Zagat To Go is one of Blackberries premier restaurant, nightlife, hotel and golf guides. The program offers Geo-Location based services, instant lookup for the areas of your choice and other very useful information for everyday life. Keep reading for a look and review of Zagat To Go.
| Location Based Services | Rating  |
The big buzz word lately in the mobile world has been "Location Based Services" and for good reason, most new middle to high end devices take advantage of LBS. What does this mean? Basically the ability to find your location quickly and easily via your device. For this purpose Zagat is a premier product, using your devices GPS abilities Zagat To Go can easily pinpoint your location and display the requested businesses you choose that are closest to your vicinity. If you don't have GPS enabled on your device but you have data access you can also enter your city or zipcode and find the same information that you would via a GPS signal (Although your area may be expanded if your in a bigger city/area. You can also enter your exact address to find closer information.
I personally tried the GPS option and was impressed that my major options were located within 3 city blocks (Chicago), I also tried the Zipcode option and found that all of the options were within that area as well, although the restaurants and nightclubs were a little out of the way. I did input my address which pulled up information from closest to furthest, however I chose to use GPS information since it was available. If you don't have a GPS unit built in I would highly suggest purchasing a Bluetooth GPS receiver, not only for this program but for any GPS mapping including the free and very competent Google Maps Mobile.
Overall the Location Based Services are very competent and offer pinpoint feedback on the restaurants, nightclubs and other locations you request.
| Quick Lookup Features | Rating  |
After you find the location you want to visit Zagat To Go offers several useful functions including the ability to MAP the direction to the new location and to call the location with a single click. I first tried the mapping location and thanks to my Blackberry's GPS receiver I was able to pinpoint my own location and using Blackberry Maps navigate to the restaurant. Realizing that Chicago restaurants can be crowded I also could easily hit the "Call" button and my phone started dialing in a matter of seconds. You can also find nearby places to eat/visit at the same time using yet another simple click screen.
The buttons are all easily accessible and useful. Here's a look at how easily accessible each option actually is.
| Ratings System | Rating |
It's one thing to find a restaurant you already know by name, but what if your in a city you don't know that well or have never visited, luckily in these cases the Zagat To Go app offers over 30,000 location reviews from popular and not-so-popular locations, these reviews are from everyday users which means you can easily find real reviews from real people.
If you want to try something new or find out about somewhere you've been invited this is a great way to go about learning a little about the locations in question before you arrive at them.
| Advanced Features | Rating |
In terms of advanced features the first aspect to take into consideration is the Search and Browse function, in this case you can sort listings into cuisine/category, neighborhood and even the applications Top Lists. You can also sort by Zagat ratings, as well as cost. If your in a new area these are all great options to find new places to visit or to find reviews of places in your immediate area.
Users can also take advantage of advanced search which includes full colored maps and easy to follow directions.
Here's a look at part of the search function:
My personal favorite feature was the PIM/phone integration feature, using this option you can add reservations to your calendar, save location information and retrieve it at a later time, if you tend to travel for business on a regular or even semi-regular basis you'll find this option very useful. Simply store your location information and the address and you can get mapping info or eve use one click calling to the venue if needed.
Finally you can also email reviews to your friends to see if the location you want to meet at seems okay to them thanks to Zagat To Go's built-in email service.
Conclusion
Overall Zagat To Go is a very competent and easy to use program, thanks to one click instant access to maps and calling information Zagat To Go makes planning your days/evenings easier than ever. For only $3.99 a month for a monthly subscription I find Zagat To Go to be a necessary application for any business person travelling within the United States, give it a try and you won't be disappointed.