Wait. What happened to West Pacheco? Why does it say I'm still on it?! And how did Google Street View know I loved the Colonel's delicious fried chicken?!

And now the Street View driver is helping me park, all while continuing to screw with my directions by saying I'm still cruising peacefully down West Pacheco.

Well, we're parked and ready for some finger lickin' goodness (and still "on" Pachero). Let's just hope no one actually uses Street View for, you know, legitimate directions—it's no wonder that people are "directed" of a cliff every now and again. [Google Street View - Thanks, Eric]

AcrossAir, the makers of the app, claim it as one of the first "augmented reality" apps for the iPhone, meaning it adds digital signs to a real-time video. It only supports the London Underground for now, and is currently being approved by Apple, but we could definitely see this coming in handy for most any major city. Can we humbly request a version for Chicago, city of the miles-apart subway stations? We'll let you know when it's eventually approved and released into the App Store. [AcrossAir]

Check back tomorrow for more details.

The benefits of using AAA is that you can have access to their Diamond Ratings (hotels, restaurants) and find points of interest in their TourBook guide. There's even options for finding AAA-approved auto repair facilities, which is useful if you're taking a cross country trip in that beater you own.

Sprint only:

Samsung M500, Samsung M510, Sanyo SCP-7050, Sanyo M1, Sanyo SCP-8400, Sanyo MM-9000, Sanyo SCP-3200 and LG 550 (Fusic).

[AAA via Crunchgear]

In this day and age of mobile Google Maps and Windows Live Maps already on smartphones and dumbphones, only a few people would really need to plan out their directions beforehand and send them to their cellphones. One of which could be our buddy, who seems to think that just because we're sitting in front of a computer all day makes us their personal map guide. – Jason Chen

MapQuest

Windows Live Search runs on both J2ME (Java) phones and on Windows Mobile phones, whereas Google Maps only works on J2ME phones.

So which is better? Without a doubt, Microsoft's was the winner.

This matchup could have been a bit uneven. We were running WLS on a Windows Mobile phone, seeing as the Windows Live Search had a "native-app" feel, because it was a native app. Google Maps on Java ran like Java always does. Painfully.

In terms of maps, both apps gave you streets as well as "aerial" view, which is a satellite combined with street names. However, WLS's looked smoother, scrolled faster, and zoomed in and out much better. Google's (above) was, well, sluggish.

Traffic was nicely painted green, red, or yellow, and looked clear even on aerial view. You're going to want to use regular map view unless you really like trying to find your own house.

A nice touch with WLS was the turn by turn driving directions, which are usable if you're a passenger, but probably tricky to finagle if you're the driver. Google Maps also has driving directions, but on the whole, the buggy Java implementation renders it too iffy to use while driving.

Local Business Search in WLS also provided interesting results, with two hits when we searched for ballroom dancing in SF. Google does have a Find Business option, but would just hang the app half the time. When it did come with a ballroom dancing result, the results were presented one at a time instead of on a list, which then in turn would sometimes hang the app. Every time it hangs, a full reboot is in order. We blame Java.

If you're using a Windows Mobile phone, we'd definitely recommend you try out Windows Live Search. The Java-based Google Maps is just too buggy and slow, not to mention clunky, to be useful to us. – Jason Chen

Update: Google Maps does have local business and directions. We updated the comparison to reflect that. Thanks to rg and insomnic for pointing out our oversight.

Product Page [Windows Live Search (Visit on your phone)]

Google Maps Mobile [Google]

Personally I have a GPS nav system in my car, but when I'm riding in anyone else's car, it's nice to know I can access maps and directions from my phone. Works on WM5 and Windows Mobile 2003.

More screenshots after the jump. – Jason Chen

Virtual Earth Mobile [via Virtual Earth via jkOnTheRun]

Google Maps for Mobile is mostly free. It does require java browser support, so some kind of data plan will likely be required by carriers. This is an extremely good alternative to those who want some GPS goodness but don't want to drop a G on a GPS unit for their vehicle. To access this service, simply point your cellphone browser to www.google.com/gmm.– Travis Hudson

Google Maps for Mobile Beta [Via Mobiledia]