Google maps have gone mobile, meaning anyone with a data-capable mobile phone is now bereft of excuses for not finding their way home from the pub. If don't have a bling phone with excesses of screen real estate, your old phone should do just fine if your pair it with your Palm (.prc here) or Pocket PC (.cab here) and Google's PDA software. It's like "GPS Lite" for those who already know where they are!
I tried out the Palm version of the software using Missing Sync to share my Mac's Internet connection to my T3 (this is still possible even if you don't own Missing Sync). I don't have a working GPRS data plan with Vodafone NZ, although I expect this would work equally well (albeit slowly) if I tried my GPRS-enabled Vodafone UK SIM. So what does the Google app allow you to do?
Predictably, you start with Find Location... in the app menu (e.g. wellington, new zealand). Once the search is complete you'll be presented with a map that contains basic zooming controls. As with Google Maps on the web you can toggle between viewing a road map or a satellite image (but not a hybrid). In either view you can overlay traffic information or nearby businesses by keyword (e.g. pizza), but this is apparently location-dependent as neither data were available for Wellington:
If you need a map, however, the chances are that you are trying to find your way from "A" to "B". Such direction-findng capability is of course present, and seems to work as well as it does using the web version. You enter a starting and finishing location and the app calculates the distance of your route, overlying this on the map with pop-up waypoint markers:
This solution is no real competition for an in-car GPS solution when driving (navigation in NZ is discussed here). Unless you have a pocketable integrated GPS kit, however, there may be times when walking about an unfamiliar city with Google Maps as your guide makes sense.
The one significant drawback with this software is that you need a live data connection to keep using it; you can't cache a route and follow it while "offline".
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Hi,
I just stumbled on your website!! nice!!
I am a Kiwi from Wgtn living in Toronto, Canada. Into Macs, PDAs, GPS etc. Just got a HTC S620 and using google maps here. Great!! Might be back in NZ in a couple years.. hopefully NZ has caught up with Cheap Broadband by then :)
cheers!
Thanks for the feedback Brian. Unless there is some serious investment in infrastructure don't count on cheap broadband being available on your return! As a Mac user into GPS, you might be interested in geotagging your images in iPhoto (see here).
I have a list of public maps on my account, containing public utility info.
Is there a way people can view my page [that set o maps] from pda?
Elena, if the PDA's browser is a decent one (Safari on an iPhone?), folk should be able to use that to view your My Maps just like any other web page—just provide them with the correct link using the tools provided on the My Maps page (top right). They won't be able to use the Google PDA application as this is for searching Google Maps rather than My Maps.
hi again,
yeah, I just got an Iphone from the US. Unlocked and working on my Canadian provider. The web browser is sweet but you really need a cheap GPRS/Edge connection - luckly I have one with 200MB/$70 :-)
Anyway, is there any decent mapping software for roads availble for NZ yet? I use iGo and TomTom here in Canada. Would love to have a solution for NZ when I return.
B
Brian, I think the situation here is still current.