ORLANDO, Florida -- Want maps and driving directions on your cell phone? Your options have just expanded--again. Web mapping pioneer Mapquest today announced improved cell phone support--including a new Send to Cell service--that will make its maps and driving directions easily available to just about anyone with a browser-equipped handset and a data plan.
Mapquest has offered mobile services in the past, but only via its Mapquest Mobile application, a paid download for Java or BREW phones, or--for certain carriers and phones with built-in GPS support--its Mapquest Navigator service. But the upgrades announced on the eve of the giant CTIA Wireless show here make Mapquest maps and driving directions available for free via any WAP-compatible mobile browser.
Mapquest Director of Wireless Alan Beiagi says the new services make Mapquest available to much wider universe of handsets--roughly 179 million of them, compared to roughly 80 million that support the older fee-based applications.
Getting Mapquest on a Handheld
You can get Mapquest directions and maps on your handset either by going to Mapquest's site, which can detect requests from mobile browsers and respond with content optimized for small screens, or--if you're the type of traveler that plans ahead--by generating maps on your desktop and clicking on a "Send to Cell" link that appears in between the "E-mail" and "Link to these directions" links on top of the directions.
This brings up a small window where you enter your handset number, e-mail address, and a name for your map. Once you submit this info, the service will send you an SMS text message with a link; click on it, and you get your route information--again, optimized for a small screen.
Send to Cell is a beta service, and Mapquest notes that some carriers block SMS messages that contain URLs. (I tried to use it with my Cingular Treo 650 and never got text messages for either of the maps I sent.) Also, while Mapquest does not charge for the service, your carrier may (and probably will) impose text message and/or data charges, depending on your plan.
Location-based, Location-based, Location-based
Mapping, navigation, and location based-services (with or without GPS) are one of the hottest trends in the cell phone business. Mapquest's new services will compete with a growing number of options for navigation and mapping on handsets. Players include such giants as Google, with its Google Mobile Maps applications; Microsoft, with its Windows Live Search for mobile devices; and Yahoo Local Maps, which also has a service that uses SMS text messaging to send your handset a link to a desktop-generated map.
Mapquest's Beiagi said that while people can simply point their cell phone browsers to several mapping sites for basic maps and directions, they typically cannot easily submit the kinds of requests and get all the information they can when they use Mapquest.com on the desktop. Send to Cell, Beiagi said, allows Mapquest users to create maps on the desktop using customization features such as mapping the shortest distance, avoiding toll roads, or including multiple stops--and then quickly access these maps on their handsets.
"It ups the convenience factor," Beiagi said.
CTIA Wireless begins tomorrow and runs through Thursday at Orlando's sprawling Orange County Convention Center. Keynote speakers range from executives at AT&T, EMI, Viacom, and Vista to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and former presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush.
source : www.pcworld.com
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