Treo Maps/Directions + Real-Time Traffic;
same as GPS in the car but it’s free!

I struck Treo gold!

This 3rd party free application by far is the one that has added the most value to my Palm-based Treo to date:  If you have a Palm Treo and are in the United States, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, or Spain, you can now get free real-time maps & directions along with real-time traffic info as well as sattelite imagery just like you can on GoogleMaps or Yahoo!Maps (beta version right now).  You’ll get the same maps and directions as you would from any GPS gizmo they’re selling these days like TomTom, Garman or Magellen device.  The only difference is that it does not have the actual sattelite link to auto-update/move you down the direction path.  But all you have to do is press the space bar when hit each milestone in the directions to your destination.

Google Mobile Maps is now available for the Treo with pretty much full functionality as the web version.  Some of the neat features I personally find VERY USEFUL:

• Click and drag — instead of paging through to the adjacent section of the map, you can just “tap and drag” the map and it will move around and immediately load the missing parts of the screen without any delays.
• If you pull up directions, all you have to do is press the SPACE BAR to get to the next “step” on the directions.  So you can visually see the next step for your whole ride to the destination.
• I personally love the sattelite image info for mapping so I can see landmarks and other info to help me figure out where I’m going when I’m somewhere I don’t know well (and hence need a map!).  This mobile version has a toggle so that you can switch back and forth easily from the hybrid sattelite view to the plain old street map view.
• It saves (I don’t know how many, how long) the recent locations so you don’t have to re-type common addresses
• It accepts intersections “main street and town avenue, New York NY” so that when you’re lost on the road, you can just “start” from where you are and put in your destination to get UNlost quickly.

All you have to do is either go to http://www.google.com/gmm from your Treo and download the app or you can download it from the web to your PC from http://www.google.com/gmm/treo and then install the PRC file to your Treo next time you HotSync.  You can use the HotSync Install Tool to select the PRC file and then hotsync — it will auto install the mapping application onto your Treo. Viola!  You are now never lost again.

Can’t wait to go home and put it on your Treo?  Here’s a LIVE DEMO — try it out as if it’s on your handheld.  Needs java for your browser, and there’s a link for the free download if you need it too.

When you’re finally using the app on your Treo, you’ll be showing it off to everyone.  But they won’t all have Treo’s.  So here’s a list of all compatible phones that will work with the mobile-web version @ http://www.google.com/gmm

ENJOY!