A Beautiful Mind

Localization is the buzzword heard with sites like Yahoo & Google these days...So i thought as I keep googling for one topic or the other...let's go & try something with localization,so i pressed 'more' on the Google homepage.I had to see what's new for their localisation section so i went down from there to 'google local'. So here it is, it gives me an option to search anything locally ('What & where') & example it gives is for "coffee shops" somewhere in NY.I got excited & next second i tried to look for "coffee shops" in my city.I was amazed when it says 'Unable to understand address' for cities like Bombay,Chennai,Bangalore,New Delhi. Probably since its in its Beta stage. So i just typed 'NY'...it beautifully laid down the addresses of coffee shops in NY after search and a map.You can actually go & click on the map...zoom out.But the thing I liked the most was the Directions feature.For every location enter a 'starting address' & 'destination address' and it gives you the step by step driving directions, with estimated distance & time,along with map with each instruction. There is an option to make the map interactive & much more.If you don't know any address in NY ;-) just go & type '2nd avenue', it will give you a dropdown list, select any of them ;-).I tried the same with google india but it also redirects you to same google.com 's 'more' list .

If you haven't seen it, you have to actually visit & try yourself to feel the features they are trying to put there....I am thinking, someday,not very far from now,when I will be on road driving some vehicle(which i love to ;-)),carrying some small device, won't have to stop & ask the shopkeeper on roadside how far is the 'McDonald' ,'Shopper's Stop' or 'Barista' from this place.I will simply go & check on some such site with localized info for driving directions...........