As we hinted at time and time again, Google has released its native Maps app for iOS…before Christmas. The timing couldn’t come soon enough, as many people have become frustrated with the built-in iOS 6 Maps that Apple offers. Even Apple’s own CEO took it upon himself to apologize for the not-so-polished product, a stand-up act which I actually applauded. Today is about Google… → Read More
Earlier this year, NASA updated its iconic “Blue Marble” image of the Earth, and last week, it released the first version of the “Black Marble,” its image of the planet at night. We’ll still have to wait and see if the “Black Marble” will be just as iconic as NASA’s earlier efforts, but it sure looks stunning and, thanks to a collaboration between Google, NASA, and NOAA, you can now explore it… → Read More
When we sat down with the Google Maps team a few months ago, we got an inside look at how Google makes its Maps product the best, most authoritative and reliable service in the world. Google says over 1 billion people use Maps each month.
The tools that are used internally to build the maps that we see are a mix of Google’s own data and infrastructure, as well as data from other sources and… → Read More
While I’ve managed to resist the call of the Wii U so far, neat tricks with the GamePad like the newly-announced Google Maps app Street View integration have me sorely tempted. Nintendo announced today that Google Maps will be arriving on the Wii U gaming console in early 2013, delivering a unique Street View mode for the GamePad touchscreen controller that allows users to pan around various… → Read More
Google is said to have distributed an external test version of its native maps app for iOS, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. Citing “a person with direct knowledge of the matter,” the WSJ says that Google is readying the app for submission to the App Store review and approval process, though there’s no clear timeline for when that will take place. → Read More
Nokia is capitalizing on its strong reputation regarding maps with a new product called Here today, which offers users a number of new features, like Collections, which lets users save and share locations for cross-platform access, 3D imaging via its web platform and an explore feature that offers points-of-interest recommendations based on your location. This is a rebrand, designed to build… → Read More
The Apple Maps controversy cooled down over the last few weeks (though it got a bit of a replay when Scott Forstall’s exit/ouster from Apple was announced last week), but one question still remains: when will Google launch its native Google Maps app for iOS? According to a new report in the The Guardian, Google plans to have the app finished by the end of the year – something we also heard in… → Read More
After launching its new 3D imagery on mobile a few months ago, Google today finally brought these 3D buildings in select cities and its new tour guide feature to Google Earth 7 on the desktop. With this update, Google is also bringing its 3D imagery to five new cities: Avignon, France; Austin, Texas; Munich, Germany; Phoenix, Arizona and Mannheim, Germany. → Read More
The Google Maps basemap is getting a visual overhaul today. Unlike most updates, though, this one is for the actual maps and not just the interface. Starting today, Google Maps will show you information about terrain, as well as color gradations to depict vegetation and additional labels for natural land formations like the Gobi Desert and the Amazon Basin. → Read More
Google just announced that it has added 25 million new building footprints to Google Maps. Most of the company’s recent announcement around mapping had to do with flashy updates like 3D maps and buildings in Google Earth or thousands of miles of updated street view imagery. Today’s update stands out because of the large number of footprints the company is adding. Among the areas included in this… → Read More
Google today launched two new APIs for Google Maps that are specifically geared toward tracking the location of vehicles, mobile resources and employees. By announcing these new APIs on its enterprise blog and by asking developers to go through its sales team to purchase access, the company is clearly signaling that these features aren’t so much meant for casual apps, though it’s easy to see how… → Read More
Google is continuing to gain points on the mapping front, today launching yet more features for the product at a time when Apple’s offering continues to appear weak by comparison. Today it announced that it has given Street View, which lets users see photographic images of particular locations, its biggest update yet, covering 250,000 miles of roads across more than 17 countries.
The news… → Read More
One of the coolest features that you can get from Google is the capability to see on a map and time it the time it will take to get to a destination either by walking, bike, car or mass transit based on traffic conditions. → Read More
Google has yet to publish a native Google Maps app for Apple’s iOS devices (although we hear it’s coming soon), but in the meantime it continues to beef up the experience on its iOS-focused web app, today adding its popular Street View functionality, which allows users to see actual images of a location or route. → Read More
As the fallout from Apple’s decision to launch its own mapping app for iOS continues, Google is clearly trying to turn Apple’s problems into an opportunity for itself. Without a native Google Maps for iOS app, however, Google’s only way onto the iPhone is as a web app. For the most part, the mobile version of Google Maps can easily rival the old Apple Maps app, but the one missing feature is … → Read More
In a new piece today that cites multiple current and former Apple employees as sources, Bloomberg Businessweek asks the question of whether Apple’s maps fiasco would’ve happened under Steve Jobs. The report reveals that Jobs had “come to loathe” Google, not only for copying iOS, but also for “withholding” turn-by-turn voice-guided navigation from Google Maps on Apple’s mobile platform. → Read More
Editor’s note: Grant Ritchie is the CEO and founder of Locationary, which created the Saturn management and exchange platform for local business profiles and POI data. Follow Locationary here.
The Apple iPhone 5 has been quite a story for a while with many “firsts”: the fastest hardware, the most first-week sales, and so on. The device is also now famous for what it doesn’t have: Google… → Read More
Google Maps gets more awesome by the day. Earlier this week, the service started rolling out stunning underwater imagery- if you will, a seaview mode. Now Google took to the Google Maps blog to announces the inclusion of more high resolution images including a major build-out of 45-degree images.
This update brings a lot of new data to the mapping service. Google Maps and Earth now features 17… → Read More
Thanks to a partnership with The Catlin Seaview Survey, Google Maps now displays StreetView-ish images of the Great Barrier Reef and popular underwater spots around Hawaii and the Philippines. Clear your calendar. Forward your emails. It’s time for an undersea adventure.
As Google explained in a blog post today you can now use Google Maps to swim with a turtle, follow a manta ray or lose… → Read More
Google today announced that it is bringing its indoor maps for places like airports, museums, and malls in Google Maps for Android to France. So the next time you stop by Galeries Lafayette in Paris, you will be able to see detailed floor plans for every floor, including information about escalators, ATMs and nearby restrooms. The maps vary in detail, but the floor plans for supermarket chain… → Read More
Remember that one time you downloaded iOS 6? You were so excited about features like Panorama and… well, Maps. There was nothing else to be all that excited about, at least from a Christmas-morning, I-can’t-wait-to-play point of view. And then, you opened up Apple Maps to find that your childhood home didn’t really look like your childhood home at all, but a flat, f&#(ked up version of your… → Read More
Everywhere you turned last week, there was another story about iOS 6 Maps. Some feel like it’s a great new direction for Apple, but people like me feel like we’re left with an ugly experience that shouldn’t have been introduced to the public in its current state. → Read More
Apple is launching iOS 6 today and one of the changes that will likely spark a lot of discussion is the new Maps app that does away with Google Maps and replaces it with Apple’s own (and by most accounts inferior) mapping solution. Google, of course, isn’t sitting still, and as the New York Times reports, Google Maps for Android is set to get an update later today that will bring cross-device… → Read More
Google officially launched its Google Business Photos (a.k.a. Indoor Streetview) initiative in April 2010, but this indoor imagery was often hard to find and only appeared on Google+ Local and in the Google Search sidebar. On Google Maps, however, it was virtually impossible to find these panoramic indoor images. Starting today, Google will highlight indoor imagery with a yellow circle whenever… → Read More
Google just announced that it is bringing its 45 degree imagery in Google Maps to 30 new cities, including Bloomington, IN; Buffalo, NY; Columbus, OH; Indianapolis, IN; Lincoln, NE; Louisville, KY and Rochester, MN. Outside of the U.S., 45 degree imagery is now available in a number of cities in France, including Bordeaux, Lille and Marseille, and two cities in Spain. Today’s update also brings… → Read More
Google announced a couple of updates to Google Maps today. The Google Maps Navigation app for Android, for example, will now offer turn-by-turn navigation for India. In addition, Google has also turned on live traffic data for six large Indian cities and their suburbs. These cities are Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Pune and Hyderabad. Today’s update isn’t just about India, though. Google… → Read More
Biking directions on Google Maps are nothing new for users in the U.S. and Canada, but starting today, Google will also allow Android users to get voice-guided turn-by-turn directions during their bike trips. Riders, Google says, can now “mount their device on their handlebars, see upcoming turns and use speaker mode to hear voice-guided directions.” The turn-by-turn directions can even help you… → Read More
As Google Maps continues to face headwind from competitors like OpenStreetMap, Google has to find new ways to entice developers to continue to use its mapping solution. Today, the company is launching new ad units for Google Maps that bring Google’s standard AdSense link units to its maps on third-party sites. These new ad formats join Google’s long-established Maps Ad Unit, which the company… → Read More
Native app usage has been edging just ahead of mobile web usage among U.S. smartphone owners in the last few months, but when it comes to the category of travel, mobile web use all but disappears from the map. According to figures out today from Nielsen, 95% of all mobile traffic for travel-related content comes from native mobile apps — specifically on iOS and Android platforms. Mobile web … → Read More
Google Maps now features public transit schedules for more than 500 cities and one million transit stops worldwide. To make all of this information more accessible to its users on the go, Google today launched an update to Google Maps for Android. The Google Maps app now, for example, allows users to choose which specific mode of transportation (train, bus, tram or subway) they want to see on… → Read More
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