Google recently announced
Google Map Mobile will provide live traffic data for Portland, Oregon and 30 other cities in the US via cell phones. I decided to try it out of my Blackberry and share some of my findings with you.
To download and use Google maps, open the following link on your phone,
http://google.com/gmm. If you hate typing on your cell, try sending the link as an email or SMS text to your phone. Otherwise, open your phone’s browser and enter the URL. You should be prompted to confirm installation. If you have trouble with the setup, check the compatibility list at http://www.google.com/gmm/index.html.
Assuming that you have the application installed, you’ll need to start Google maps. On my phone it was installed under the “Applications” folder.
Your first task is to find Portland, Oregon on the map. There are a couple of ways to do this: Panning or “Finding a Business” / “Finding a location”. Each is discussed briefly below.
Panning is best used for when you are performing precise selection or fine tuned movement across a small portion of the Google map.
My phone had the following key mapping for navigation:Key Direction5 Pan up8 Down7 Left9 Right
The screen is updated as you pan and requires your phone to perform more frequent requests to Google to update the screen. Note method may prove costly depending on your service agreement and if you per Kb/MB. I suggest you give panning a try just to get the hang of it. Next try Finding a Location using Google maps.
Finding a Business/location is typically the easiest way to navigate to a specific address on the map. This feature is extremely useful if you get lost going someplace and are too embarrassed to ask or call for directions. To use this feature, you’ll need to select “Find Location” option and select then “Enter an address” from the resulting window. Type a valid street address using the touch pad and press the enter key. If you’ve entered a valid address, the map will center upon it and the address will be stored on your phone for future searches in the “Recent places” menu. I suggest looking up the address of your house so that it can be used in subsequent searches. .
Now that you have found a valid address, it should be displayed on the map. If you’d like to save the address in your favorite places for quick searches later press the 2 key. Scroll to “Save as a favorite”.
Ready to see live traffic conditions? Ok, select “Show Traffic” and wait patiently as the Google Map web service performs its magic.
Now your phone will be annotated will green and red lines indicating update to date traffic conditions. To get a more detailed look try zooming in on the map using the 6 key to Zoom in and the 4 Key to Zoom out
This post just scratches the surface of what you can do with Google maps mobile. For more more details , check out the
Google Maps mobile website at
Drop me a line and let me know how accurate the live traffic service is during your commute home on The Sunset.
cell driving Google map mobile
