MapQuest mobile driving directions

MapQuest mobile driving directions allow you to be lost, but not to be worried about it.

 

MapQuest mobile driving directions allow you to use your mobile phone to find out where you are, and how to get where you want to be. 

• The main features of MapQuest mobile are covered in this review, and compared to those offered by other map sites

To understand how MapQuest mobile, and similar mobile mapping software, works you need some understanding of the technology behind it. Mobile maps are provided by web pages that have been designed for use on mobile phones and PDAs. These web pages are designed for WAP enabled devices with small screens, but you can access them from your PC just like any normal web page.

WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) is the technology that allows users to access information instantly via handheld wireless devices, such as mobile phones. There are two version of WAP currently in use, WAP2 and WAP1. Associated with these are Web Markup Languages WML1 and WML2. These are mobile versions of HTML, and both are supported by MapQuest. Most other map sites also support both of these. Usually, the browser on your phone decides which protocol to use. The WML1 and WML2 maps from MapQuest look the same, but this is not true of other sites (e.g. Yahoo). 

The difference between WML1 and WML2

W3C has defined XHTML as the official Web markup standard. XHTML is HTML 4.1 with stricter conformance to XML rules. XHTML Basic is the W3C defined subset of XHTML that displays on mobile devices and PCs. WAP2 specifies XHTML Basic as the content-authoring language.  XHTML-MP (Mobile Profile) is a slightly extended version of XHTML Basic specified by industry. WAP2 browsers normally also support XHTML-MP.

WML2 is the easiest language for HTML designers to learn. It's the new generation WML and can be found on new WAP mobiles with bigger displays like PDAs and Smartphones.

WML1 is most common today and available on mobile phones with smaller displays and memories. Although also being based on HTML/XML, it has features that do not exist in HTML. This can confuse common HTML designers.

WML has its own version of Javascript, called WML script. This allows presentation software to run on the WAP browser of your mobile phone, reducing the load on the web server.

MapQuest mobile

MapQuest mobile driving directions are available as WAP1 and WAP2. You can specify business names as starting and end points via a simple, intuitive Interface. In the first field, you type all or part of the business name. MapQuest then gives a list of businesses matching this name. You pick one. It's based on comprehensive telephone listings, and allows you to find anything from hairdressers and shoe makers, to doctors and lawyers. 

MapQuest can displays a map of your starting and end location, but doesn't offer turn by turn driving directions. Other sites offer different features. For instance, Go2 allows you use a phone number or person's name as a location. But it;s business name directory is not as friendly as MapQuest's. Yahoo remembers the last few locations you entered and allows you to reuse them. Yahoo complements MapQuest quite well, for instance it gives turn by turn directions but no maps.

Windows Mobile Live offers perhaps the most complete implementation of driving directions combined with maps. It offers turn by turn intructions, overview and turn by turn maps, and remembers locations.

All the main mobile map sites get data from the leading digital mapping data sites NavTeg or TeleNav. TeleNav sites include Google, Yahoo, and Go2.

Which mobile driving directions is best? This depends on your particular needs, and which device you own. So try them all out and find out which works best for you on your device.