Google Maps and Waze start swapping data

It has been just three months since Google's billion-dollar acquisition of Waze, and the two services are already mixing and matching their huge data sets.

Google Maps for iOS and Android will now have access to the Waze community's road-condition reports. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Germany, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Switzerland, UK, and the US are the first to get the feature. In turn, Waze users will get access to Google data. Waze map editors will now have access to Google's Street View and satellite imagery, which should make corrections a lot easier. Google seems to be going to great lengths to placate the fears of Wazer users that Google's acquisition would destroy their community. With simultaneous updates and separate announcement posts that link back to each other, Waze and Google Maps are one big, happy family.