FastMall - Shop Around Fast!

When it comes to really getting in and out of a mall, there's really no easy way to do it. Whether you'll use a map or not, it'll still take a while for you to get what you want. Of course, this is granted that you have no idea on where you are going.

A good portion of the malls have maps on every level, but when it comes to using those maps, do you really want to think on where you want to go? An application, called FastMall, for the iPhone and iPod touch changes how you navigate around malls.

With FastMall, you're able to browse around all the different types of restaurants, know exactly where you parked with the sound of your voice and a map (using GPS of course); you're even able to view a virtual map!

Using this virtual map, which you have one included for free with the app, you're able to view the map, find a store, find food, find a restroom (with also the functionality of shaking your device to bring up the nearest restroom), find a deal, get more info on the mall, find out where you parked, and more!

Unfortunately, you do have to pay for the maps to get additional malls. These maps can range from $.99 all the way up to $2.99. As of right now, they only offer around sixty malls for you to buy. It would be nice if users like yourself would be able to create a virtual map and be able to have free community-based maps. Granted that they might not be as accurate, but it would be for sure an excellent thing to have.

With each virtual map, finding a store is easy. You're able to route yourself right towards the store. Sadly enough, it won't be able to tell you "take a u-turn", "turn left", or even "back up" for that matter. What it will do is guide you there every step of the way. Which, I have to say, is a nice thing if the mall you just happen to be in is a really big one.

Another great feature about FastMall is that when you park your vehicle in the parking lot, you're able to record a note and with that note, FastMall will even save your GPS location. Pretty cool, right?

Okay, big deal, FastMall can only help you get around the mall... wrong! FastMall will provided all the information for every store and the mall itself, like their phone number, their hours, where they are (which you cannot use the address to route you to get to that mall in the first place), and even find where the pay phones and ATM machines are.

But that's not the only thing you can do, you can also find the latest deals and bargains in that mall too! You'll be able to save a lot of money with application too!

Just to let you know, you might be thinking, "do I have to pay for every mall to get all of this?" Your answer is no. You're able to view all the latest deals, find the mall information, and even find what the mall has to offer you all for free; you only have to pay for the virtual maps, which does help you a lot, by the way.

FastMall is for sure a neat application. The only downside to the application is that it tends to be a bit slow on my 1st generation iPod touch and there's no way to create your own map for others to download for free. I can see the map creation easily coming into an open-source project. And you know what, if MindSmack, the company that made FastMall, likes user created maps so much, they could even buy the map off the user. I can see virtual maps coming a long way. And my last little downside is that you have to register an username and password before you even start using the application. In these days, apps should really only be using the device ID to log yourself in, and not your username and password. But at least you only have to sign in once; that is, if you do not press the log out button.

If you're interested in FastMall, click here to open up the iTunes page:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fastmall/id340656157?mt=8