Hey Everyone. We’re really excited to announce the launch of our newest ‘super social’ version, featuring really cool Twitter and Facebook integrations. We’ve taken advantage of Twitter’s new extended geo-capabilities to maximize the real-time, user-generated information that will be available to you on the map, and with the Facebook integration, you’ll have a lot of fun seeing your friends wazing around you. Here, each part in a little more detail…

Twitter

As you already know, waze is all about reporting on real-time road information, and now with our new Twitter integration, we’re takin’ it to a whole ‘nother level. This version will feature geo-tagged tweets right there on the waze map. This means that if someone tweets that they’re stuck in traffic, it will appear almost immediately on the waze map with a road report pin along with a little ‘t’ icon to indicate that the report came from a Twitter user. And if you’re using a Twitter client and would like to ensure that your road-orientated tweets are picked up by the waze system, make sure to use this hashtag: #wazelive

Incorporating tweets onto the waze is going to expand our coverage of real-time road events significantly, plus, the coolest part is that the Twitter integration functions two ways – once you input your Twitter details under Settings, you’ll be able to respond directly to tweets (on waze and Twitter, simultaneously) by commenting on the road report, turning waze, essentially, into an on-the-go Twitter client – one that also provides directions. Pretty neat, eh?

Facebook

There will finally be faces on the map, so you can now see who is actually wazing around you! We think you’ll really like that, and if you want to share your Facebook name/profile picture, all you have to do is visit your user profile and enter your FB details. Doing so will also connect you with all of your Facebook friends who are using waze as well. This means, you’ll be able to see your FB friends on the map with a little ‘f’ icon next to their waze mood, and will be alerted when one of them is somewhere nearby.

If you like, you’ll have the ability to post your whereabouts onto your Facebook wall as a status update, and if you’re not into that you can adjust your setting accordingly to disable that function. And, if you’re the competitive type, you’ll really like the ability to see how you stack up against your FB friends on the waze scoreboard’s Facebook tab.

So, what do you need to do?

*  Download the new version.

*  Make sure your Twitter and Facebook details are on file.

*  Use the #wazelive hashtag to ensure your tweets are picked up by the waze system.

*  Have fun with the new functionalities! If you have any comments, or questions, please feel free to be in touch: alpha@waze.com

As the FIFA Worldcup gets down to the wire the suspense is growing big-time, and it’s no different over here at the Waze Worldcup, so now’s the time to take these last few days of the current phase of the competition and make them count! Countries below are in alphabetical order…

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Australia: You’re holding tight in the same range, but you need to get serious if you wanna make it to the top four.

Belgium: Lost your rank a bit, Belgium, but not by much. Take charge and show the others who’s boss…

Canada: Nice one! You’ve made some big gains, Canada. Who woulda thunk it?

Czech Republic: Dropped a bit from where you were, guys – get passionate and make a surge!

France: Solid road goodie munching, France. You’re doin’ well – just don’t get too sure of yourself as the race is close.

Germany: Hovering right around the cut off, Germany. Staying in the game or out of it is entirely up to you!

Israel: You’re slippin’, Israel. Done a lot of munching but need to take it to the next level already.

Italy: A tad less excitement than the first time around… We know you’re passionate, Italy, but prove it!

Netherlands: Solid sportsmanship, just like last time, Netherlands. Keep up the good work.

Norway: If each of you doubles your efforts, Norway, it’s gonna make a significant impact.

Russia: You guys lost your mojo a little bit, Russia, but it’s not too late to turn it around!

Spain: A little sluggish, Spain, wake up and take charge.

Sweden: Nice leap up, Sweden. Keep the momentum going…

United Kingdom: Holding solid, but amp your efforts up and see what happens.

United States: Doing better this time around. Not bad at all!

Venezuela: Impressive gains, Venezuela! Double your efforts and see if you can make it into the top four!

Alrighty guys, the first part of the competition has come to a close and we’re now entering phase B. Road goodies will be removed from the maps of the countries who didn’t make the cut and those in the final 16 will start all over from scratch. In fact, we spent all night sweeping up all of the old balls in your country and fully redistributing them, so it’s really anyone’s game…

And as you know, on July 4^th, we’ll make the cut again and the final four will begin – so do your part to make sure your country gets there! Tell your friends to download waze and munch road goodies on their commute and let them know that even one ball will enter them into the raffle for an iPad, should your country win.

Here are the countries that are advancing to the next level – not in alphabetical order!

Bene gente, la prima parte del concorso sta finendo e ora stiamo entrando la fase B. I Road Goodies verranno tolti dalla mappa dei paesi che sono disqualificati e i 16 paesi che avanzano cominceranno da capo. In fatti, tutta la notte abbiamo pulito tutti i palloni vecchi dalle strade e li abbiamo totalmente ridistribuiti, percio’ ognuno puo’ giocare.
E come sapete, il 4 luglio ci saranno solo 4 paesi che avanzeranno – percio’ da’ il tuo contributo cosi’ il tuo paese ce la fara’ ad avanzare. Di’ ai tuoi amici di scaricare Waze e di mangiare tutti i palloni per strada e ditegli che anche una palla puo’ gia’ fare la grande differenza per poter vincere un iPad, nel caso che il tuo paese dovrebbe vincere.

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Wer kommt weiter? Wir kuendigen die besten 16 Laender des Waze Worldcups an
So Leute, der erste Teil des Wettbewerbs kommt dem Ende immer naeher und wir starten nun mit der Phase B. Die Road Goodies werden von der Strassenkarte aller Laender, die nicht mehr mitmachen, entfernt. Die 16 Laender die weiterkommen beginnen mit dem Sammeln von vorne. In der Tat haben wir die gesamte Nacht damit verbracht, die Goodies von der Strasse zu putzen und sie wieder zu verteilen. Daher ist dies jedermanns Spiel.
Wie ihr wisst, werden wir am 4.Juli zur weiteren Phase uebergehen und 4 Laender werden dann weiterkommen. Daher gib Deinen Beitrag und versichere, dass Dein Land in die naechste Runde kommen wird. Sag Deinen Freunden, Waze zu downloaden und so viele Goodies wie moeglich zu verspeisen. Sag ihnen, dass sogar ein Ball Dein Land weiterbringen kann um womoeglich einen iPad zu gewinnen, falls Dein Land wirklich gewinnen sollte.

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OK les gars, la première partie de la compétition est terminée et nous entrons dans la phase suivante. Les surprises routières seront retirées des cartes des pays qui ne sont plus dans le jeu et les 16 pays qui restent repartirront à zéro. En fait, nous avons passé toute la nuit à balayer toutes les anciennes balles dans votre pays et à les redistribuer, donc vous avez tous une nouvelle chance de gagner.
Et comme vous le savez, le 4 Juillet, nous allons passer au tour suivant et le “Final Four” va débuter – Alors, faites de votre mieux pour assurer que votre pays en fera partie! Dites à vos amis de télécharger Waze et de croquer un maximum de surprises routières sur leur trajet et dites leurs que même une seule balle peut les faire entrer dans la tombola pour un iPad, il suffit que votre pays soit le gagnant.
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The new iOS4 for iPhone will be a great boost for location and navigations applications. It allows apps to run in the background while giving users the ability to simultaneously conduct other important tasks such as sending and receiving calls, all while still hearing turn-by-turn voice instructions. This new iPhone functionality is especially important for crowdsourced apps, such as waze, that rely on our users to passively provide their GPS and traffic data, so for us, it is key that users can now speak  on the phone while remaining connected to our app.

This great functionality comes with a price, though. Navigations apps, known for their heavy data consumption, can be forgotten in the background and significantly drain battery.  While some simpler implementations require the user to manually disconnect the app, waze has a different approach to background processing and shut down. When waze goes into the background, algorithms are applied to detect whether or not the device is in motion. Following a long standstill, waze will automatically close itself when it determines that you are no longer using the app, avoiding needless data and battery consumption.

Not only is waze cute, but it’s smart, too!

Ok friends, we’re right down to the wire. Make your last big efforts cause the waze worldcup’s first phase is about to end on Friday night. We’ve seen a little mobility of countries up and down in the last few days, and at the cutoff point the competition is fierce. Keep your eye on the waze blog and tweetstream on Saturday afternoon for the results to see if you and your country will be heading to the next round. Wishing y’all lotsa luck out there…

No list today, but things are really heating up in the waze worldcup…Here are the 12 countries (in alphabetical order!) that are hovering equally above and below the 16 country cut off line, so amp up your efforts, guys, to make sure that victory is yours…

Note that there’s only 12 road goodies separating #16 from #17!

Okay guys, so here’s the top 24, in alphabetical order, but as we know, at this point, only 16 countries are moving on at the close of June 26th, so it doesn’t really matter all that much who is in first place or second place.  On June 27th, we’re resetting the tally and starting from scratch. What does matter is who’s hovering around the 16 country cut off line, so that’s what we’ll tell you…the following are the five countries who’d be cut off the list if the competition were to end today, so step up your game guys! Note that the difference between #16 and #17 is only 17 soccer balls, so it’s anyone’s game at this point, and it’s changing day by day!

#17 Ecuador, #18 Poland, #19 South Africa, #20 Finland, #21 Denmark