Google Maps is starting the year with a bang as it was revealed that the app will have its first major update in Maps v9.19. The update is set to bring a couple of awesome new features that make it seem smarter than its older version.

The navigation app by the tech giant now includes a feature where it can suggest a user's destination before it has been entered by the user. This feature allows users to see traffic updates connected to their destination, their estimated arrival and detours they could take immediately.

The new feature called the Driving Mode was first reported by tech blog Android Police. According to the reports, the new mode uses the user's location history and previous web searches in order to predict where the user might be headed to. The new feature was then confirmed by the tech giant, which said that the mode will be launching on Android later this week.

Google Maps' Driving Mode will also be considering the different factors that might affect the user's destination, like the current time of the day, current location and the current day of the week when making smart suggestions as to where the user might be going and how the user will be getting there.

The new Driving Mode will also be able to pull up directions to the user's home and work locations that are set up in the maps if necessary or at the time it makes sense. The feature involves some data mining to be able to do so. So, for example, if the user's typical schedule is to drive home from work after 6 pm, the map will remember and automatically pull up directions to the user's home by that time. The said mode can be launched using a shortcut on the Android home screen and by adding the Driving Mode shortcut icon and/or accessing it through the sidebar within the Google Maps app.

There is a bit of a catch here, though--the user's sacrifice of losing privacy. Predictive services like this needs to data mine the user's history and other information regarding the user's driving destinations and routes to be able to work well. Hence, it might bring issues on the user's privacy, but the Driving Mode will not work if its ability to gather information is questioned and blocked. It is up to the users to decide whether allowing the app access to their data is worth sacrificing a bit of their privacy or not.