GPS Revolution – Amazing Stuff, Moves To Higher Level

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/25/google-maps-for-iphone-tips-tricks_n_2316479.html  7 tips to better use Google Maps 

When Google's released it's new maps app for the iPhone it enjoyed a phenomenal initial reception. After over 10 million iPhone owners gobbled it up in its first 48 hours, it is likely one of the most quickly downloaded apps in the history of Apple's App Store.


Having just used my iPhone 5 and Google Maps to find 16 homes in a distant city (for a business project) I can’t tell you how impressed I am.  My Garmin was my favorite, but no more.  The combination of the iPhone and Google Maps brought me to a new realization that “things could get better” and did they ever.  By putting in just the address (by voice or text) the maps program would find the correct house or offer me several logical options. 

And then, choosing the correct one, it would calculate 3 or more routes to the house from my present location and give me the driving times using all options.  Touching one of them, and telling it to take me there, it did just that.  Turn by turn and always giving me the “minutes to arrival” in dynamic time. The voice descriptions were great, better than Garmin and I could choose the satellite mode and see the trees and homes and the road – something my Garmin can’t do. 

I am sure my readers are aware of all this, but for me it was a wake up call last week.  Why I had neglected this great phone feature, I don’t know.  Possibly because there is no easy way to see the phone in my car while driving.  I will be looking for a solution to that.

PS -- talking to folks that have new cars with built-in navigation, they usually tell me they don't use it (as I didn't use mine) because it is hard to program and doesn't work as well as Garmin (much less as well as iPhone-Google Maps).  I certainly think the auto makers are lagging in this area.  They have nice looking screens, but in functionality they are a bit too complicated and who wants to sit in the car going nowhere while trying to program an address?  Better to do that when you are inside your home and have access to the correct street locations via your PC screen or print medium.  Naturally Android phones also run Google maps well, I saw one in action last week, they have a parent-child relationship.