Google Maps for your cell phone

[PerryM]

Google Maps has introduced Google Maps for your cell phone; called “Google Local” for the internet version and cell phone version.

Link: http://maps.google.com/

There is a link on the page "Download Google Local to your mobile phone".

We use this now daily and find it indispensable.

When we snowboarded in Park City, UT this past Christmas it was so cool to open my cell phone, type in “pizza in park city, ut” and I got ALL pizza places near Park City.

The results are graphic, on a map, with little number 1-9 that you just touch and you get all the information about the place and the phone number. Click one button and you make the phone call.

The other neat feature is the step by step graphic driving directions. This is the closest thing to having a GPS in your pocket with access to EVERY business in the US.

I clicked a button “driving directions” and it told me, turn by turn, how to get to my pizza place. As you move to the next turn the map graphically moves and redisplays new maps. My phone has GPS and I’d bet that it won’t be long before I get real time displays of where I am at the moment.

We used it from the airport rental car stall to our Summit Watch in Park City and it flawlessly gave us the directions. You can save address and names for easy reference to recalculate another destination.

You can click a button and see detailed satellite images of any part of the US – on your cell phone. When hunting for real estate this is invaluable.


This is cool! And it's FREE!


Men; we will never be lost again! (And we don’t have to stop for driving directions – we know where we are going)

[CSB]

I'm jealous. It doesn't work with my LG phone model. I see this is a beta version and that's probably why it's free.

Have fun!

[JeffV]

You still have to pay your cell phone provider extra for data transmission.

[PerryM]

I pay no extra for Google Maps – I pay $15 per month for unlimited internet access.

I check my Yahoo eMail all the time from my cell phone every day.

When out of the office I use Snap Dialer and get 115,000 KB throughput when I connect my laptop to the internet via my cell phone – I do this about 3 hours every day.

All this, and Google maps for $15 per month – a great deal for me.

[3kids4me]

I guess this only works if you have a cel phone with internet access? (My cel phone has that "get it now" feature to download ring tones...does that mean it must have some type of internet access?)

[PerryM]

There are a slew of cell phone carriers and payment plans.

I’d contact your provider and ask what’s needed to download and use this program.

I’m serious – this is now indispensable for me (just as is eMail on my cell phone) – I use it almost every day to find gas stations, restaurants, etc.

If you can find where two streets intersect you type that in and Google finds them and displays it on a map. From there you can type in gas stations and it will show you 9 of the closest. Or type in restaurants and it will do the same. Or type in Italian restaurant and 9 of them will pop up.

Click a button and it makes the phone call for you or give you driving directions.

And it’s all free (well to some of us).

You can simulate the cell phone version at www.maps.google.com and see yourself.

[Kay H]

I have a pay as you go plan since I use my cell phone so infrequently but this is a service I would be happy to pay for. I called cingular and my phone is not capable of this service. Too bad.