Maps/Earth are cool, but they've stagnated, Barely changed in the last few years.

Android is neat, but its not innovative either. The only reason I use one is because of the wide variety of HW available.

> Maps/Earth are cool, but they've stagnated, Barely changed in the last few years.

That's a feature, not a bug.

I actually like the way maps works right now, I would not want change just for its own sake.

There's been a ton of new features on maps over the past few years, including indoor maps, indoor streetview, transit info and all kinds of new aerial views. I'm not sure what you'd want from them... after all, they are still a map service.

http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/

If you think android is not innovative, then I guess google search isn't innovative either: search engine existed before google.

And yet, I have to resort to Garmin software and maps to do real trip planning (cycling, hiking, and even driving).

At least in my experience (in the US) the maps data on Google is much better for cycling routes, partially because users can go in and submit fixes, which I don't believe you can do for the Garmin data.