REVIEW: Google Maps’ GPS capabilities provide tremendous bang-for-buck: Service is no replacement for traditional GPS services

Editor’s Note: Welcome to Yay or Nay, a feature for RCR Wireless News’ weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week we’ll review a new wireless application or service from the user’s point of view, with the goal of highlighting what works and what doesn’t in the mobile content industry. If you wish to submit your application or service for review, please contact us at [email protected].
Application: Google Maps
Running on: Motorola Q9c on Sprint Nextel network
Yay: Free. Wealth of search functionality. Free. Accurate and responsive GPS. Did I mention it was free?
Nay: GPS function does not work for driving directions. Traffic reports are hit and miss, which is not what you want from a traffic report.
We say: Arguably the most useful mobile application yet-whether free or not-Google Maps is a must for any compatible handset. While I’m sure most people who are interested in the application and have a compatible device have downloaded Google Maps, Google recently added some updates that provide a location-based element to the service. Thus, this review will focus on those location capabilities.
Depending on the device, Google Maps allows users to pinpoint their location using either the device’s built-in GPS capabilities or network triangulation for non-GPS devices. The Moto Q9c used for this review had GPS built-in, and after turning on the appropriate tracking approvals, Google Maps was able to pinpoint my location to an eerily accurate degree.
When moving around a building, the glowing blue circle representing the device seemed to also move to different parts of the building. The GPS signal also seemed to have little trouble locking on or tracking while inside. (As a cool aside, the service also shows how many GPS satellites are in view of the device.)
The main benefit of the GPS tracking is that a user does not need to input a ZIP code to find nearby businesses or locations. This is especially handy if traveling out of town or if your fingers are covered in butter.
The service is also handy for trying to navigate traffic as Google Maps also provides traffic information for highways in a number of markets. For the Denver area, the service provides updates for the main highways: green highways shows traffic flowing over 50 miles per hour, yellow highways show traffic moving between 26 and 50 mph, red for traffic crawling along at less than 25 mph. The traffic tracking seemed accurate about half the time, which is probably the worst possible ratio as you never know if you can trust the map or not.
One downside to the GPS tracking is that it’s not tied into any sort of on-the-fly directions when using Google Maps’ directions. It will use your current location as a starting point in giving the directions, but does not update those directions if you venture off the path. Thus the app is not a substitute for traditional GPS navigation services.
Another concern is the heavy amounts of data the service uses when venturing around town. Google recommends users sign up for an unlimited data plan-and after seeing the number of kilobytes needed to track my daily commute, I would say that’s a sound recommendation.