Google has upped its navigation game even further announcing an improved level of live traffic information for UK users, with 13 new countries to benefit from the service. 

Smartphone users in..wait for it...Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain and Switzerland, will all be getting live traffic info. 

Google's maps team is based in Zurich and, until now, has not been able to make use of the feature. Thanks to its efforts it too can now enjoy proper traffic info. 

Activating the service is done via the traffic layer in the maps application. It updates itself every 5 to 10 minutes to help keep information as current as possible. The live information also has a sort of time warp feature where you can set the day and time to view differing traffic trends, great if you are planning a journey. 

Google continues to improve its navigation services, with things getting to the point now where it really is becoming difficult to justify a dedicated satnav purchase. Then again, try running Google maps on a phone all day and watch what happens to your battery. 

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