Mobile Apptitude

Recently on a trip to California to visit family and friends, I discovered a great app already installed on my BlackBerry that I didn’t even know was there — and that saved me a whole bunch of time and gas.

My Curve 8330 (from CREDO) includes built-in GPS, and the BlackBerry Maps app already installed. I found it to be a perfectly suitable way to navigate some less-than-familiar territory, and in a couple cases it got me un-lost when I didn’t really know where I was.

Of course, due to the comparatively small screen size of a mobile phone, it’s not quite like Google Maps on your desktop or anything. But in a pinch, it works fine. If you have a CREDO BlackBerry, try it out! (There’s no additional charge to use the BlackBerry Maps app on CREDO phones.)

First, to get started, you’ll want to turn on the GPS functionality of your phone. Select “Options” (little wrench icon) from your device’s main screen, and then Choose “advanced options.” Then select “GPS.” Then scroll to the second option on that screen, “GPS Services,” and set it to “Location On.” This will let your phone talk to the network of GPS satellites to figure out your current location.

Then, to get started with maps and directions, find the icon from your main screen that looks like a small compass on top of a topo map (or possibly just a black compass). Select that, and then hit your BlackBerry key and “Start GPS Navigation.” Then just click your trackball to toggle between zoom and pan modes on the screen. You can get directions from your current location to wherever you need to go……zoom in and out to see various levels of detail…and even do a local search for gas stations, sushi restaurants or whatever.

To find out more about the BlackBerry maps application, just visit:
http://na.blackberry.com/eng/devices/features/blackberry_maps.jsp

(Warning — don’t even think about trying any of this while driving — that would be a REALLY bad idea, even if you’re great at multitasking. The consequences could be deadly. Pull over, or ask a passenger to navigate for you. If you do a lot of solo driving requiring directions, you might want to look into the Telenav application for $9.99 per month that will respond to voice commands and give you voice-guided driving directions.)