Technology, Books and Other Neat Stuff

I've been playing with the beta build of Google Maps for Mobile on a couple of different phones (a Blackberry and a Windows Mobile device) and different networks, and I have to say - it's looking pretty decent. The biggest change is a good one, with the introduction of My Location. It's a definite "does what it says on the tin" feature, as it uses a database of cell tower locations to show you where you are, within a kilometer or so. That's enough to get you located, and able to use the mapping tools to find exactly where you are.

I've found it a lot more accurate than the stated error, usually getting me within a street or so of where I am (and as it doesn't use GPS, I can use it indoors or in the Tube). I've used cell location tools before, and this is by far the best and most accurate. Some place you at random places on the map, while others just fail to have decent UK databases.

Here's Google's own YouTube whiteboard animation of My Location in action:



So, are there any quibbles? I'd like it to support Google Maps new terrain feature, but I suspect that the build cycles are out of sync here - especially as the terrain view came out around the same time as the latest build of GMM...