Windows Phone Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

"Just as the world itself can be viewed through many lenses, the latest version of Google Maps for mobile allows you to view many layers of information on your map at the same time. Layers make it easier and more useful to find and interact with geographic content, like public transit, traffic (with incidents!), local search results, Latitude friend locations, Wikipedia and more. You can also see your own My Maps content as a layer on Google Maps for mobile. And finally, multiple layers can be combined at the same time to give you a content-rich view of what's around you."

Layers and improved search are nifty additions to Google Maps for mobile. The updated version is available for Windows Mobile, so what are you waiting for? Go get it!

"Way back in November 2007, we location-enabled all of our Google Maps for mobile clients to bring location awareness to the masses and improve the local search experience. Using My Location, millions of you have been able to easily find yourselves on a map at the touch of a button. But what about finding other people? Lots of you have been requesting to see where your friends are on a map, too. Well now you can with Google Latitude. Latitude is a new feature of Google Maps for mobile, as well as an iGoogle gadget, that allows you to share your location with your friends and to see their approximate locations, if they choose to share them with you. You can use your Google account to sign in and easily invite friends to Latitude from your existing list of contacts or by entering their email addresses. Google Talk is integrated with Latitude, so you and your friends can update your status messages and profile photos on the go and see what everyone is up to. You can also call, SMS, IM, or email each other within the app."

Unlike previous Google Maps for mobile innovations, Google is making the new Latitude feature available to Windows Mobile users from day one. To start spying on connecting with your friends, fire up your mobile browser and grab the app from google.com/latitude. It's 100% opt-in, and you can choose just how much or how little information you want to share, and with whom.

"We're excited to announce the availability of Google Maps for mobile version 2.3 with Street View on Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile. Street View was previously released on Google Maps for Android, BlackBerry, and iPhone. Street View lets you access street level imagery to help orient yourself when looking for places, businesses, or getting directions. Say you're going to meet with friends at an unfamiliar restaurant. Now you can search for it in Google Maps for mobile, click on "Street View", and see what the place and surrounding area look like. Similarly, say you need to get to a shop in a part of town you don't know. Find it using your phone, get directions to it, and see how to get there with full-screen panorama images of every step along the way."

Google Maps 2.3 has arrived, but this release is more than just a bunch of bug fixes. It includes walking directions, transit alerts, POI reviews, and Street View support, so you can take the sights of the United States, Australia, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, and Spain with you wherever you go. It's a free download from google.com/gmm.

"A few weeks ago we released Google Maps for mobile with Transit directions for BlackBerry and Java-based handsets. Now, with the release of version 2.2 of the application for Symbian S60 (3rd edition or later) and Windows Mobile (2005 or later), we're happy to say that Transit directions will be available to a bunch more smartphone users around the world."

Google Maps 2.2 is now available for Windows Mobile. It adds Transit directions for over 50 worldwide cities/regions, star ratings for businesses, faster search, and user-generated content. Simply point your mobile browser to google.com/gmm to download.

"GPS Tuner v5.4 and Map Calibrator v2.5 have been released. The new version of Award Winning off-road navigation software is now able to downlad Google Terrain (Topo) Maps and Open Street Maps from internet and use them without any calibration process. The new Map Calibrator also supports these new types of online maps. Suunto’s X9i off-road GPS watch data format (.sdf) is also supported, so you are able to see your X9i track in GPS Tuner or in Map Calibrator or upload your saved waypoints/routes to Suunto X9i internal memory. New map rotation mode (in 90 degrees steps) and built-in camera support are also implemented in GPS Tuner v5.4."




Online maps and camera support? The venerable GPS Tuner just keeps getting better. Hit the product web page to download. For registered users who purchased less than a year ago, this one's a free upgrade.