A valid point, but it is conceivable that a similar clause would find its way into larger licensing/development agreements. Turn-by-turn could have been some gem thy wanted to hold as Google's one-up on any client built using their own API. Truthfully, it would be dumb of Google to give away everything, and keeping turn-by-turn (or even just a broader navigation scope) is something I can see as the ace in the hole they hold onto regardless.
"Launching" on the heels of the announcement from Sparrow seems like a poor choice. A lot of people felt like they just got dumped. Then again, this is just another fancy "Give us your email address for whenever we get our act together" page, so maybe people will be more lenient.
