Sinéad

Thanks to Noel, today I’ve mostly been abusing my data package to access the Internet using installed applications such as Google Maps Mobile (go to this site on your mobile to directly download the app).

Recently Google Local Business Center became open to Irish businesses. There hasn’t been a big uptake so far (I suppose it’s early days) – if my experience of searching random keywords in Google Maps is anything to go by. The maps application on my mobile currently doesn’t seem to support searching for local businesses or “my location” or “highway traffic” (these might be network dependent, I’ll have to get someone to try it out on Vodafone), which is a pity but I’m still planning on making my absolutely-no-sense-of-direction other half install this app. onto her N70.

Even on a small screen Google Maps looks and feels great and is very easy to use. I was surprised that you could use “satellite view” (similar to Google Earth, where you see satellite images rather than a simple map). A really nifty little feature in “directions” is that you can use shortcut buttons to jump from point to point on the route. Overall I’m impressed and looking forward to being able to (hopefully soon) access the local business search, you never know when you’re going to need to know where the nearest pub is.