Google Maps for mobile is great, but it still had a pretty big disadvantage – you couldn’t save the maps offline, and they used quite a lot of data. So it wasn’t so easy to use Google Maps when driving, especially if you didn’t have a very good connection. Today, Google Maps 5.0 changes all that. Not only will the maps load much faster now because they are vector-based, but they will also use much less data when downloading them. And speaking of downloading the maps, you can now download a whole city or state in your phone, and access it later without an Internet connection.
Another big feature is that over 100 cities (for now) have 3D buildings, which means it make it harder for you to get lost since you’ll see the shapes of the buildings surrounding you. The app works on all devices with Android 1.6 and beyond, but it may not be available in some countries yet.
Fully-supported devices:
The following devices support panning, zooming, tilting, and rotating gestures.
- Samsung Nexus S
- Samsung Galaxy S
- Motorola Droid
- Motorola Droid 2
- Motorola Droid X
- HTC Incredible
- HTC EVO 4G
- HTC G2
Partially-supported devices:
The following devices support panning, zooming, and tilting gestures only.
- HTC Desire
- Sony Ericsson X10
- LG Ally
- HTC Nexus One
Google has released this video showing how cool the newest version is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAh4yiCzgKw&feature=player_embedded
Scan the QR code with your device below, or you can click to get Google Maps on AppBrain.
