For those of you with GPRS enabled cell phones, there is a piece of software you must get. This software on the phone was quite useless to us in India till a few months ago.

Last week, I pointed my phone browser to www.google.com/gmm and lo and behold, I saw the entire map of Calcutta! This, not only in map view, but also in clear satellite view. I decided to investigate further and to my surprise, I could recognise major landmarks in Darjeeling too! I spotted Keventer’s, my favourite breakfast joint, and even my beloved school, North Point. It becomes a great device to find your way without a roadmap in hand. This facility is still not as advanced as it is in the US or the UK, but it kind of serves its purpose. For instance, in the UK and the US, you can locate the nearest McDonald’s or Starbucks and even place a call to order your food.

As the program evolves for Calcutta and India, you will be able to see real time traffic information. This will help you avoid roads that are jammed and get you to your destination fairly quickly.

Another good feature that will be introduced is that you will be able to find your way to your destination. All you will need to do is enter your present address and the place you want to go to. These improvements are not yet available, but will come soon.

You will be able to enhance your Google Maps experience with GPS or Global Positioning System. It is a feature on many mobile devices and peripherals. Google Maps for mobile combined with GPS provides a faster, easier way to access local information when you are on the go. The BlackBerry 8800 is one of several new open GPS enabled with Google Maps.

The highly priced Nokia E90 has in-built GPS functionality. But given India’s Edge speed, you really have to be patient for your information to download. Edge, as I have explained earlier, is fast GPRS which enables you to view Internet data on the move on your cell phone.

What exactly is GPS? It is a technology that can give your accurate position anywhere on earth (latitude/longitude). You need a special GPS receiver that can receive signals from satellites. Many companies sell such receivers and maps. One of them is Garmin (www8.garmin.com). You could fit them into your car or to your mobile phone or PDA. There are even devices that will talk to you and help you find the location you are trying to reach. The best is TomTom. If you are looking for a PDA with TomTom capabilities, there is the TomTom/HP Navigation Pack — HP iPAQ hw6915. From TomTom, you will be able to download maps of many countries and cities. Sadly, India is still missing.

GPS is free for use; there is no subscription or monthly fee. You only need to buy a receiver that is capable of receiving the signals. But if you want to use add-on services like differential correction for better accuracy, you will have to pay additional fees. Checkout the two sites I mentioned and you will know all about the costs.

Mobile GMaps

Mobile GMaps is another free application that displays Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps, Windows Live Local (MSN Virtual Earth) and Ask.com Maps and satellite imagery on Java J2ME-enabled mobile phones, PDAs and other devices. MGMaps can connect to a GPS receiver over bluetooth or use internal GPS features on some phones in order to automatically display the map for your current position. I found this to be much better than Google’s Mobile Maps. Download Mobile GMaps (http://wap.mgmaps.com) from your mobile phone. Download the stable version numbered (v1.30 to v133). Once you go to the site from your phone, you will be advised which version suits your cell phone best. Try this mobile map. It is really good on the phone.

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