I saw yesterday (yes, I’m behind the curve on this one!) that Google is beta-testing a version of Google Maps for mobile devices. I have a Treo 650 and, while it’s not one of the officially-supported devices, you can install it if you select ‘Other’ as your carrier and ‘Generic’ as your device, and download the ‘Advanced MIDP 2’ version. However, in my testing it’s appeared clunky and crash-prone, which is an enormous shame.

Imagine being able to punch in your current location, no matter where you are, and then find a local bar, pizza joint, or whatever. Or find directions to your next appointment. Or be able to photoblog your current location. Or publish your current location so your friends can easily find you. Or…well, anything else that could benefit from location-based services.

Well, Treo and Blackberry users can! KMaps by AleAlea makes all this possible and it’s completely free. (Google Maps for Mobile is also free, by the way. Only it doesn’t work so well.) KMaps is actually built on top of the Google Maps service, so you get the same fidelity in your maps and an interface that’s very familiar. It has all of the features I mention above, and it works perfectly. The UI could still use a little work, I think, but it’s a tremendously useable program, and it has a small footprint, too! This is definitely a keeper…