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You could try Earthcomber it uses Tiger/Census data so the maps for the entire US are free. It also works with many GPS devices and provides directions. The directions functionality requires an internet connection. Plus, it will find you coffee when you need it.

Drupal is very easy to customize. We turned it into a really cool location based community now complete with Google Maps. A place where you can share cool (or interesting, or weird) locations related to almost any interest.

Then, you can take them with you on your handheld.

Drupal is very easy to customize. We turned it into a really cool location based community now complete with Google Maps. A place where you can share cool (or interesting, or weird) locations related to almost any interest.

Then, you can take them with you on your handheld.

Drupal is very easy to customize. We turned it into a really cool location based community now complete with Google Maps. A place where you can share cool (or interesting, or weird) locations related to almost any interest.

Then, you can take them with you on your handheld.

Drupal is very easy to customize. We turned it into a really cool location based community now complete with Google Maps. A place where you can share cool (or interesting, or weird) locations related to almost any interest.

Then, you can take them with you on your handheld.

Drupal is very easy to customize. We turned it into a really cool location based community now complete with Google Maps. A place where you can share cool (or interesting, or weird) locations related to almost any interest.

Then, you can take them with you on your handheld.

Drupal is very easy to customize. We turned it into a really cool location based community now complete with Google Maps. A place where you can share cool (or interesting, or weird) locations related to almost any interest.

Then, you can take them with you on your handheld.

Frank Lloyd Wright
http://www.earthcomber.com/community/node/492

Northwestern University
http://www.earthcomber.com/community/node/125

LUGs
http://www.earthcomber.com/community/node/114

Then, take 'em with you.

Frank Lloyd Wright
http://www.earthcomber.com/community/node/492

Northwestern University
http://www.earthcomber.com/community/node/125

LUGs
http://www.earthcomber.com/community/node/114

Then, take 'em with you.

Frank Lloyd Wright
http://www.earthcomber.com/community/node/492

Northwestern University
http://www.earthcomber.com/community/node/125

LUGs
http://www.earthcomber.com/community/node/114

Then, take 'em with you.

I've now lived more of my life outside of Tulsa, but I still love it.

(Link to my other comment did not work. copied here)

There is a startup out there that has a sevice up and running with maps and commercial entries that runs on Palm Pilots and soon other small Java based handhelds. And the client sevice is free. Works with GPS enabled boxes as well (see the list on their site).

http://www.earthcomber.com/splash/index.html [earthcomber.com]

They have done a pilot in Minneapolis. They have extensive maps and parks and historical sites loaded and hooks for not only for commerce but for special interest adhoc communities. War Drivers, birders, Civil War buffs etc.

There is a startup out there that has a sevice up and running with maps and commercial entries that runs on Palm Pilots and soon other small Java based handhelds. And the client sevice is free. Works with GPS enabled boxes as well (see the list on their site).

http://www.earthcomber.com/splash/index.html

They have done a pilot in Minneapolis. They have extensive maps and parks and historical sites loaded and hooks for not only for commerce but for special interest adhoc communities. War Drivers, birders, Civil War buffs etc.

Well, as long as we're just advertising in this thread....why not come by and try Earthcomber! (I'm one of the engineers there...)

We've built a free (as in beer) location finding utility with integrated mapping which runs on the PalmOS. Lets you mark spots out in the field (with or without GPS), then push them back to the mothership where you can share them with location-based interest groups in the Earthcomber Community area (think Yahoo Groups with maps). It's an early version, so we've got lots of issues (coverage area is US-only right now, our maps aren't the prettiest, the desired features list is a mile long, etc.).

And technically, you don't even need a Palm to use the interest groups -- we let you mark and view spots right on the web. But the Palm makes it cooler. You could use this to keep a travel log, go geocaching, start a group for great photography spots -- whatever you want. Come on by and let us know what you think. We'd love to get feedback from tech savvy users.

Regards,
-Chris

It's Palm-only

Not much commercial data (right now, it's mostly historic, civic, and geographic points of interest)

Our coverage area is limited to the US

It's not "over the airwaves" -- you have to download map and location data to your PC, then sync to your device (we offer a utility which helps)

Missing lots of little features, niceties (at this point, our enhancements list is a mile long)

We also have a non-commercial offering which I think is really unique, and that's Earthcomber Community . It's like Yahoo Groups, but it's location-based. Our groups let you drop points on the maps, which you can then download and take with you. Or just view them on the web (no handheld required to use Community).

Again, we're brand new, so there aren't tons of groups. But you could start one today! ;-) If your thing is photography, create a group marking great spots to take a photo. If you like hiking, mark the hiking trail heads in your area. Solicit others to join and do the same, and pretty soon there's a whole world of locations relevant to your area of interest that you never even knew were there. Anyway, I think it could be cool. It just needs people.

OK, I'll stop pimping. But since what we are doing is relevant to your point, I thought I'd toss our hat in the ring.

Regards,
Chris

It's Palm-only

Not much commercial data (right now, it's mostly historic, civic, and geographic points of interest)

Our coverage area is limited to the US

It's not "over the airwaves" -- you have to download map and location data to your PC, then sync to your device (we offer a utility which helps)

Missing lots of little features, niceties (at this point, our enhancements list is a mile long)

We also have a non-commercial offering which I think is really unique, and that's Earthcomber Community . It's like Yahoo Groups, but it's location-based. Our groups let you drop points on the maps, which you can then download and take with you. Or just view them on the web (no handheld required to use Community).

Again, we're brand new, so there aren't tons of groups. But you could start one today! ;-) If your thing is photography, create a group marking great spots to take a photo. If you like hiking, mark the hiking trail heads in your area. Solicit others to join and do the same, and pretty soon there's a whole world of locations relevant to your area of interest that you never even knew were there. Anyway, I think it could be cool. It just needs people.

OK, I'll stop pimping. But since what we are doing is relevant to your point, I thought I'd toss our hat in the ring.

Regards,
Chris

Also experienced the innacuracy issue (the YP record was for a store at street number 940, the images were all of a building with a prominent '800' on their awning).

I suspect the problem could be that the geocoding database which they use to translate a street address into a latitude & longitude is inaccurate (a common problem). Even if the photos they took are perfectly coordinated with the street map vectors, the lat/long that the geocoder produced could be off by as much as a block or two.

---

http://www.earthcomber.com/
Earthcomber: The world according to you!

Well, I can't address all your concerns, but with respect to mapping software...

<shameless-self-promotion>
...we've just recently released Earthcomber, which is a point-of-interest (POI) locator with integrated digital mapping for Palm handhelds (and soon PocketPC, around February). In order to get this early version out the door, we left some important features on the cutting room floor, so it is admittedly a little rough around the edges, mapping-wise (we are working hard to remedy that). However, we do support a great many GPS devices. And the software, maps, and service are all COMPLETELY FREE (as in beer) to end users. Why don't you come by and give it a try (and maybe give us some feedback)?

www.earthcomber.com

Think of it kind of like an on-board yellow pages with built-in search agent that's always hunting for the places you want to find. Unlike the yellow pages, however, we don't just want commercial POIs. We want really cool, non-commercial POIs, too (e.g. hiking trail heads, great picnic spots, scenic overlooks, houses with cool holiday lights displays, or whatever crazy stuff you can think of). We've got about 1.3 million POIs right now, mostly non-commercial stuff loaded from various free sources. Perhaps there's something in there for you. And if it takes some time for us to get POIs you care about, well....in the meantime you can still use the free maps. ;-)
</shameless-self-promotion>

Hope that helps...
-chris