We’ve been enjoying Google Maps Navigation beta on the Motorola Droid the past week, but with our myTouch 3G and G1 sitting on the desk feeling left out we wondered when Google would come to save the day.  Well friends it looks like Thanksgiving is bringing the gift of navigation as Google has announced the availability of Google Maps Navigation for Android 1.6 (donut) devices.  This release also includes the new Layers feature, which lets you overlay geographical information on the map. View My Maps, transit lines, Wikipedia articles about places, and more.

If you have a phone running Android 1.6, you can download an updated version of Google Maps from Android Market to use Navigation today. Google Maps Navigation is in beta and is currently available in the United States. Some features of Android 2.0 are not available on Android 1.6, for example, the ability to use the “navigate to” voice command as shown in our demo video. However, you can still create a shortcut that will allow you to launch Navigation and start getting directions to a specific place from your current location with just a single touch from your home screen. For example, you can create a “Home” shortcut to quickly navigate home, no matter where you are. Just use the “Add” menu item from the home screen, then choose “Shortcuts”, then “Directions.” Please visit our forum to give us feedback, or our Help Center to get help using Google Maps Navigation.

[via Google Mobile]

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