Mobile Maps On Smartphones
It would be fair to say that the advancements in mobile phones has had a hugely positive effect on the mobile map industry. Over recent years manufacturers have released a range of smartphones that allow users to almost use their mobile handset as a miniature computer. With application developers having such powerful technology at their finger tips, it’s no surprise to see how impressive the latest mobile maps on smartphones have become.
With users having so many different options available to them, this article will concentrate on the major smartphones that support mobile map software.
Android Smartphones
Those smartphones that utilise the Android technology are blessed in the way that the majority of mobile map applications will function on this platform. Despite being relatively new, Android has emerged as the market leader in the mobile operating systems industry and this has meant that there are hundreds of thousands of applications available for download.
Android users will be able to benefit from the following mobiles maps on their smartphone:
- Google Maps
- Bing Maps
- Sygic
- AmAze
Developers generally make it their priority to allow their software to be compatible with this type of smartphone, meaning that users will always have plenty of options available to them.
Blackberry Smartphones
The Blackberry device was one of the first types of smartphones to hit the market and is still one of the most popular platforms. Even though it is slightly older than the Android system, Blackberry users probably do not have as many choices although the majority of developers will still release their applications on this system.
The majority of major mobile map applications will function on the Blackberry and users of the system will also benefit from the manufacturer’s own software. All Blackberry smartphones come with Blackberry Maps and while this is quite a basic piece of software, it will be sufficient for many users.
iPhone Smartphones
The iPhone is another hugely popular device and there are a huge range of mobile maps that function on this smartphone. All four of the applications that were listed for the previous two devices function on this platform and iPhone users will be able to locate many more through the Apple Marketplace. What’s more, all iPhones arrived with a pre-installed version of Google Maps, courtesy of an agreement between Apple and Google.
Windows Mobile Smartphones
Microsoft were one of the early players in the smartphone industry although it would be fair to say that their Windows Mobile platform is not as popular as any of the other devices. Users have a limited range of options when it comes to mobile maps, although there are more specialised applications on this system as developers find it easier to produce software due the similarities between this and the PC platform. However, all Windows Mobile users will at least be able to benefit from the most popular mobile map application in the market, with Google Maps arriving pre-installed on all devices on this platform.
