Alltel launches user-friendly GPS program

Man, the Alltel Axcess Shop has so much cool junk in it, we hardly know where to start. Honestly, we thing it’s one of the best platforms for delivering mobile content, certainly better than AT&T’s MediaNet and only behind Verizon’s system (Get It Now, VCast, whatever they’re calling it) because of quantity, not quality. They’re adding another program to it this week: a GPS program. And we have to say, from the initial look, we likey. It’s called WHERE, and it’s a widget-driven system. You can add and subtract any widget you’d like, which include restaurants, directions, gas stations, retail outlets, and plenty more. There’s even one called “location notes.” We weren’t able to sample what exactly it is, but it sounds neat enough. Unlike TeleNav, which is the GPS system available through AT&T, WHERE won’t burn a $10 monthly hole in your pocket. It’s less than a third of that, costing just $3 per month. Like many newer mobile programs, this is only available on a limited number of Alltel phones — those with GPS chips, clearly. Those include the Samsung Wafer, Hue, and u520, plus the LG Wave and AX8600. Alltel is good about releasing new phones, so expect this to be available on more phones in the future. [GPS Business News]]]>