By Staff Writer – John Federico (@gadgetboy)

Not too long ago I reviewed GateGuru, an app to help you navigate airport terminals throughout the U.S. This review however, hits a little closer to home – and could save you time in the few days left before Christmas.

The app (and the company) is called Point Inside and what GateGuru does for airports, Point Inside does for your local shopping mall.

Given that I hate going to the mall during the holiday season (if I can help it) I decided to see if I could pull up my local shopping mecca while in the comfort of my home office.

With my permission, Point Inside mapped my current location, then allowed me to find a nearby shopping mall of my choice. I selected The Mall at Short Hills. (Because that’s where I visit the Apple Store…)

(Full review with screenshots after the jump)

I was presented with a menu that included Services, Stores, Restrooms, ATM’s – and probably most important for Point Inside, Events and Promotions.

Services included everything from drinking fountains to escalators to public phones and the concierge. (Yes, The Mall at Short Hills has a concierge – and valet parking.)

All listings are presented alphabetically – in this case selecting Food presented me with all the restaurants in the mall.

Finding a restroom was easy enough.

As were Cartier and Chanel.

And of course, The Apple Store.

My only concern – and I’ve yet to test the app on-location, so I can’t say for sure – is the issue of wireless coverage.

The AT&T Wireless coverage at The Mall at Short Hills on the lower level can be kind of spotty. If the maps are pulled from the cloud you may not have any map data whatsoever. If the maps are stored locally then at the worst, the network will be unable to map your location which is still better than walking in circles, which is my usual mall activity.

Given that the app is free to consumers, my guess is that Point Inside (the company) will work with mall properties and retailers to drive in-store sales through promotions and events – definitely a viable business model with the right contacts and volume.

As much as I dislike shopping at the mall this time of year, I’m going to have to go to pick something up – and I’ll definitely be using Point Inside.

Disclosure of Material Connection: http://dsclzr.us/0

Related articles by Zemanta

• This Is Our First App Christmas (techstartups.com)

Tags: Apple Store , Holiday Shopping , iPhone Apps , Mall Directory , Mall Guide , Point Inside , Shopping Malls , The Mall at Short Hills