• WHAT: Google's map information sent directly to your cell phone
• WHY: Look it up at your desk and take with you to go
• COST: Free (cost of receiving a text message)

You're sitting at your desk and need directions to somewhere, or a suggestion for a restaurant, movie theater or whatever. You could go to MapQuest, Yahoo or a slew of other mapping/search services, but if you like to carry that information with you you're going to want to use Google's mapping service .

Sure, the other services do provide a similar service, but I prefer Google for a couple of reasons (full disclosure - I own a small, and I mean small, amount of Google stock).

First of all, the other services - notably Yahoo - require you to go through a lengthy sign-up process in order to "remember" your phone. Google's is simple, fast and easy. Secondly, the hybrid street/satellite map available through Google is terrific. You can see the street names and the landmarks - it's a huge help in figuring out if the place you're looking at is the place you meant to find.

But the best reason of all to use any of these mapping services, in my humble opinion, is the easy way to get this information to your cell phone so that you have it "to go" when you walk out the door. When you look up something on Google Maps a list of results will appear in the left column. When you click on one of them it will pinpoint it on a map and provide the address, phone number, etc. At that point you'll be able to get a map, sometimes call the business and more options, but you'll almost always see a "Send to phone" link that will do exactly that... send the information to your cell phone via a text message. Once it's on your phone it's a lot easier to call the business while you're on the go as you'll only need to open the message and scroll to the phone number, then press "Send" when the number is highlighted.

It's information-to-go in the easiest way. If you're already using Google Maps (or Yahoo, for that matter) it's a quick, easy way to put that same information on your cell phone.