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Google Maps for Mobile

post #1 of 16
11/30/07 at 1:59am
Thread Starter 
I just read a story about this new feature (its still in Beta) which is essentially google maps on your phone (needs to be windows mobile, black berry, symbian s60 phone). I downloaded it on my phone about 30minutes ago and I think its awesome. UNfortunately it has to use your data plan so it's best to have an unlimited data plan (which I don't so I'm sticking with Nokia Maps which I can use offline).

Story I found linked from Phonescoop: http://www.google.com/gmm/mylocation.html?hl=en

Anyone here been trying this out? What about other map/directions/navigation software on their phones?
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post #2 of 16
11/30/07 at 3:06am
I've got it on my phone. Works pretty well.
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post #3 of 16
11/30/07 at 10:31am
I've had the google mobile app for over 6 months on my PPC-6700 (Windows Mobile 5) and it works very well! The load times for maps, even the satellite view, is pretty quick.

One nice thing I found out when I was driving around the back roads of the middle of nowhere (aka central Pennsylvania) last month is that it caches the directions from start to finish. Meaning, I looked up the directions when I left and even when I had no reception after about 1/2 way through the trip the app had already pre-saved the directions for all the future steps.

The "show traffic" feature needs work, it's not exactly real-time but it's better than nothing.
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post #4 of 16
11/30/07 at 12:39pm
I use it all the time on my Treo. It works great when I'm in an area with high-speed broadband, and it's great for checking out traffic when I drive into Los Angeles.

Its map knowledge (variety of things you can enter into the search box) is not as complete as the main web-based one, but if you have the street address, you should be good to go. The close-by businesses stuff works well, too.

I also have TomTom software on my Treo, but it's pretty terrible. The map knowledge is good, but the interface is clumsy. It's turned me off TomTom portable navigators for good.

--Andre
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post #5 of 16
11/30/07 at 2:51pm
yep, this is a must have for mobile phones. almost obviates the need for gps. I love how you can look up telephone numbers for businesses as well (texting GOOG is also a neat trick).
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post #6 of 16
11/30/07 at 3:14pm
Am I the only one who found the previous version of mobile Google maps far superior? On the earlier version, I could type in "brooks brothers, 10019" to find Manhattan locations, etc. In the new version, I have to enter a Manhattan address and then "find a nearby business" and enter "brooks brothers." Even then, it pulls up a Brooks Brothers in the Bay Area half the time. It seems like that's its default location.
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post #7 of 16
11/30/07 at 3:37pm
It works great. I'm a huge fan.
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post #8 of 16
11/30/07 at 5:27pm
too slow on EDGE network. but when it works, it works great.

-Jeff
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post #9 of 16
11/30/07 at 5:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dah328 View Post
Am I the only one who found the previous version of mobile Google maps far superior? On the earlier version, I could type in "brooks brothers, 10019" to find Manhattan locations, etc. In the new version, I have to enter a Manhattan address and then "find a nearby business" and enter "brooks brothers." Even then, it pulls up a Brooks Brothers in the Bay Area half the time. It seems like that's its default location.

I agree on that point. The SYmbian client was the same way. But anyway, the cell-based positioning is a nice feature even if it is not as useful as real GPS due to the lack of accurate positioning.
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post #10 of 16
12/3/07 at 4:57am
I havent tried it, sounds pretty swell. Google maps rocks their map data from Tele Atlas, right? I wonder if theres a connection there, since TA already has the know-how to send map data to gps devices.

I'm not sure what percentage comes from them but I want to say its substantial. I really want to try this out.
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post #11 of 16
12/3/07 at 2:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dah328 View Post
Am I the only one who found the previous version of mobile Google maps far superior? On the earlier version, I could type in "brooks brothers, 10019" to find Manhattan locations, etc. In the new version, I have to enter a Manhattan address and then "find a nearby business" and enter "brooks brothers." Even then, it pulls up a Brooks Brothers in the Bay Area half the time. It seems like that's its default location.

I can still choose "find business," type in a store name and area code, or just NY, NY, and it works. Not sure what you're referring to, unless I have an old version and don't know it.
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post #12 of 16
12/5/07 at 5:04pm
Yeah, you have the old version. I recommend not upgrading.
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post #13 of 16
12/5/07 at 5:19pm
I have google maps on my iPhone and it works very fast with Edge
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post #14 of 16
12/5/07 at 5:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dah328 View Post
Yeah, you have the old version. I recommend not upgrading.

Good to know. Thanks.
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post #15 of 16
12/5/07 at 6:20pm
I've been using GMaps for a while -- first on my Treo 650 and now on my HTC TyTN II. The cell based location service would have been great on my 650, but the HTC has a built-in GPS receiver, so I use that in conjunction with the "Track Location" feature on Google Maps with great success. The tin-foil hat crowd of course does not enjoy the cell based location feature.
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