Darryl.net

This is one of the strangest products I have seen in a long time:

Even though I work for Yahoo!, I have to take a moment to applaud the Google Mobile Maps team. After reading ‘Freeing Google From the Desktop‘ in the WSJ the other day on the bus, I decided to check out the Google mobile site on my WAP phone, even after Walt warned me that it wasn’t the right URL for my phone.

Here’s a summary of the wins:

1. Went to the regular mobile site on my phone and there was a link that read ‘On a mobile device?’ Brilliant, because this link appears at the top of a page on a WAP browser, allowing me to click on it without waiting for the rest of the page.
2. Clicked on it, and Google recognized my Treo and suggested compatible apps.
3. Downloaded maps quickly and easily installed it on my Treo.
4. Opened maps, and saw San Francisco (now, does everyone see this, or do they know where I live?).
5. Easy scrolling with my stylus. Relatively fast download of the map data with feedback to let me know how long I might have to wait.
6. Instant feedback on the zoom (a box shows where you’ll be looking and gives you a chance to adjust further before downloading).
7. All the features I want without adding any additional fluff I don’t want: Find location, Find nearby businesses, Directions, Satellite View, and Traffic. (OK, I have one request: traffic incidents. The red lines are a good indicator, but 101N always has traffic. An incident is even a better indicator that 280N might be a better choice.)
8. The directions feature is beautiful: From, To, and then hit the spacebar for each successive instruction.

I’ve been told the Treo version is the nicest of the bunch, so maybe I’m a little spoiled. Kudos to Steve and the Google Mobile Maps team - an impressive product.