I know in some big cities like San Francisco and New York City, walking is one of the most common ways for people to get around. The trick for people who aren’t familiar with the city and need to walk somewhere is figuring out which way to go to get around.

Google has unveiled a new beta application for Android phones using Google Maps for mobile 4.5 called Walking Navigation beta. The new application works like the GPS driving directions only it takes into account pedestrian walkways to route people on foot.

We all knew that Android was going to hit TVs in a big way and now things are starting to happen. We already have an Android powered set from Lava, and now Google has designs on your television too. Samsung is thinking about Android for its sets and the Google TV service is on track for launch this autumn.

Samsung’s plans are uncertain, however about half of the company’s 3-D TVs have web browsers, and that figure will increase over the next couple years.

A new trademark filing by Google shows that Google has trademarked the name “Speedbook” under computer hardware. A speedy notebook? A speedy eReader? A book laced with cocaine? It could be any of the above.

It is likely an upcoming tablet or netbook powered by Google’s Chrome OS. We don’t have any actual details on what the Speedbook might be, until Google decides to fess up and tell us. We’ll keep our eyes and ears open.

Gmail has just become even more useful. Google now allows voice calls to another phone using Gmail. Now, that is pretty useful. It will be free if you place calls to the US and Canada until January 2011. Phone calls to other countries will be billed at “very low rates”.

Talking with family and friends in the U.K., France, Germany, China, India, Mexico and other countries is as little as $0.02 per minute. Just dial a number like you normally do and click “Call phone” at the top of your chat list. Only US Gmail users will be able to use it over the next few days. You just have to install the voice and video plug-in.

Google and Verizon are discussing a partnership(Made in hell) that could result in American internet freedom taking a few backward steps and destroying net neutrality as we know it. This would go against all that Google and Verizon have stated in the past about keeping the net neutral and open to ‘ensure the openness of the web around the world.’

The agreement could give Verizon the ability to do whatever it wants when it comes to managing wireless broadband, through mobile hotspots or Android handsets.

GMail has got to be one of the most useful email services around and that’s because they are always working to improve your experience. Now Google has made another tiny, but extremely useful improvement to its Gmail service.

Those using Google Chrome will be able to drag attachments out of messages to save the attachment directly to your computer. Just click and drag the file that you want to your desktop, and it will be saved. They had previously introduced drag and drop as a method to attach files to Gmail.

Google is very secretive about how it decides what sites come up first on any given search. The formula changes regularly to keep people from figuring it out. It’s about to get even harder to predict. A new patent filed by Google on Tuesday would allow Google to analyze information about where on a page users hover their mouse cursor.

The idea is that this will show the search giant what people were interested in, but didn’t actually click on. Sound insane? It does to me. If you are typing, your cursor is just left in some random spot on your screen most likely.

Farmville, Mafia Wars, and other games cost you a lot of time and productivity. They have now cost Google over $100 million. TechCrunch is reporting that Google has invested between $100 and $200 million in Zynga, the social gaming behemoth behind those games mentioned. Google is preparing for the launch of Google Games later this year.

TechCrunch’s sources say that Google’s goal with this purchase is to chip away at Facebook’s social media dominance. It will be interesting to see what comes from this.

Apparently Google wants to take on Apple’s iTunes with the next Android 3.0 update which should be released before the year is over. Google Music should be released along with Android 3.0 and it likely will have something to do with the recently acquired streaming service Simplified Media.

Itunes could use some competition and if anyone can do it, Google would be the company. It should be interesting to see what happens. It won’t be easy.

Today is a special day. It’s the first day that turn-by-turn capable GM vehicles as old as 2006 can search for destinations using Google Maps and have those destinations sent directly to their vehicles. Proof that some of us are living in a future slightly ahead of the rest of us. Those with GM vehicles.

The OnStar eNav feature is now fully functional and totally Googled. Hopefully other factory navigation systems start doing this very soon.

Odd as it seems, the Department of Telecom in India could ban BlackBerry devices, Skype and even Gmail services if those services won’t comply with the government’s request to ensure that data going through their networks will be made available to security agencies in a readable format. Good luck with that.

The powers that be in that part of the world have also decided to amend the IT laws, making it compulsory for foreign companies, as those that do not require a local license, to provide all the data required by Indian law enforcement agencies.

It’s common knowledge that Google and Apple can remotely remove apps from their mobile operating systems, and it has now been confirmed that Google has used its kill switch on two apps that infringed on its terms of service.

Google admits that most people who downloaded the apps had already deleted them and that this was just a cleanup operation. Apparently users will get a notification sent to them when an app is removed, but it’s still a bit scary to think that your apps might suddenly disappear.

Google is famous for its perks and the things that its workers can enjoy at company HQ. From game rooms to gourmet meals and more, Google tries all sorts of things to keep the workers happy and productive. When most companies get mad at workers for napping on the job, Google encourages it.

A reporter from the Financial Times was at Google HQ in California and snapped a pic of an employee using a cool high tech sleep pod. The pod is made by a company called Metronaps.

Google is never standing still. And now Google has added a new option to the Google homepage, that will let users give it a similar look to Microsoft’s Bing search engine. You will now be able to add your favorite photos to your Google homepage.

The new feature will be available on Google search sites across the world over the next few days, starting with the US and then the rest of the world. So what will it be? Frogs? Family? Hot babes?

Google has been talking about its Chrome OS for a while now. The operating system is one of the latest attempts by Google to fight Microsoft on the software front. Google was able to fight and beat Microsoft with Android.

So far its Google Docs offerings aren’t catching up to Microsoft Office, but Google hopes its Chrome OS will have better luck. Google is set to launch the open source OS late in the fall of this year. Google says that the OS will be compatible with applications already on the market.