Damn, Google Maps for Mobile rocks
I was just reading feeds, saw this item by Om Malik, tried out the new Google Maps and was absolutely floored.
It nailed where I was without using my phone’s GPS.
Freaking awesome.
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Robert Scoble works at Fast Company.TV (title: Managing Director). Everything here, though, is his personal opinion and is not read or approved before it is posted. No warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions or anything else offered here.
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November 28th, 2007 at 11:38 am
Yeah, I agree. It put me across the street (about 1000yds) but it definitely works as an alternative to… well, nothing since VZW turns off GPS in Blackberries.
November 28th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
The Spouse installed it on his Blackberry Pearl. It put him about three blocks from his actual location. Not bad, but also not necessarily helpful in times of real need - e.g., if you’re in an unfamiliar neighborhood and/or can’t see the street signs.
November 28th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
Wonder if this is why Apple did not support GPS with the iPhone. This method uses a lot less power and can be fairly accurate depending on where you are located.
November 28th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
Great. Now you know where you are… next step is how do you share that location information with a web service like Facebook? Or better still how do I share that with a search engine?
We’ve had a solution for all of this for over a year now. (www.5o9inc.com)
Cheers,
Peter
November 28th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Rachel: I disagree. Yesterday when I left San Francisco State University I got into a neighborhood I was just totally unfamilar with and I couldn’t see any of the usual SF landmarks, so couldn’t get my bearing. This feature would have been VERY useful in getting the map into the right neighborhood, so to speak. Usually it’s not too hard to find a street sign and get oriented from there.
Peter: I’d love to know more.
November 28th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
My iPhone says “Safari can’t download this file” SUCKS!
November 28th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
Rocky: you’re so funny! iPhones can’t install software.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
I remember you complaining about those security prompts on N95, when using Google Maps and other java apps. Here’s a way to get rid of them:
http://blogs.s60.com/java/2007/11/control_your_access_point_or_g.html#comments
November 28th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
I wonder if some time in the future when I sync my iPhone with iTunes if it will put down this functionality for the Google Maps already on board…
hmmm.
November 28th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
The new Google Maps works fine on my BlackBerry Curve 8320, although it was off by about three blocks. Still, without using GPS, that’s pretty good.
However, I also tried to use it on my BlackBerry Pearl 8120. It downloaded fine (WiFi on cellular phones really is great), but when I clicked the Google Maps icon, it froze the phone and I had to remove the battery to reboot.
A friend of mine with the same 8120 also experienced the same problem.
The 8120 uses the latest operating system, 4.3.x, while the 8320 uses 4.2.x (until there’s an upgrade early next year). So, I assume there’s a problem either with the 4.3.x software or with Google’s software.
November 29th, 2007 at 6:24 am
How much does Google pay for the locator info?
I wonder how much Google has to pay for that location info, because it’s not free. In Germany the mobile operators charge €0.10 from third parties for every localization, and Google’s new service works also here. In Berlin we have Qiro which are more…
November 29th, 2007 at 8:11 am
“I wonder if some time in the future when I sync my iPhone with iTunes if it will put down this functionality for the Google Maps already on board…”
Probably. Macsurfer had a link about G Maps on iPhone yesterday. The code’s been written.
November 29th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
Are you sure you didn’t disable the GPS, may be your standing below a cell tower. It didn’t work on my t-mobile phones.
November 30th, 2007 at 11:26 am
[...] Malik Scoble AppleInsider TechCrunch Slashdot TheRegister O’Reilly AllAboutSymbian Mashable Carlo Longino [...]
December 2nd, 2007 at 3:26 pm
Here’s how it works: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TDOA
December 3rd, 2007 at 4:51 am
[...] have commented on Google’s new version of Google Mobile Maps, and specifically it’s [...]
December 3rd, 2007 at 7:19 am
[...] a short overview from Techcrunch. OM Malik also wrote about it, as well as Scobleizer (good comments) and AppleInsider (discussing when it will work on the [...]
December 20th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
[...] a short overview from Techcrunch. OM Malik also wrote about it, as well as Scobleizer (good comments) and AppleInsider (discussing when it will work on the [...]