It depends on if you want to wait for a few months and if she’s going to be driving. Right now, a Blackberry can tell you your location (if it has GPS) and give you directions, which is great if you’re walking or giving someone else directions. However, it doesn’t do spoken turn-by-turn directions, which can be problematic if she’s doing the driving. Spoken step-by-step directions are important when driving — and especially for a new drivers — because you don’t want to have to take your eyes off the road to know where you’re going.

The Google navigation software that I wrote about likely will be coming to other types of phones — and I would bet Blackberry will be one of the first to get it — but it will probably be months before it’s available (this is all conjecture, Google hasn’t actually announced anything official).

So if she’s going to be driving and you don’t want to wait months, it might be a good idea to get her a GPS. GPS devices are not terribly expensive anymore (new ones tend to be in the $150-200 range), and they have the advantage in that they will come with a way to mount themselves in the car. Another option is to get currently existing navigation software that does spoken turn-by-turn directions for the Blackberry. Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T each offer their own navigation software (VZ Navigator, Sprint Navigation, and AT&T Navigator, respectively). I believe the Sprint one is included with the plans already, but the other two charge per-use, usually $3 for 24 hours or $10 for a month. If she’s only going to need driving directions sporadically, this could be a less expensive way to do it.

Hope this helps!