tech.tarts

There are very few gadgety things I rely upon more in my daily life than Google Maps which I’ve downloaded and installed on my Blackberry (I use the Curve 8900). This application IMHO (for non-texters, IMHO means “in my humble opinion”) is the ultimate lifesaver and has been an invaluable tool for me and my pals across the globe.  Here are a couple scenarios so you get the hang of it.

Google Maps icon - top left corner of image

After you’ve downloaded the Google for Mobile applications to your device (see previous entry “Google Mobile Applications for Blackberry” AKA “Blackberries and Water Don’t Mix”), click the scrolly wheel to launch it. It should automatically begin loading your current location, but to be sure, click on the Options key (the one to the left of the scrolly ball with a Blackberry logo on it) and choose “My Location”.  Once it starts to update you will begin to see a map of your current location. If the view is too broad, click the number 3 to zoom in, or press 1 to zoom out for a broader view of the map.

Now here is where the magic comes in… You can do a perfectly localized search from the map of your location. It is so robust you can search for a specific item (name of a restaurant for example) or generic (type of food/restaurant).

The other day I was north of San Francisco just across the Golden Gate Bridge looking for a sushi restaurant. I knew there were some nearby but couldn’t recall any names or specific restaurants relative to my location, so I put Google Maps to the sushi-craving test. Here is how:

• Click on Google Maps to bring up My Location. At this point you see where you are on the map as a pulsing blue dot. It even has a blue arrow indicating the direction you are facing – I seriously have no idea how they do this but it is very accurate! Must be voodoo.
• When the map loads, click the Options key (that’s the one to the left of the scroll wheel) and choose Search Map. It brings up a search box and type in “sushi.”
• Like magic a list of nearby sushi restaurants appear on the screen. You can scroll through the listings, click on one to bring up directions, phone number, even reviews and photos and you click to dial the restaurant from this screen.
• You can also view the other listings on the map by clicking the # key. This is great because then you a sense of how far it is – remember you’re the pulsing blue dot on the map.
• For driving or walking directions, click into the restaurant you want, then “get directions”. It’s best to keep the chosen restaurant as the “end point” and add “your location” as the start point.

Lickity-split this hungry Tart was on her way to fulfilling her hamachi sashimi and spicy scallop handroll craving. Google Maps is also good at finding known locations. So, for example, I knew I was near Sushi Ran in Sausalito but needed their hours and directions from my location.

Google Map view and Satellite view

I just repeat the same steps above, but put the restaurant name for specific results.  Google Maps for Blackberry is better than most GPS devices in my opinion because it uses the power of Google’s massive search content database and very accurate maps, and you can view in Satellite or Map view as well, just like you can online.

Tarts, be lost and hungry no more.

mmm dinner

xoxo tt.t