Items tagged with Maps
In the grand scheme of the tech world, it's safe to say that Google is "everywhere". This is especially true with Google Maps, thanks to its easy-to-implement API. Businesses the world over have come to rely on it to show potential customers exactly where they're located. Sometimes, it almost feels like Google Maps has a monopoly; when have you ever visited a website that had a Bing maps widget? While many companies rely on Google Maps in one way or another, it doesn't mean that all of them are content to stay if a better option arises. In Uber's case, it now has fat enough pockets to not just move away from Google Maps, but to create its own global mapping solution - and that's exactly what...
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Like it or not, the web and advertising go together like peanut butter and jelly. It's the reason Google is worth billions of dollars. That's the way it is, though it doesn't mean ads have be intrusive or automatically skipped. Case in point, Google is experimenting with different types of ads for local businesses in Maps that might appeal to both consumers and business owners. "For example, Maps users may start to see promoted pins for nearby coffee shops, gas stations or lunch spots along their driving route. Local business pages are also getting a brand new look -- to encourage consumers to explore your store before they even arrive, we’re adding new features like special offers and the ability...
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Google has just rolled-out yet another cool feature to one of its products that's both awesome and downright scary from a privacy standpoint. This time, it's Google Maps that's affected, and its new feature "Your Timeline" leaves little to the imagination. With it, you'll be able to effectively stalk yourself - in the past! As it is today, Google by default tracks where you are at any given time, but the amount of information captured is minimal. If you took a trip to New York six months ago, you'll probably be able to see that referenced in your Maps history. Your Timeline takes things further by providing far more information, down to the name of a building you were in. A feature like this...
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Look out, Google Maps? Apple has just confirmed that it's begun sending out vehicles to capture street-view imagery, in effect tackling head-on one of the best features of Google's Map software. While Google Maps is available for iOS, there's little doubt that Apple would prefer its users use its own solution, regardless of its checkered past. Interestingly, Apple takes things a step further here by letting us know when (roughly) it's going to be hitting up some cities. The list for June 15 - 30 is rather stark, with many cities being visited in Ireland, England, and the US. You can hit up the link below to see if one of the cars will be hitting up your town - though given the two-week span,...
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Apple launched its homegrown mapping solution, Maps, with iOS 6 back in 2012. Maps encountered more than a few unscheduled detours along the way and helped push one exec, Scott Forstall, out the door. Over the past few years, Maps has gained in competency and has become a well-rounded navigation solution, although one that isn’t quite as robust as perennial favorite Google Maps. Apple is looking to give Maps yet another shot in the arm with the now confirmed acquisition of Coherent Navigation, a GPS firm that was founded in 2008. The deal was sniffed out by Mac Rumors earlier this morning and Apple confirmed the acquisition this afternoon to The New York Times, stating only, “Apple buys smaller...
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Climbing Mount Everest isn't easy for a number of reasons. There's the logistics of traveling to the Khumbu region of Nepal, home to Mount Everest, the world's tallest peak. But assuming you have the time, money, and experience to make the trek, it's a dangerous climb, one that has claimed over 200 lives. You can now avoid all that thanks to Google Maps. Hey, we're not trying to rain on any mountain climber's parade -- if you have the chance to climb Mount Everest and are okay with the risks, the visual rewards and experience will follow you for the rest of your life. But for those who can't or otherwise don't want to take the risk, Google Maps is the next best thing, especially after Google...
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Sony took to Twitter to announce that it's ending support for the PlayStation Vita's Maps and near features support, which will be wiped away in a forthcoming update. In addition, Sony will also eradicate the YouTube application, telling users that if they want to watch YouTube content, they'll have to use the browser application. "All features of the [Maps] application and some features of the [near] application will be disabled with the PlayStation Vita system software update planned on March, 2015. Functionalities of the applications will be removed automatically once users update their PlayStation Vita. The disablement of features will not affect gameplay," Sony said in an expanded statement.As...
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On Android, given that it's built by Google, consumers already have access to what is arguably the best routing/navigational app in the known universe: Google Maps. But if for some reason that doesn't appeal to you, there's another major player coming to Android at long last. The HERE team is announcing this week that a beta of its mapping app is now ready for Android users, so long as you're using a Samsung device. Thanks to a licensing agreement with Samsung, it'll be available for free, exclusively for Samsung Galaxy smartphones like the Galaxy S5. What makes HERE special is that it'll work without an Internet connection. If you have a solid GPS signal, you're in business, even when it comes...
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Another end of an era is right around the corner, though attentive drivers could probably have seen this one coming. We're talking about the discontinuation of Microsoft's MapPoint software. After 15 years of service, Microsoft said it's planning to fold up MapPoint for good on December 31, 2014, though you're welcome to purchase the U.S. or European version up until then. In addition to MapPoint, Microsoft is also shuttering its AutoRoute and Streets & Trips software. Competition in this day and age of mobile devices where anyone can look up directions on Google Maps or Microsoft own Bing Maps may have ultimately limited the appeal of MapPoint and related software, though MapPoint is different...
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For mere mortals and smaller companies, $500 million is a lot of green. But for Google, a firm with a market capitalization exceeding $380 billion, investing $500 million acquiring Skybox Imaging is a logical move as it continues to grow, expand, and elevate the possibilities of its Maps technologies. It also works out well that Skybox is based in Mountain View, just like Google. Skybox is a private firm that builds satellites, writes code, deploys data centers, and provides high resolution satellite imagery, along with high-definition video and analytics services. Having put together a talented team that's been pushing state-of-the-art imaging to new heights, the company felt now was a great...
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No matter how advanced tools like Google Maps have gotten, this is the question we all still have whenever we map a route: How long will it take me to get there--no, really? Maps always give you an estimate, and they try to take into account factors such as traffic, but they’re not ideal. Further, if you want to see multiple options for getting around a crowded city and want to compare routes, it’s slow and arduous to do so. Enter Isoscope, a new mapping that can tell you how long it will take you to get anywhere in a city; at any time of day; on any day of the week; given 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 minutes. New York City (Credit: Fast Company) “We wanted our project to shed light on...
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Perhaps you’re a truly robust cyclist, thoroughly unafraid of hills of any size, but many of us are not. (Especially those who frequently schlep one or more children in a tow-behind.) Thus, having a sense of the elevation of your chosen bike route is quite a helpful tool. Google Maps has added just such a feature to its bike routes, and although the team didn’t bother announcing it, TechCrunch sussed out that the new feature exists and confirmed it with Google. Credit: TechCrunch Employing the elevations profiles is simple. When you map a route and hit the bike icon, it’s right there underneath the directions. The little card shows you a graphical representation of the elevation...
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Google's Maps platform has rocketed into perhaps one of the most vital in the company's portfolio, both in terms of usefulness and in terms of user loyalty. This week, Google Maps is seeing a major update across both iOS and Android, adding a slew of new features and refining others. Now, for motorists in the United States as well as select other countries, you'll hear which lane to stay in (or move to) when approaching an exit. Plus, you'll have one-touch access to alternate routes as you're navigating. Better still, those headed into disconnected locales will appreciate the easier-to-use offline mode. Just find an area prior to leaving, zoom into, and select "Save map to use offline." Finding...
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Now that Nokia’s Mobile Devices unit has been assimilated into Microsoft (to the point that Redmond is dropping Nokia’s branding), the company has an identity problem. What is Nokia now? What does it do? New Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri dropped some clues in Nokia’s Q1 financial report, including that Nokia is a large software company with a strong IP portfolio that includes its HERE Maps and networking technology, but we didn’t have to wait long to get a sense of what that means exactly: Bloomberg reports that Nokia is investing in companies that are working on driverless cars, such as Tesla and Google. “We’re seeing innovation that’s happening across the auto...
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Google Maps has been around for a good long while now, and the search (er, maps) giant is still updating its images of the whole world in order to keep those Street View shots as current as possible. Now, with a catalog of aging photos, Google has opted to make something cool out them instead of just dumping them into the abyss of history. “Starting today, you can travel to the past to see how a place has changed over the years by exploring Street View imagery in Google Maps for desktop”, wrote Vinay Shet, Google Street View Product Manager in a blog post. “We've gathered historical imagery from past Street View collections dating back to 2007 to create this digital time capsule...
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Unless you happen to live in a pineapple under the sea, you're probably not afforded many opportunities to visit the watery underworld and take in all the wonderful sights. Lucky for us landlubbers, the Catlin Seaview Survey has made it their mission to create a baseline record of the world' coral reefs in high-resolution 360-degree panoramic vision. Even better, they've partnered with Google to provide underwater images for Google Street View. The Catlin Seaview Survey and Google just added a bunch of new images, giving curious undersea peepers like us more ocean to explore, including Isla Mujeres and Cancun. Things you may bump into during your underwater expedition include a whale shark and...
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Apple iPhone and iPad users can no longer download Nokia's HERE mapping application from the App Store. The Finnish phone maker voluntarily removed the app because of compatibility issues with the iOS 7 update that could ultimately "harm the user experience." Nokia said it's not blaming Apple or iOS 7, but this is a case where the app simply wasn't optimized for the updated mobile OS, so the decision was made to remove it. Nokia launched HERE on iOS back in November of last year. It was around the same time Apple was taking heat for its decision to remove Google Maps as the default mapping application in iOS. HERE might have become a fan favorite after Google Maps left (temporarily) the App Store,...
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It's tough to even remember how we operated in a world without Google Maps, as the service has rapidly evolved into a must-have tool in just a few short years since its launch. One of the ways it has expanded is by enabling the world to populate it with data, and there's probably no better case to be made for crowdsourcing than mapping. Now, the company is allowing folks around the globe to create their own Street View. If you're unfamiliar, Street View is a street-level view of popular places on Google Maps, where a camera recorded an image at a given point and allows you to view what that point looks like online. It's almost like being there, through your laptop display. Google has spent years...
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Apple continues to have a mess on its hands with Maps. In almost every way, it's a subpar product compared to Google Maps, and the kicker is that Apple booted Google from the default map position within iOS 6. When you make a change like that, the world expects whatever you toss in to be superior, and that obviously isn't the case. So, Apple has been working overtime behind the scenes to right the wrong, and while Maps for iOS could still use a lot of work, it appears that progress is being made. Apple has just acquired Embark, a mapping app that it recommended for users who needed mass transit directions in major cities across the U.S. As it stands, Apple's Maps app still relies on third-party...
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Apparently, Locationary wasn’t the only maps-related acquisition Apple is making these days; the Cupertino company also snapped up HopStop, which is a service that provides “door-to-door transit, walking, biking, and taxi directions in over 300 cities worldwide”. It would seem that HopStop’s key features concern the ability to navigate city transit, as well as the ability to email directions, plot a course with multiple destinations, and even helpful items such as the calculating cab fare or estimating calorie consumption (on a bike ride or walk). Apple’s initial foray into maps, which was an attempt to break free of a Google Maps reliance on its mobile devices,...
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While Yahoo! has become the undisputed king of start-up acquisitions over the past year or so, Apple has definitely been on a fairly steady buying spree as well. While Apple never makes public its acquisition targets, huge innovations in the company's portfolio have began as ideas that were born outside of Cupertino. Take Siri, for instance. Now, Locationary looks to be the latest start-up joining Apple's ranks. It's a local data outfit based out of Toronto, and while Apple would not confirm what plans it had for the new kid on the block, it's fairly obvious: bolstering its mapping services. Apple has taken a particularly harsh lashing from the media and critics alike due to its subpar mapping...
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The latest in the Bond film series, "Skyfall," was certainly one to remember. And not all of those memories were pleasant. The head villain's island lair was a particularly spooky place, and sure enough, it's roots are grown from a real place. The decaying wasteland depicted in the film was a shadow of Hashima off the coast of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. Due to its unique flat shape, the island is most widely known in Japan by its nickname Gunkanjima — aka “Battleship Island.” In some circles, it's called "Dead Island." According to Google: "Starting in the late 19th century, Hashima served as a coal mining facility and residential complex for 5,000 people. After the decline...
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