Trust Google to upset a few apple carts the moment it got onto the mobile platform. The company redefined mobile e-mail with its easy to use Gmail App and also developed mobile-friendly versions of its website. But what has really grabbed attention is its mapping product for cell phones, Google Maps. The latest version of the software triggered a major buzz in the mobile world, as unlike other mapping software that restricted itself to displaying different maps and key locations, Google Maps actually managed to show where the user was located-even on phones that did not have GPS! Google did this by using the locations of GSM towers rather than GPS satellites to pinpoint the location of the user.

Yes, it was nowhere near as accurate as GPS, but it was more than handy for users who did not desire pinpoint accuracy but just wanted a rough idea of their whereabouts. It thus freed users from the need to invest in expensive hardware (a GPS-enabled handset costs upwards of Rs 20,000) to find their location. What's more, it worked on a number of handsets and was small enough to download and use with minimum fuss.

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Although Google has remained mum about the challenge Google Maps poses to GPS, experts in the industry feel that the software's efficiency will increase as more GSM towers come up (something that is inevitable) and it might some day actually prove to be a viable alternative to GPS. And while Google Maps currently does not support features like routing and turn-by-turn navigation for India, the future could see these features emerging in addition to a few others, such as increased zoom levels that allow users to see themselves from a few metres in the air! Meanwhile, it is interesting to note that Google Maps also works with GPS-enabled devices-RIM offers it preloaded in its GPS-enabled handsets such as the BlackBerry 8820.