Tag: MAPS

Two years ago, we were not impressed with Poly9's 3D globe software, similar to Google Earth. This week, Apple begs to differ with us, deciding that Poly9 was far enough along that it's worth acquiring. To be fair, two years is an eternity in software time, and the current Poly9 Globe is a lot cooler than Poly9 FreeEarth, the app we called, "like Google Earth, but Flash-based and slower." Of ...

Google Maps on Android was already leaps and bounds ahead of the experience on other mobile devices, but Google just unleashed some new features that make it even better. The latest update adds train and bus schedules, support for adding Google Latitude contacts, and Google Place Pages integration. Android users can now grab transit schedules -- where they're available, anyway -- just by ...

First, let me just say that I don't own either an iPhone or an iPad -- but when something looks this good, I can't ignore it. It almost makes me want to get an iPad... and a sofa to sit on while I use it... Anyway, Google Earth 3.0 has been released. It's free, but weighs in at a hefty 13MB... so tether before you download it! Those of you that have used previous versions won't notice many ...

Google's turn-by-turn GPS navigation software for smartphones has today been enabled in western, continental Europe... and Canada! If you've not used it before, Google Maps Navigation, despite carrying Google's omnipresent 'Beta' tag,' is as good as GPS navigation gets. It might not be quite as refined as commercial, big-bucks navigation systems, but the sheer number of awesome features easily ...

You know that geotagging your posts on Twitter lets people know where you are at the time of posting, but Twitter doesn't offer a way to turn those geotags into anything coherent, like a list or a map. That's where an iPhone app called TrackinU comes in. It converts geotagged tweets into map routes, showing where you've tweeted from. The app is designed to keep track of your friends, but some ...

Do you like the idea of Foursquare, but aren't in love with the Foursquare iPhone app? Maybe Kickball is more your speed. This new iPhone app is a Foursquare client with awesome mapping of nearby venues and friends' locations, and it makes Foursquare both more interesting and easier to use. It's available for free ("for a limited time") in the App Store. Kickball uses Twitter's GeoAPI to ...

The UK is already one of the most-monitored Western countries. It has a record number of security cameras on the streets and public transport stations (one camera for every 14 people!); its authorities are installing chips in garbage cans to monitor the amount of trash, and now Google is "helping out" by bringing Streetview to each and every street, effective tomorrow. 238,000 miles of public ...

Twitter and Facebook both moved forward with their new location-based features today, with Twitter switching on geolocation features on Twitter.com, and Facebook announcing it will allow users to share their locations. We already knew that Twitter's move was coming, because Twitter's location services have been part of the API and available in third-party apps for some time now. TechCrunch is ...

Maybe you've heard of Foursquare -- that trendy mobile app that lets you and your friends check in when you go somewhere -- but chances are you haven't heard of FourWhere. It's a search engine for location-based social networks, starting with Foursquare, but planning to expand to Gowalla and others. Just like third-party apps started popping up for Twitter as it got more popular, you can expect ...

Yesterday Google launched a personalized search suggestions technology for Google Maps. These suggestions are based on your previous Google web history. Using previous web as well as location searches, Google Maps attempts to find results tailored to you. An example from the Google Earth and Maps blog: "...if you've looked at cafes on Google Maps with past searches, you might see them as ...

I knew Google Maps was a great tool for finding directions, and I figured it would be useful to any tourist, but I didn't know Google had actually built a tour planner. It's called Google City Tours, and it just got a huge upgrade that makes it worth checking out. Google City Tours takes your list of destinations and provides an optimized plan for you to see all of them. It even does a pretty ...

Although we've seen MapQuest struggling to keep up with Google Maps, the popular map service continues to add features and improve existing ones. MapQuest has been especially active in the mobile arena lately, introducing new versions of Mapquest Mobile 4 for BlackBerry and iPhone, and updating its mobile site for iPhone and Android users. The most important new feature on MapQuest's mobile ...

Microsoft and Apple don't always play nicely together, but if MS wants to compete with Google in search it has to go mobile. And going mobile these days means having an iPhone app, so that's exactly what Microsoft did. The Bing app has just hit the app store, and it offers features like voice search, a daily photo, and mapping features (including locating yourself with the iPhone's GPS). The ...

If nobody told you, you might not even notice it, but the team at Google Maps just introduced some subtle visual improvements that make their maps easier to read. Worldwide changes include narrower roads, better contrast between text and the rest of the map, and colors that don't conflict with traffic and other overlays. You'll also start to see road detail at a slightly more distant zoom level. ...

Google has built Street View into a fairly comprehensive collection of images from city streets around the world. The problem is that Google's iconic street view vans can't get into every tight nook and cranny. That's why the big G is introducing a new camera-equipped vehicle: the Street View Trike. The trike is coming to a walkable space near you, if you nominate your favorite spot. The trike ...