Thursday, November 1, 2007

Google Mobile Maps

I really have to stop posting about Google products everyday, but here is one more. While my wife was driving us up to Vermont, I was tinkering with my Treo, as always. I happened to stumble upon Google Mobile Maps while playing with the web-based Google Maps. It knew that I was using a Treo 700p and asked if I would like to download Mobile Maps. I clicked the link to download and it downloaded and installed "over the air," no sync required. I was fired it up and my eyes widened in amazement. Can this freakin' thing really do all of the stuff that it claims?

We were on the way up to Vermont, so I typed in my current location (Garden State Parkway, NJ) as my starting point and Manchester, VT as my destination. It thought about it for a second and gave me my route drawn out on a map, just like web-based Google Maps or Mapquest. But, it also gave me the option to look up real-time traffic and aerial views.

One of the coolest features is that you can say "find local businesses" and give a keyword, like "pizza." Then, all of the pizza places in the area will pop up. If you clicked on one, you would have a button that said "call" that you could use to call without ever typing in a phone number.

All I need now is for this software to be GPS-enabled so that I can buy a bluetooth GPS receiver and really nerd out.

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