Windows Mobile Louisville

The internets are a-buzz about Google Buzz!  Buzz shows that Google is very serious about social media, and is going for the juggler with Facebook and Twitter.   If you have Gmail, you will see a link to Buzz show up just beneath Inbox.  If you don’t see it, expect it to show up soon.

There is an app for the iPhone and Android (available by going to Buzz.Google.com) and soon, for Windows phones, Symbian and Blackberry devices.  In the meanwhile, Google Maps for Windows phones has been updated to version 4.0 and now contains a Buzz layer.  

When you Buzz from your desktop PC, you have the option of choosing if the update will be available to the public or just to select people in your contacts.  It appears that is not an option if you Buzz via Google Maps.  I’ll bet the app on the iPhone and Android has a lot more such capabilities, including the ability to post images.

In the few minutes I have been playing with the Buzz layer, it quickly became obvious that I could see Buzzes of all sorts around the city!  Check it out - this is just a random guy Buzzing out in the East End!

Here is the detail of his Buzz:

This has literally just come out of the gate, so expect to see and hear a lot more about this latest Google release!

The last update to Live Search mobile was exactly a month ago -

Not sure what the updates are at this point, but you can get the latest version (4.1.2029.1) of Windows Live Search mobile by going to wls.live.com on your device, or go here on your desktop.

Google Latitude has been released and I think it is very cool!  With Google Latitude, you can

• See where your friends are and what they are up to
• Quickly contact them with SMS, IM, or a phone call
• Maintain complete control over your privacy
• Enjoy Google Latitude on your phone, PC, or both.

From your Windows Mobile device - View your friends’ locations and status messages and share yours with them. Get the app for your device here.

From your computer - View your friends’ locations and status messages on a full screen even without a compatible phone or data plan. Click here to see your friends from your PC. 

I know there are some other apps that do the same thing, but I like how it’s integrated into Google Mobile Maps, and, as you can see in the screenshots below, it is available in a widget if you use iGoogle!

The screenshot on the Touch Diamond was snapped while I was driving down the road last night!  One thing I haven’t tested yet is whether you could actually see someone in motion on the map! If Ian had been watching his map while I was zipping along at 60mph, would he have seen that?! That would be cool! 

You have full control over who can see your position, and there’s even an option to manually enter your location, so privacy paranoid folks can rest easy…!  :)

Today Google launched a server-side change that makes it easier to get directions to businesses. You can now get directions to restaurants, stores, and other points of interest by entering their names in the start or end point. 

Until today, if you tried to get directions and entered a business name, “starbucks” for example, as the end or start point, Google Maps for mobile did not understand that you meant Starbucks the business. Rather, Google Maps for mobile would search for an address with “starbucks” in it.

Google Maps for mobile now recognizes when your end or start point is a business and not an address. Try setting “starbucks” or “mcdonald’s” as an end point when getting directions, and you’ll quickly see how it works.

If you’ve already got Google Maps on your device, you don’t have to download anything to start using this new feature. That’s because the update was made on Google’s servers, not the Google Maps for mobile client.

But if you don’t already have Google Maps for mobile, visit google.com/gmm on your phone to download it today.

Windows Mobile devices finally get Street View in Google Maps for Mobile.  Google’s Android, Apple’s iPhone and RIM’s BlackBerry platform have been enjoying this useful feature already, which offers street level imagery in supported locations. 

Go to http://www.google.com/gmm to download version 2.3 of Google Maps.

[Source: JKonTheRun]

Google Mobile Maps has been updated, and how has a Transit feature which allows you to check bus and subway schedules, determine what transfers you need to make, and plan adventures in more than 50 cities around the world.

Download the free app at http://m.google.com/maps

Back in mid-May, we posted that Live Search was updated, and we highlighted the obvious new features such as Weather, Collections and Web Search, but since then, I happened upon something else they added which is really cool: integration into the Contacts menu.

Previously, this was something that only Google Maps “inserted” into the Contacts menu, and I found it very handy (though it would error sometimes because it would try to find an address including the Country/Region).  Live Search is now offering the same addition to the menu - Show On Map.  So far, on every contact I have tried, it works flawlessly, so apparently Live Search is looking at the contact info correctly, whereas Google Maps occasionally errs…

I am very excited about this find, as it adds a feature that I thought was lacking in Live Search.   Previously, I had both Google Maps and Live Search installed,  so I could have the best of both apps.  Now I just have Live Search on my Mogul.

I hope one of the next things they address is the live navigation - it works nicely, but I wish they’d force the map to turn so where you’re heading is at the top of the screen. Currently, the map always stays with North on top, so if you have your device in a mount in your vehicle, the actual route you are seeing could be pointing in any direction, which is confusing.  It needs to resemble how other GPS’s display navigation, even if it’s only 2D and not 3D like so many GPS’s nowadays.