Google Free GPS Enlivens the Handset Wars

The fight has truly been engaged between handset makers and their carrier partners, what with Verizon Wireless rolling out the Android 2.0-based Motorola DROID and all (P.S., way to be creative with the nomenclature, there, guys. I am refraining – with difficulty – from mentioning Star Wars in any capacity).

Verizon also has a new and hopefully improved version of the touchscreen-based BlackBerry Storm coming to market. Meanwhile, AT&T Inc. is still happily coasting along in wireless sales Nirvana, thanks to the magic carpet known as the iPhone. It reported a record wireless quarter last week, surprising no one. And, Sprint-Nextel Corp.’s hoping to benefit from a little “Pixi” dust soon with the launch of the so-named device, the second from Palm Inc. that’s built on its new webOS platform.

So we should be excited, right? Because competition is yielding fruit in the form of innovation and all of that kind of thing. The only problem is, the messaging from the carriers still stubbornly revolves around ... the OS. And guess what? Android, iPhone, webOS, BlackBerry 5.0? These are not the droids you’re looking for.

(Sorry, I just wasn’t strong enough).

What people care about, as In-Stat recently pointed out in a smartphone report, are features. Coolness. Zeitgeist. How a device actually functions. But the operating system? Who cares? The average consumer certainly doesn’t.

But all I hear about is OS this, OS that. The DROID will be different from, say, the Android-based offerings from T-Mobile USA, by virtue of running Android 2.0. That’s the latest version of the OS that, much like bacon, proponents say will make anything better. And Palm’s future is wedded to the fact that the webOS is an elegant engine for a smartphone that offers a better user interface than the competition, you see. And BlackBerry 5.0 is all it takes to fix the problems inherent in the first Storm because it supports a better touchscreen technology than was available the first time around.

I might find all of that somewhat interesting, sparking as it does a conversation on device fragmentation, which goes directly to carrier business models, which is a topic that’s catnip to a writer like me. But the average person? Yaaawwwwwwn. You know what really is interesting to those outside the tech-geek realm? Free Google GPS.

GPS-enabled Google Maps Navigation will run on the DROID (enabled by Android 2.0, but that’s beside the point) as part of the default Google Maps app. And it’s free! No need to buy a separate personal navigation device to get traffic data, satellite, 3D views, street views. And it’s all voice recognition-enabled.

That’s the kind of thing consumers care about, folks. If any phone is to have the clout to take on the iPhone in the consumer space, that fact has to be drilled in. Verizon should be saying, “Help me Google GPS, you’re my only hope.”

There are signs at Verizon at least that it’s getting the message. It’s promising to mount the largest ad campaign in its history for the DROID, so the marketing folks over at Big Red have apparently been startled out of their complacency (iPhone? What iPhone?). It’s already started, with VzW finally taking on Apple and AT&T where it hurts with an on-target pair of TV spots you’ve probably seen by now. One, “There’s a Map for That,” touts the superiority of its 3G coverage over AT&T; and the second, the “iDon’t” ad for the DROID, points out all that is annoyingly missing from the iPhone. You know, like a removable battery, multitasking, the ability to customize the look of the homepage, etc. etc. That’s savvy. Talking about Android Cupcake vs. Android Éclair? Not so much. Though some no doubt appreciate the pastry-centric imagery.