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Google Local Goes Mobile
bigtallmofo writes "Google has added a mobile version of their local-search service to their lineup of mobile applications available from devices equipped with XHTML-enabled browsers. Previously available mobile Google applications include their mobile web and image search and their SMS service (beta) that allows users to enter their search queries and receive results via a text message. The day of receiving unsolicited coupons for your next latte as you walk by a Starbucks is one step closer."
For those of us that travel a lot to disparate locations for our jobs, this is useful. I could goto Chicago and find the House of Blues as a nightclub or the Scotch and Cigar Bar at Palmer house. Converting this to use on a mobile just makes sense.
In God we trust, all others require data.
The day of receiving unsolicited coupons for your next latte as you walk by a Starbucks is one step closer.
What kind of crap is that?
How does google making a search page make this any closer? Especially when google is well known for their unobtrusive ads. Maybe a small ad WHEN you search but just walking by some place?
SMS and web browsing on your phone already exist. Google releasing a local search (which is sweet when used with google maps BTW) isnt going to start the spamming of your cellphone.
I suppose I have been trolled, since that sentance couldn't have been meant as much else.
It's easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.
The map is tiny on my Treo. It's surrounded by a huge amount of white space. I wish there was an option to have a larger map. Zooming in doesn't help.
It's a pity that most 3G phones that are offered these days (at least in the UK) are restricting surfing to the service provider's homepage.
Sounds really lame, and it definitely is. So even if I've got a great 3G phone with browsing capabilities, I can't access the Google Local Mobile page because my service provider limits my usage to its own pay-services.
I hope to see a change in this area. Monopoly is never good, and imagine only being able to surf on one site where your service provider sets the rules.
Between the inadequate text entry on my T610 and the godawful connection speed (GPRS sucks. Thanks cell phone companies!) and tiny screen, I'll just find an open wireless access point and use Google from my laptop.
You have two hands and one brain, so always code twice as much as you think!
Why is it that whenever there's a post about Google everyone keeps looking for flaws that will make them "the next Microsoft"? I'm not referring to the article mention of ads, but whenever we hear something "corporationy" about Google, we always go "ooo, there we go, EEEEVIL". I'm not saying they're saints, but yeah, I get all that free high-quality stuff from Google and I like them. When (if) they start doing evil things, then I'll see about blaming them.
Send email from the afterlife! Write your e-will at Dead Man's Switch.
... that you have a good text message plan, because personally I don't see the benefit on searching via my cell phone just to be charged $.10 for information. Especially since the text message has to be 160 characters or shorter. I'll get 100 replies and only 3 of them may be relevant costing me more than it would be to just drive to a public terminal. But hey... Who's keeping count? :)
The best way to predict the future is to invent it. -Alan Kay
Does anyone have any information? Or are we going to frequently see cool new Google stuff which we can't really use to the fullest?
(If they have no plans, it might be nice for Slashdot to drop the practially dead Apache section and change this to Google so at least us non-Americans can filter it out).
Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
Ughhh. How? The Google SMS is a service where YOU request information, and Google provides information. It's a "dumb service" Google doesn't know any more about where you are than what you tell them. If your sitting in Philadelphia and do a Googble Mobile Local search for Thai in Vegas, Google will think your in Vegas and have no clue your in Philly.
Even if a next generation of this service was "smart" and used the GPS on your phone to know where you are, there's an accuracy limit of ~150 feet, IIRC. If your in Time Square in NYC, do you have any idea how many retail businesses are within 50 yards of you? It would overwhelm users who would complain in huge numbers and it would be dropped. Despite all the grassroots FUD on this issue, it's not going to happen. To get 10 foot resolution, you need to triangulate with 12 GPS satellites. To have any chance at getting line of sight with 12 satellites, you need to be a pretty open area. GPS tracking in urban areas is always going to be pretty useless
Free MacMini
google text messaging rules! i use it all the time and wish i could thank them for all the time they've saved me.
Excuse my speling.
Making The Bar Project
All this means is that mobile users can access Google Local results. Users have to enter their selected location, just like they do for "regular" Google Local. Google's not figuring out the location by pinpointing the mobile user. If Google did get into targeted ads, I see no reason why they'd abandon their practice of doing so in a tasteful, optional way.
He'll be with 3. Cheap, but no web browsing, and (in my experience), appalling customer service.
I appear to have a blog. Odd.
I concur. Google is becoming more like Xerox and Bell Labs with much more advertisement power and a large group of fans.
(sarcasm on)Considering what spawned from those hellish places like the horrors of Unix and Apple and so on, maybe we should all be frightened what might come from the ruins of the dark land of Google.(sarcasm off)
Seriously, the small is beautiful and better than correct or workable mindset belongs in the past with things like Xenix. We're living in better times now. We can deal with Google no matter how big they get. Tinfoil hats are no help.
BTW, I can't get even their mobile pages to work reasonably swift on my Sprint service so I guess I'll wait to make use of them for when I have a more powerful phone.
If my grammar and spelling are off, I am [distracted/tired/careless] (take your pick)
I, for one, welcome our new benevolent information-providing overlords.
Kudos to the Local team, this is a big improvement.
Can your IM do this?
We maintain a database of locations labelled by keywords. As a user, you can create search lists containing the keywords you want to find. Then the software looks for every place nearby which is labelled by a keyword in your active search list. Simple. The keywords attached to locations are picked by the proprietors themselves, so as a business you're not at the mercy of a relevance-scoring algorithm.
And it's all free to the user, including pan/zoom maps of the entire US to take with you.
We're really just getting started, so the service has several known (big) issues. To wit:
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)
;-) 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.
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!
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
I used the service with a Palm Tungsten T3 through a Nokia 6310i via Cingular.
Short version:
Works great. Wish I had it years ago.
The maps need to be larger to be useful on a 320x400 screen.
The layout of the page could be optimized a bit. The Google logo at the top pushes data too far down. Google should either shrink the logo or relocate it.
Long version:
I've been looking for a service like this for a long time. I tried Avantgo for a while but it was cumbersome, and of limited use if you needed to find info on the fly. MapQuest allows you to download maps and directions using Avantgo but it doesn't work as well as Google Local.
I've alread mentioned my main criticisms of Google Local. It gives a map but seems targeted at 160x160 screens. (understandably) A larger map option would be nice as the maps are a little small to be genuinely useful IMO. You can zoom in/out and scroll around via buttons. Not as smooth as the regular Google Maps but perfectly adequate for on the road. Driving directions are always available and work great. Once you've located what you are looking for you simply select driving directions and enter your From: address. Simple and logical and it works pretty much exactly as you expect it to.
Speed of the service is fine. I have a GPRS connection (not EDGE) which isn't speedy but download speeds were satisfactory. If you have a Treo or a Tungsten type device (like me) you should have no trouble finding regular uses for the service.