A new Google tool: Google maps

Google Maps was quietly unveiled in beta form today. The product is a very nice tool that enable you to acuire map and route information all accros the United States.

This is prehaps one of the most streamlined and efficent mapping tools out there dedicated towards competing with larger players like Mapquest. Google Maps offers a few advantages over competitors. Maps can be dragged to view adjacent areas, which means users do not have click and wait for graphics to reload. Zooming is also instantaneous with the help of a slider placed atop the map.

Google Maps is also closely tied with the company's local search. Instead of entering a specific address, users can simply search for a term such a "sushi," which would then show all nearby sushi restaurants directly on the map.

The service offers a fairly clean interface and works with IE and Mozilla/Firefox.