Google Maps 4.4
http://www.google.com/mobile/navigation/
I am working on a number of blog posts. Sorry I haven’t gotten any out on Friday or on Monday for those of you following. In between the posts I am working on I will add this one about Google Maps’ new update v.4.4 which added Places.
Now I feel like I have been a little premature in writing a post or two about an app or website before thoroughly testing it. I have been holding off writing anything about something until I have used something quite a few times. There are a few location and augmented reality apps that I have been playing with, but Places has become my go to app in a lot of ways.
From http://www.droid-life.com/2010/07/26/google-maps-4-4-update-adds-dedicated-places-app/
The app has default icons which are actually like preloaded Google search queries for restaurants, coffee, bars, hotels, attractions, ATMs, and gas stations. There is one more icon on the page which is add search. This allows you to do just that, add another preloaded Google location based search. These icons are nothing new if you use another app like Where, but it is nice to be able to leverage Google’s proven search engine.
I have found it easier to launch the Places app and search for what I am looking for rather than inputting an address into a navigation app on the phone. This is much harder to explain than it is to actually do. First you find the place you are looking for through the default search icon or a search of your own. Once you have found it and opened the places individual page you have found the magic of this app. There are four main buttons on this page with a bunch of other information.
The first button is the generic show it on a map. This is good because it will give you a visual as apposed to a statistical idea of how far or hard it is to get to. You can also get the live traffic layer and satellite images which can be helpful.
The second button is the directions button. Which allows you to do a mapquest like list of directions or it can auto launch the Google navigation program with everything preplugged and it will just start directing you to your destination.
The third button is to make a call to the place. Because the information is preplugged just like navigation with addresses, the phone just calls the place with a touch of the icon.
The fourth button is the street view when available. It is actually kind of nice to be able to see what the place looks like before you decide to go. Although, I guess in a way you are judging a book by its cover, but if you are taking the in-laws out you might want to go some place that isn’t in a strip mall.
It is just nice to have all of the information in one place and very easy to access and utilize. You will find reviews pulled from relevant sites like yelp, tastyr, and citysearch for restaurants. Details about the business like price, the neighborhood, and services. It tells you their phone number, their address, a link to their website if they have one. There are also options at the bottom to buzz, share, add as a contact, or report a problem.
The only thing I have to go to the app “Where” for is gas prices. Maybe Google will add this as a feature in the future.
Both Where and Google Maps are getting better and I will continue to try and use both, but I find myself launching Places more and more since Google Maps 4.4 came out. I should also mention that I have tried augmented reality apps like Wikitude and Layar, but I find them more novel than useful and if I were to use them on a regular basis I am sure they would drain my battery like Joey Chestnut at an all you can eat buffet.
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