Waze is a GPS-based navigational app, which uses turn-by-turn navigation. It was founded in 2008 in Israel. The acquisition is not only among the largest-ever purchase prices for an Israeli start-up. It also cements a recent push by the local high-tech industry into the fast-growing consumer market.On June 11, 2013 Google announced that the search engine company is buying the Israeli navigation app startup, Waze for $1.03 billon. "

To help you outsmart traffic, today we're excited to announce we've closed the acquisition of Waze. This fast-growing community of traffic-obsessed drivers is working together to find the best routes from home to work, every day," Google reported on its official blog."I am excited to announce today that we have accepted an offer to join Google," Waze CEO Noam Bardin said in a blog post on June 11th 2013.

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"I think it's a big step forward," said Erel Margalit, a leading Israeli entrepreneur and opposition lawmaker in parliament. "Israel is no longer just a R&D center. It's a creative hub."

"Facebook reportedly was also interested in acquiring Waze", according to Reuters reports.

Waze, the creator of a traffic and navigation app for smartphones, and acquiring Waze is a strong move for Google to enhance its mapping services, it helps Google to modify its mapping tool better and compete with Apple, Facebook, Nokia and others as more consumers eschew PCs in favor of smartphones and tablets.

"We're excited about the prospect of enhancing Google Maps with some of the traffic update features provided by Waze and enhancing Waze with Google's search capabilities," Google said.