Retrieve Earthcomber Maps, Data On-Demand

location based services

The latest edition of Earthcomber, a GPS-enabled application for Palm OS and Windows Mobile PDAs and smartphones, enables users to wirelessly retrieve free maps and data over-the-air and on demand. The purpose is to give travelers a convenient way to explore their surroundings for places that would make their trips complete without having to remember to pre-load information ahead of time.
“Imagine you just stepped off an airplane in a city you’ve never been to before,” explained Earthcomber senior VP Dana Sohr. “Or maybe you’ve driven into an unfamiliar part of your own town. Using the latest release of Earthcomber, you can download the map and all the latest information for that area.”
The free location-based service can help users find a hot spot, coffee shop, ATM, office supplies, fast-food, banks, restaurant, car rental, historic sites, museums, schools, public buildings, parks, convenience stores, pharmacies, cleaners, fuel, eye-care, a pet store, etc. It lists over 2.5 million locations around the U.S. in all.
Earthcomber does this by scanning an area for all items of personal interest, unlike web-based mobile look-up services that require users input an item on the spot. Users pre-define their favorites, interests and needs ahead of time. When one is nearby, the application lets you know automatically.
The service also provides the latest movie listings for 5,400 theaters and 30,000 screens.
You can even use EarthComber without a GPS-enabled handheld or smartphone, but to get information on points-of-interests, you must otell it exactly where you are on the map.
Turn-by-turn directions for wirelessly (cellular or even Wi-Fi) connected devices are also available through EarthComber.
Earthcomber CEO Jim Brady told PDAStreet this past spring that his company plans to take additional advantage of live wireless connections by adding more capabilities to the informational layer of the service, where the points of interests lay. Where today, for example, a restaurant listing maybe hasn't been updated in quite a while, in the future a user's smartphone may reflect changes made to its menu listing in the last 24 hours.
Other enhancements in the latest release allow users to store more maps and content onto their devices or storage cards. In addition, EarthComber says the application’s performance has been improved significantly. Related Links:
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