If you were concerned that you didn't look crazy enough screaming into your phone at business associates, family members, and the guy who does your landscaping, Google has added a feature to Maps for RIM devices which should confirm that yes: you're a total maniac. Available right now for a handful of BlackBerry phones (8110, 8120, US version of the 8130) you can grab Google Maps with voice search, which enables you to find what you're looking for by pressing the left-side button and speaking the name of a business (or location, we assume). Sure it sounds convenient, but think twice before searching for hookers or cocaine out loud -- stock brokers, you have been warned.

[Via Gear Diary]

We've seen the Centro in its Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon (to name a few) iterations, but global roamers and free agents of all sorts will be delighted to know that Palm's increasingly popular little smartphone is now available in a delicious unlocked GSM flavor. The device sports all the same specs as AT&T's model, but clocks in with a $299 price tag and plain gray numberpad instead of the telco version's shocking lime green variation. Alongside the carrier-free phone, Centros will also be nabbing a version of Google Maps with its "My Location" feature (long absent from GMaps on Palm phones). Current AT&T and Verizon customers as well as new unlocked owners will be able to download the app tomorrow, with a software update for Sprint later this Summer. Finally, you'll all know where you are.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Apparently, Amazon's wondrous e-book reader, the Kindle, has more than meets the eye -- not unlike some fictional, alien, robotic characters which shall not be named. Users of the device have been plumbing its depths, and have uncovered a handful of easter eggs which will make current owners extra happy, and might push potential buyers over the edge. Amongst the hidden features are access to Google Maps coupled with CDMA-based location-finding, which also allows you to quickly locate nearby gas stations and restaurants (as well as your own custom searches). In addition to the GMaps integration, the Kindle also comes equipped with a hidden picture viewer and slideshow functionality, the ability to snap a screenshot, a clock quick-look, plus everyone's favorite time-wasting game: Minesweeper. Hit the read link to learn all about the unrevealed guts of the innocent little reader.

[Via interface]

It looks like TomTom users looking for a little additional help with directions could now have the fix they've been searching for, as TomTom announced today that it's teamed up with Google in an attempt to bridge the divide between Google Maps and its array of GPS devices. To that extent, you're now apparently able to search for businesses on Google Maps and send all the necessary information straight to your TomTom GPS, albeit with TomTom's Home software acting as a mediator. That's, of course, decidedly less exciting than some of the Google Maps-to-GPS interaction we've seen in other parts of the world, but a welcome addition nonetheless.

[Via CNNMoney]

Soon, you will never have to admit that you're lost and suffer the humiliation of asking for directions. Google is expected to announce a partnership today with Gilbarco Veeder-Root, to include Google's mapping service on 3,500 Internet enabled gasoline pumps across the US. The maps will be available on the pump's small screen giving motorists the ability to scroll through local landmarks, hotels, restaurants, and hospitals to the bemusement of the guy waiting behind you. The pump will even print directions. The service is said to be ad-free but will offer coupons -- that sounds a lot like advertising to us. Look for the gPumps to arrive courtesy of that Encore S rig pictured above.

For now it's not much more than a plan to announce a plan within the next few weeks, but since it involves Google and cellphone networks, we'll take it. The Wall Street Journal has the news that Google will announce its mobile offerings within the next two weeks, which could take the form of hardware, software packages, or -- most likely -- an open platform for phones that third party developers can build on. Interaction is the key word here: Google's platform won't involve locking down features, rather, it'll open them up so that they work together. How exactly the company will execute this plan will be revealed within the immediate future: although with most phone manufacturers already subcontracting development of their phone's software platforms, it doesn't sound like it should be too difficult a job to muscle in.

[Thanks, Harry; via MarketWatch. Image credit]

As if you weren't already super into Google maps, now geek airline supreme Virgin America is getting Gmaps integrated into its Linux-based Red seatback system. As with other seatback GPS systems, users can see position, airspeed, and temperature, but we're stoked to finally get a flight ETA and some interactivity up in here. VA's implementation lets users have eight levels of zoom, as well as pan off the aircraft if they want to go exploring the city they just flew over. Plus, all the map data is cached on the plane's local network, so it'll be even faster than sitting across the street from Google HQ at a Starbucks in Mountain View.

[Via I4U News]

Man, this one is feeding right into some fanboy's sick fantasy: when asked at a conference on Monday about a potential Google + Apple tablet device, Google CEO Eric Schmidt did confirm that the two companies are working together on "many more" new projects and left it at that. It's tempting to want to read a lot into that, too bad that "working together" doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot. Especially since "working together" could mean anything from the Google Maps app that comes pre-installed on the iPhone (which also happens to be already available for lots of other phones as well) to more deeply integrating Google into Safari, with some sort of hardware device being a longshot. Besides, isn't Google working on a phone of its own?

[Thanks, Will Arnold]

It looks like Microsoft is teh win in this little arms race down under. Both companies planned elaborate flyovers on January 26th, Australia Day, which encouraged people to get creative and get noticed by aerial photographs being snapped, which would later be integrated into the respective companies' mapping software. However, while Google managed to take in a good bit of Australia's scenery, their Aero Commander wasn't allowed to fly over Sydney due to some no-fly zone restrictions. Microsoft's higher-flying plane was able to scan the city and scoop up the festivities, including grabbing some shots of an official event at Centennial Park where Aussies formed themselves into a map of Australia. Some of the disappointed include a company that had spent more than AU$10,000 on a hugemongous sign, and an environmental group that trotted out 200 supporters to form a slogan on a local beach. The change of plans was due to winds which required planes to take off from Sydney Airport in a direction that would've messed with Google's flight path.

[Via El Reg]

If you were forced to be photographed by airplanes soaring over your homeland in a jovial time of celebration, would you rather Gates & Co. have the negatives, or the future dominator of planet Earth? Aussies will have the option to make their choice on January 26th, as both Microsoft and Google have separately announced flyovers to occur on Australia Day in which high-resolution photographs will be snapped. Microsoft's motive is one with cultural and artsy underpinnings, as the company hopes to arrange individuals in order to form objects, scenes, and colored patterns from above, while Google seeks to cover more of the country for use in Google Maps and is encouraging individuals to distinguish themselves to get a free ride right into its mapping software. So if you're a Down Under native, or you just so happen to be hanging out in Centennial or Moore Park on Friday morning, toss up an Engadget poster, will ya?

We enjoyed our run with the Nike+iPod, but it was a one trick pony. On the other hand, who wants to carry around something like the LOOX N100 when you just want to track coordinates? If there was only a simple GPS data logger -- something that could monitor our speed, altitude, location, perhaps even at defined intervals; throw in a built-in USB cable and the ability to run on regular batteries, and we'd have a winner. Well the GlobalSat DG-100 offers all these qualities plus the ability to export all that data goodness into a format readable by Google Earth and Google Maps. Granted it won't play nice with our iPods, but at least we can also use it as a GPS receiver to help us find the social. Currently it is available for pre-order, but we've got zero info on availability or price.

[Via Navigadget]