At Google they seem to know how to make good mobile applications. After getting a hint from a friend via email, I installed Google’s latest mobile map software on my Nokia 6233 phone. Initially I ran into some trouble — for some strange reason the UI was all in German! Perhaps they thought that wouldn’t matter, since Finland is so close to Germany. 🙂 Well, unfortunately it seems the only way to change the language is to switch the whole phone’s language from Finnish to English. I hope Google fixes this in the future…

Anyway, once I got the language issue out of the way, the app started by showing a general view of Finland. It’s easy to zoom in by clicking once on the main navi button, or type in a location via the menu on the left. You can have up to 9 favorite locations by adding a ‘star’ on the map.

For drivers who don’t need a full gps-based navigation system, Google’s offering seems really useful. It’s easy to get driving instructions simply by entering the starting and ending point. I’m also really impressed with how fast and responsive using the map is, even here in the middle of the Finnish countryside using regular GPRS. Point your mobile phone browser at http://www.google.com/gmm.