If you don't know what Google Maps is by now then you've either been on a different planet or you've been getting very lost on this one.

Google Maps has been transforming the way I, for one, find my way round strange cities or locate great bars and restaurants. One of the problems though is that I have needed a PC to use it, which is not so good when I'm walking down roads I don't recognize. Well problem solved, or so it seems. Because now Google Maps is accessible by PDA.

Key features of Google Maps

This version lets you do all the things you should be used to and unable to live without by now. You can locate streets, companies and other points of interest like hotels and restaurants; fly round the world viewing satellite imagery from every country on Earth with some incredible footage of different landscapes and wild animals.

More usefully, Google Maps is one of the best route finders available allowing you to generate directions from any two points on the globe. It uses your GPS data to plot where you are on a map, effectively making Google Maps a satellite navigation system. What's more, if you flick on Street View from the Layers< menu, you'll be able to confirm that you're on the right track.

Connecting with the planet

Google Maps is now loaded with features to help you connect with people around you. Its Latitude service allows you to track the position of your friends anywhere on the planet (and vice versa). You simply need to create a Google profile then load in your contacts. Google Maps for mobile then displays their locations on the map, making it easier to hook up (or avoid them!) if they are near you.

New for version 4 of Google Maps is support for Buzz. This location-aware service allows you to spread the word to people around you about what you're doing, or about what you think of a certain place. Simply tap on a location and you have the option to type something about that place. Enable the Buzz layer from the options menu and you'll be able to see what people around you are saying.

Google Maps for mobile is one of those essential applications that significantly enhances the usefulness of your Pocket PC.

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Global Navigator lets you browse maps and satellite images of the whole World. You can find places by zooming in on the world map, or by using the app's powerful search tool. Global Navigator offers several ways to look at maps, including map, satellite, terrain, and hybrid mode. You can view maps in 3D and move around in all directions, like you can in Google Earth on your PC.

Global Navigator can search, view points of interest, plan routes and explore any area of the planet. More importantly, if you have GPS, you can view your position on the screen and activate the route planner navigation mode. This works in much the same way as a satellite navigation system you'd use in a car, and even includes voice instructions to help you get to where you're going.

A feast of features

Other features of Global Navigator include the ability to view photo layers to show images on maps all over the World, add GSM or GPS information to photo and video taken on your camera, and export routes to Google KML format. You can also store favorite locations in Global Navigator.

Finding your way around with Global Navigator is a breeze, although there were some stability issues in our tests. For example, the program would crash when trying to view photos, and the maps often took an age to render in terrain mode. Another shortcoming in Global Navigator is the business look-up feature, which is pretty limited and doesn't cover all areas.

If you find yourself getting lost on a regular basis, Global Navigator will help you get out of tight situations using your Pocket PC. If you have a GPS receiver too, you'll find this app even more useful.

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The freeware provides a route planner which works in the same way as similar other software programmes. Simply specify a new route by entering either an address or, interestingly, one 'Point Of Interest' such as a hotel or restaurant.

You can save these once you have located them.

Before all this you must load the map data, for free, from your PC using MapLoader. You can make this as detailed as you want by even adding petrol stations directly from the internet.

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Literally everything you want from the planet is on here. You can zoom in and out and scroll about from point-to-point to track distances between different locations. The graphics are great and the scrolling feature is smooth. There really is so much in this simulation that you should just get downloading it right now.

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The pocket A-Z also comes with a facility to save your favourite places, for when you want to revisit and quickly find directions, plus a marker tool that allows you to map locations and work out the distances between two points. There is a fully searchable 4,400 index of key places including cities, towns and airports but if you want to find anything less well known you'll have to search around yourself. For drivers this is a really useful application and will save unfolding those giant map pages screwed-up in the glovebox.

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