions along a route. And of course you get Google's useful satellite and street views of your route, which can help you navigate with even greater precision.

Once in full operation this means a person travelling from Bermuda to an unfamiliar city will have an instant navigation device in their cell phone, which is rapidly becoming what the business calls a "converged device": phone, music player, camera, radio, internet, email, navigation device.

But there is more to satellite navigation than just getting to a place. The simple actions will be geo-tagging your photos. The more complicated tasks will involve social networking with friends or even strangers in a particular location. Live location-based games can be developed.

Many companies in the market believe that social networking services will come to dominate the market. UK companies Rummble and Open Street Map depend on a network of GNSS-equipped mobile users to update their maps in real time, reflecting changes on the ground. Other providers are creating applications for mobile-to-mobile social networking, allowing users to find each other in a city and connect.

Berg Insight, a consultancy, recently published a forecast paper on mobile navigation, noting that the market has grown rapidly to 28 million users worldwide by the first half of this year. While in the main location is tied with navigation Berg expects the market will expand.

"Over time, many of these solutions will converge into hybrid services that store frequently used maps in the internal memory and leverage wireless connectivity to access dynamic content such as traffic flow information, fuel prices and weather," Berg said. "In the future, virtually all GPS-enabled handsets can be expected to have mapping and navigation software as part of the standard feature set, similar to media players today."

Still, navigation by cell phone will not be very accurate unless an actual satellite navigation (GPS) receiver is built into the telephone. In the US navigation by cell phone has an error range of 25 metres. A navigation device that gets its location directly from the GPS satellites is accurate to about 17 metres and in reality even less. The price of surfing the internet by mobile device must also fall rapidly.

While such developments could take time to come to pass, the market has exploded to become reshaped. Google has thrown a bomb.

Send any comments to Ahmed at elamin.ahmed@gmail.com