Google Maps for Mobile

This software can be installed on latest smart phones and does not require the handset to have GPS capabilities to function. "My Location" on Google Maps uses the mobile towers information to locate you on the map.

Remember this service is still under "Beta" so do expect to see some erratic behavior occasionally.

Visit the following link to download and try My Location v2.0 from Google Maps
http://www.google.com/gmm/mylocation.html

Several companies are in the race to be first and most importantly the best for providing GPS (Global Positioning System) services in India. So who’s winning? Well, so far MapMyIndia.com offers the best equipment and the most detailed maps of several Indian cities. MapMyIndia is a part of CE Info Systems which is in business since 1992. Yes that’s right; the company has been busy marking Indian cities and roads for 16 years now.

CE Info Systems offers business solutions to all industries, from Telecom to FMCG. Few known companies that use map services of CE Info Systems are Yahoo and Airtel. With the help of about 200 surveyors across the country MapMyIndia continuously updates the maps to maintain its credibility and usefulness.

My Favorite part: let’s talk about the hardware a little bit.

The device is called NAV200 offered by a company called Delphi which is better known for its satellite radio products. CNET rates this product at 6.3 out of 10 and CNET users rate it at 5.9 out of 10. However NAV200 still stands as one of the best products available in Indian market.

NAV200 not only guides you from one corner of the city to another but is also capable of playing Music, Videos and Photos. It offers 32 MB inbuilt memory and 2GB SD card slot. It comes with a 3.5’, Anti Glare – Touch Screen Display. Click here to read the specifications in detail.

The product is available on the internet for Rs. 21,000 in Delhi and Rs 22,000 outside Delhi. As Rohan (A Stanford graduate who brought MapMyIndia, the portal into existence) mentioned, MapMyIndia will be in Mumbai for its official product launch on October 11th and in Hyderabad in November.

Delphi NAV200 currently supports all international languages and plans to release new interface in Indian regional languages. Company also plans to release an online interface for its users to edit these maps available online, it currently has eLocation which is similar to maps.live.com (just by the looks).

I thank Rohan Verma for providing me with the information about the product and I request and encourage all our readers to Contact MapMyIndia incase of any questions or suggestions.

I will hopefully post a detailed review of this product once it is available in Hyderabad.