Monday, February 05, 2007

Finally! Google Maps for Windows Mobile

My morning commute consists of sitting on a bus for an hour, followed by sitting on a train for 45 minutes. Needless to say I've got a lot of time to keep on top of my blog subscriptions using my favorite mobile app: Google Reader. Google has just made my Motorola Q a little more useful by announcing the availability of Google Maps for Windows Mobile. This app has been available for awhile for Java, Palm, and Blackberry phones, but now there's an official release for Windows Mobile devices. All I can say is, it's about time! You can get this handy tool by browsing to http://google.com/gmm from your phone and installing the CAB file. It's as simple as that. You'll then have access to all the same great features that make the full Google Maps a terrific application (and a few that the main app doesn't even have), such as Real Time Traffic, Turn by Turn directions, local business searches, and integration with GPS devices.

To give credit where credit is due, Google isn't the first to come out with Google Maps for Windows Mobile. A few weeks ago, I found a free tool called Map4PDA that has much of the same functionality, but can use not only Google Maps, but Yahoo! Maps, Microsoft Virtual Earth, and Ask.com Maps as a data provider, and has some special functionality built in for Realtors and users who are house hunting.

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