Earthcomber is a little like Mapquest on steroids. By selecting predefined favorites, such as restaurants, atm’s, historical points of interest, this application will locate the sites that match your criteria, and highlight them on a very detailed map. Never again will you have to worry about finding the nearest atm when you travel. Just load the map for the city you’re visiting, and dots appear, indicating the location of known atm’s.

The map support is outstanding. I was even able to locate my house using the “find” feature. There is gps support built in, so you can even see exactly where you are. It’s a shame you can’t get directions or routes. Your only option is to ask for the location of the sites in which you’re interested, and search by distance from your location. Earthcomber gives you the ability to search for places at varying degrees of distance beginning from .2 miles, right up to 50 miles away. I really cannot say enough about the quality of the maps.

I’ve turned on my Holux Bluetooth gps while driving around town using Earthcomber. The dot on the map is about 4 seconds behind real time making it easy to miss turns. I was delighted to see street names that were more legible on the Earthcomber map than on the street signs as I went past them. I was, however, slightly disconcerted to pull to a stop in my parking spot at school only to have Earthcomber show me that I was not on any street at all.

Earthcomber is essentially a free program. You can, however, purchase additional modules for larger cities. These include locations for your major commercial venues, and tons of information about each place listed. I would highly recommend the low-cost purchase to anyone who is planning an extended vacation in a major metropolitan area, or relocating. Earthcomber’s guides will give you near native familiarity with an area in no time.

So what is the point of Earthcomber? What makes it different from Mapquest or any mapping software out there? According to Jim Brady, CEO of Earthcomber, it’s the communities that make it unique. From Earthcomber’s web site, you can browse and join hundreds of communities by location or interest. As you find new and exciting places (or old places yet uncharted), pinpoint them on your map and upload it to Earthcomber. Other Earthcombers will download your pinpoints the next time they “comb,” gaining from your experience. Communities can be public or private, so you can build a community around msg-free Chinese restaurants, or the addresses of your extended family.

Currently, you have to choose your maps and interests online from your pc and hotsync, although Brady told me that this is more a limitation of size than capability. It’s faster to download the map of Los Angeles and sync it to your Treo than load it straight to your Treo using your gprs connection.

The only meaningful downfall of Earthcomber is the documentation. There really isn’t much in the way of help, either within the program, or online. Earthcomber is simply too robust to not have detailed instructions. Earthcomber is much more than just a set of maps, and it would be a shame not to see it reach its incredible potential due to a flimsy user guide.

Personally, I’m looking forward to my next vacation so I can get in my car, turn on my gps, and go Earthcombing.

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Filed under: Software reviews