Waze Becomes One Of Google’s Pre-Installation Options For Android Devices — techcrunch.com

Crowdsourced driving navigation app Waze is getting a boost from parent company Google at this year’s Mobile World Congress – the free app is now included in the section of apps that make up Google Mobile Services, or the pre-installation software bundle Google offers to smartphone and device OEMs building Android gadgets. The GMS designation means that Waze can join the likes of Google Maps, Hangouts and Google Drive, to name just a few, as something that appears on Android devices as soon as users power them on. It’s not surprising, given that the app is now fully owned and operated by Google, but the fact that the app actually competes in many ways with Google’s own Maps software does make it an interesting move.

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