Google maps for mobile is an impressive mapping and navigation application, while Google maps has quite detailed maps of Pakistan, way better than any other navigation and map provider but one thing which was missing from Google maps for mobile was turn by turn navigation feature. But now Google has enabled this feature for Pakistan and now users using Blackberry, iPhone, Android, Windows and Symbian s60 series smart phones can use this feature. Google maps for mobile is a free application and just requires a data connection on your smart phone, although GPS is not required but availability of GPS or A-GPS can enhance the experience many times.

In my previous post on the Nexus One I wrote that that the Nexus will take sometime in beating the ever present iPhone, I still maintain this. But let me for a change say this that the way things are going (in the Google world) competitors need to feel threatened. What made me think so? well to begin with was the Google’s new approach to buying a Mobile Phone which gives one the ability to explore a mobile phone in ways that were previously unimagined. Impressive is the word that comes to one’s mind followed by “Ingenious”. Imagine holding your hand next to the screen in order to compare it with an editable image and then see how the Nexus One would look in your hand.

The Android today is running on at least 20 devices, in 19 languages, in 48 countries supported by 59 mobile companies. All this happened just a year back! That’s good going so far. Google now is selling the Nexus One on a Google hosted web store and the first device to be sold will be the Nexus One off course. This is quite different form the previous practice and welcome indeed. According to Google they want to “make the overall user experience simple: a simple purchasing process, simple service plans from operators, simple and worry-free delivery and start-up.”

Nokia 2710 is a pretty normal handset. By normal I mean 2 MP camera, Bluetooth, microSD card based expansion upto 16 GB, FM with RDS and GPS. The phone is 11.2 x 45.7 x 13.7 mm in dimensions weighing 87 grams. It runs on S40 series firmware and software includes Ovi Mail and Nokia Life Tools (for selected areas). Nokia maps come with the set along with lifetime navigation license.

The device has GPS as mentioned before, A-GPS support, voice guided drive and walk navigation for lifetime, car holder (not all areas) and a dedicated key to launch the navigation applications. I am surprised why a digital compass has not been included. The set has a102 mAh Lithium Ion battery which gives 6 hours of GPS usage.

The mobile phone is expected to be released in the second quarter of 2010 for around $ 170. But with navigation features included it is worth buying. However, since Google Maps Navigation for Android devices has been announced it will be a tough choice for buyers.

Sometime back it was Symbian OS which gave users the flexibility of installing hundreds of thousands of applications, then iPhone overshadowed everything by making available thousands of applications at the Apple website, now its Android’s turn. The Google based OS for smart phones that is poised to take the world by storm has an equally impressive number of applications lined up for its loyal followers. Some of the most wanted are described here in not so fine detail. The applications/games introduced here have been selected after much surfing and browsing.

• Wapedia. Originally developed by Taptu Limited the application makes it possible for users to access Wikipedia contents on their Android based phones. The application is fast in accessing content even on 2G Networks. This is a must have utility for Wikipedia fans. Its features included news items, image rendering, auto-complete feature for article titles, support for multiple languages and links to alternative wikis.

October 2009 happens to be a very important month, somehow. We have Microsoft releasing Windows 7, Ubuntu releasing Karmic Koala and now it is HTC’s Android based Hero Smartphone hitting the shelves on 11 October in connivance with Sprint. The Hero is no ordinary phone, it is smart by all standards. Upon release and further use it will become clear how it fares against the iPhone, Blackberry or even the Windows Mobile 6.5 based devices. The phone has WLAN, GPS, a 5 MP camera, 3.2” screen, 2 GB memory (expandable via microSD card), USB support, Bluetooth, handwriting recognition, trackball, ability to sync with Google services like Gmail/Google maps, push email, music download from Amazon’s mp3 store and stereo Bluetooth to name a few.

It seems Android is going strong, if the media reports are anything to go by. We have Motorola’s Cliq coming out somewhere in November, Samsung’s Moment, and even Dell planning an Android based device in collaboration with AT&T, besides Sony eying the Android. As if all this wasn’t enough there is even talk of Google and Verizon teaming up for more Android based gizmos. This sounds really good for Google, things are looking up we guess. Dell’s party may also include T-Mobile. The buzz is that Google is coming out be a strong contender for iPhone, in the coming years off course. We are keeping our fingers crossed, everything takes time!

The new Picasa 3.5 has facial recognition features built in to it, quite similar to the Picasa Web Albums launched some moons ago. This simply means that users now will be identified by the software according to their facial features or quite simply faces (makes me wonder what Picasa will do to photos of identical twins, guess we need to try this ). The software scans your collection of photos and separates those having similar faces, these can then be assigned names in one go by the users. An easier way could be to make small albums of two to three persons, assign them names and then let Picasa do the job of scanning your hard disk and grouping  photos according to the faces. Picasa 3.5 also has geo-tagging with Google-maps built in to the application. This makes it easy to  drag and drop pics on to the locations where they were snapped. Google Earth can also be used if the user desires so. Other features include bulk importing, uploading and sharing besides tagging in bulk. Download link….http://picasa.google.com/

The wait is almost over now! One of the most cherished game, that everyone must have played in their childhood now launches on a free, web based version. So to remind you of those great memories of White house and Palm street, Google has teamed up with Hasbro using Google Earth and Street view to turn the whole planet into board.

MONOPOLY is launching a game of property empire building on an unimaginable scale in a bid to uncover the greatest property magnate the world has ever known. The entire planet will be pitted against one another in an online game of MONOPOLY turning the globe into one giant game board! The project was made possible by using the street data from OpenStreetMap, combined with Google Maps, API tastic! Want to try? Stay tuned…..just few hours more.

This won’t be around for ever – the Street View version will only be available for four months from tomorrow, in a bid to promote Monopoly City, a 3D version of the board game. So make sure you catch it!

As labor day is approaching on 7th September, people will be pouring out on streets specially on automobiles. Most likely they are going to end up in a situation where horns are blowing and tempers are flaring, leaving you wondering why you had to leave home in the first place.

Labor Day Weekend to Be Third Busiest of the Decade

It is estimated that about 13 percent fewer Americans will travel this weekend as compared to  last Labor Day weekend. About 39.1 million total travelers will head out of town, roughly 32.9 million by car. These numbers are estimated by American Automobile Association as gas prices are lower this year.

Fret not because technology is here to rescue you in this situation along with few common tips.

• Chose destinations wisely

  As a general rule most population will be heading towards popular summer destinations in the area such as lakes and beaches, you may want to head towards relatively less occupied areas such as restaurants, movie theaters etc. Traffic is usually going to be high in metropolitan areas so keep this point in mind as well. Additionally visit http://triptrik.navteq.com for planning trips.

• Shifting Weekends can make a difference

  Fridays and Mondays evenings are observed to be worst in term of traffic jams. You can avoid the dense traffic jams by avoiding travelling on these days.

• Gather latest traffic information about the route you are taking.

  This is very important as one of the major causes of traffic jams are accidents and road constructions, because of current stimulus wave in US road constructions are frequent. Figure our a route where there are no traffic accidents and construction going on. This information is available at department of transportation and AAA’s online site.
  Other useful sites are : http://m.traffic.com  for mobile devices

• Timing makes a difference

  Travelling in early morning and late at night can help you avoid traffic jams as usually people avoid travelling at these times. Make sure you are well rested before heading out.

• Traffic monitoring on the go using gadgets and technology

  Ideally if you have a GPS navigation system available in your car you will be able to navigate and see the route’s traffic situation. However, if you don’t have that then mobile devices such as iPhone, Blackberry and Nokia phones can be useful. You can use Google map software on your mobile device which offers a free feature of monitoring traffic conditions using color coding on maps.
  Google collects anonymously transmitted data from Google maps about vehicle speeds and aggregates this data to calculate average speeds for different roads for live traffic conditions which then is available in Google maps.
  There are other websites and services made available by states which provide traffic information, 511 service provides information on phone and there are also services which send text messages for update on traffic as subscriber drive.

• GPS device usage for navigation in unchartered territory

  GPS navigation devices provide maps, directions, route identification, traffic conditions, accidents, delays and even turn by turn directions making the process of finding a place a lot easier.  Megellan, Garmin and TomTom offers such devices with services.

• Avoid accidents with caution and adjusting driving patterns

  Incautious or fast driving in Jam packed  traffic can be a recipe of disaster, similarly losing temper in slow traffic is also going to get you in trouble. So if you are caught in traffic trying act coolly to avoid further problems. Additionally different communities and localities have their own driving patterns, extra cautious driving with driving pattern adjustment can help local people to avoid traffic accidents.

Happy traveling on labor day.