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878 'Google Maps' stories May 2011 - September 2014
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Google now lets you browse shared custom maps from others, launches revamped ‘My Maps’ tool

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Sep 16 2014 - 9:54 am PT
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Google announced today that it’s launching new features that make creating and sharing custom maps with others easier. Google is now letting users share and browse publicly shared maps from others through its Google Maps Gallery website, a site that was previously dedicated to Maps curated by Google and created by Google partners.  Starting today the service is open to everyone and Google is also launching a revamped tool on both the web and Android for creating and sharing custom maps that include images, descriptions, custom icons and more.


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Google Street View now making stops in Ancient Egypt

Avatar for Mark Hearn Sep 10 2014 - 7:48 am PT
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Street View is much more than a tool for taking an early look at the local scenery of an upcoming road trip, it’s now an easy and affordable way to see parts of the world that were once limited to a privileged group of jetsetters. Today Google announced the addition of a grand new virtual tour that lets you visit some of the biggest monuments of Ancient Egypt from the comfort of your computer.


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Google gives an inside look at its new Cartographer backpack for indoor mapping

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Sep 4 2014 - 10:07 am PT
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In the second article in a series exploring some of the techniques Google uses to make its maps, the company today gives us an inside look at its Cartographer backpack. Google of course already has its fleet of camera equipped vehicles collecting StreetView imagery, but the backpack is particularly useful for things like indoor mapping where other vehicles can’t access.

To go along with giving us a glimpse of its new Cartographer backpack, Google also announced its releasing six new indoor maps captured with the device. Here’s how it works:
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Google Maps rolls out Map Maker & Report a Problem features to Taiwan, Russia and Malaysia

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Sep 3 2014 - 9:56 am PT
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In a blog post today detailing its Ground Truth data collection program for Google Maps, Google announced some new features rolling out to users in Taiwan, Russia and Malaysia. As part of the Ground Truth program rolling out to 5 new countries today, Google is also making its Google Map Maker and Report a Problem features available for users in Taiwan, Russia, and Malaysia to contribute:

Today, we’ve reached our 50th Ground Truth country with the addition of five new countries: Taiwan, Malaysia, Poland, Romania, and the last regions of Russia. We’re also rolling out Google Map Maker and Report a Problem—our crowdsourcing map tools—to Taiwan, Russia and Malaysia, giving anyone in those locations the ability to share and contribute their local knowledge directly to Google Maps.

Google also notes that it will be publishing more articles over the next week sharing more details of how its Ground Truth program and Map Maker work to let others contribute to improving Google Maps.

Google Maps and Bungie team up to promote upcoming ‘Destiny’ console game

Avatar for Stephen Hall Sep 2 2014 - 3:22 pm PT
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The next big probably-hit from the famed game studio behind Halo is about to be released, and to help promote it Bungie has teamed up with Google Maps to create a virtual world built to resemble that of the one in-game. It’s called Destiny Planet View, and you’ll find the way you navigate the first person shooter’s worlds within the new website to be very familiar.


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HERE offline map app arrives on Android for the first time, initially on Samsung Galaxy phones only

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Aug 29 2014 - 5:24 am PT
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HERE, the competitor to Google Maps initially available only on Windows Phone, has arrived on Android for the first time. Initially, the beta version of the Android app will be limited to Samsung Galaxy smartphones.

The main claim to fame of the app is that it offers the ability to download entire regions or countries for offline use, in contrast to Google Maps which only allows you to cache areas you have viewed while online. HERE maps currently cover around 200 countries, though turn-by-turn directions are so far limited to about half of these … 
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Google Maps adds new Street View imagery for parks, trails & beaches in Oahu, Hawaii

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Aug 27 2014 - 10:16 am PT
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After first rolling out Street View imagery in Google Maps for Hawaii back in March, Google is today adding more imagery for Oahu’s most popular hiking trails, parks, historical sites and beaches.

See 360-degree views of Oahu’s most amazing locations, including Waikiki Beach, Makapuu Lighthouse Trail, Sunset Beach, Byodo-In Temple, and many more. Whether it’s gauging the terrain of a hike or virtually exploring some of the world’s best beaches, the natural beauty of Hawaii is now at your fingertips.

Google notes that it collected the imagery with help from the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau as part of the Street View Trekker Loan Program. It also highlighted a few of the new locations included in today’s roll out: Waikiki Beach, Makapuu Lighthouse Trail, Sunset Beach, and Byodo-In Temple. More highlights of the new Hawaii imagery are available in a Street View collection here.

 

Google Search for Android updated with Google Maps navigation cards

Avatar for 9to5 Staff Aug 26 2014 - 10:07 am PT
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The official Google Search app for Android has been updated with navigation cards that resemble those found in Google Maps. When you search for a destination or directions between two locations, the navigation card displays a map that outlines the trip, with the approximate travel time, distance, suggested and alternative routes, desired mode of transportation and step-by-step directions, all without needing to open Google Maps. 
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Google Maps adds StreetView in Cambodia & Indonesia, navigation in Panama

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Aug 22 2014 - 9:09 am PT
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Google has announced that its Google Maps StreetView feature is now available for users in Cambodia and Indonesia.

Full support for StreetView across Cambodia comes following the launch of a StreetView tour for the thousand-year-old temples at Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia in April. Google has put together a collection of imagery from Cambodia you can check out on its Views website.

Another Maps improvement rolling out today is support for navigation in Panama, as noted by AndroidPolice. Google also confirmed the roll out by adding Panama to the list of supported countries for navigation on its website.

The new features are available in the latest version of Google Maps for Android on Google Play.

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Google Maps Street View tours the sets of Breaking Bad, House of Cards, Game of Thrones, more

Avatar for Zac Hall Aug 21 2014 - 11:45 am PT
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Aside from allowing you to virtually travel down just about any street you can imagine without actually being there, Street View in Google Maps has offered up some interesting features in the past. From virtual recreations of college campuses to steps back in time with dated maps of locations, Google has thus far been able to offer up some novel uses for the product.

The latest use case for Google Maps Street View? Mapping out the sets of various Emmy Award nominees. Depending on the specific show’s set that’s mapped out, the feature offers up a creepy/awesome/eery experience. You can check out the sets of Breaking Bad, House of Cards, Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, and more here.

Google acquires Jetpac city guide software, will discontinue service in September

Avatar for Mike Beasley Aug 15 2014 - 3:43 pm PT
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Google has acquired Jetpac, a city guide application for iPhone, the app’s developers announced today (via The Next Web). The free app (and others by the Jetpac team) will be removed from the App Store in the coming days, and the service that powers it will be shut down on September 15th.

Google hasn’t said exactly what it plans to do with the company’s technology, which automatically scans users’ photos to detect local points of interest like coffee shops or “hipster hangouts.” The service featuerd data for over 6,000 cities, according to the App Store description.  It seems logical, however, that Google would attempt to integrate these features with Google Maps or a location-based Google Now feature.

You can grab the Jetpac app for free on the iTunes Store, though it won’t be very useful beyond its mid-September shutdown.

Sounds of Street View lets virtual tourists listen to the ambient noises of Google Maps

Avatar for Mark Hearn Aug 13 2014 - 9:53 am PT
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Google’s Street View has been around for a little more than seven years and while Mountain View’s touring software has made a lot of progress since its launch, there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Aware of this, a hearing aid manufacturer named Amplifon is looking to update Street View’s silent movie feel by introducing a new concept called “Sounds of Street View.”


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Google turning down its Flash Maps API on September 2nd

Avatar for Mark Hearn Aug 12 2014 - 7:16 am PT
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Google announced today that it’s completely turning down Google Maps API for Flash on September 2nd. This decision follows suit with the company’s initial depreciation period, which started almost three years ago. Developers now have three weeks to migrate their outdated applications to JavaScript Maps API v3 in order for them to remain relevant.


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Google Maps adds Street View for 36 new university campuses in US & Canada

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Aug 7 2014 - 8:21 am PT
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Google announced today that it’s added Street View imagery for a long list of new university campuses in Google Maps. The new schools, which include campuses across the U.S. and Canada, are available to explore starting today. 

Google notes that these new additions add to the hundreds of school campuses you can already explore in Google Maps. It highlighted a few of the new campuses rolling out today in its announcement including Georgetown University, University of Miami, and the University of Regina in Canada.

To see if a Street View tour of your dream school is available, search for a particular university on Google Maps and click on Pegman to enter the Street View imagery. Visit our Street View gallery for global highlights and other popular universities around the world.

Google Maps now lets you explore Mars and the Moon

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 6 2014 - 7:47 am PT
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Google quietly launched an interesting new feature within Google Maps yesterday: the ability to explore both Mars and the Moon. As you may know, you’ve been able to do this with the desktop Google Earth app for quite some time — but this is the first time it has come to the web via the ubiquitous mapping platform. To access the new feature, head over to Maps, click the “Earth” button in the bottom-right, zoom all the way out, and wait for the ‘Moon’ and ‘Mars’ options to appear as seen in the screenshot above. Alternatively, you can just click these links: goo.gl/OopkP0 (Mars), and goo.gl/CoVGQ9 (Moon).

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Google Maps navigation beta now available in El Salvador, Libya, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Tunisia

Avatar for Mark Hearn Aug 1 2014 - 11:43 am PT
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A beta for Google Maps navigation is now available in El Salvador, Libya, Nicaragua, Paraguay, and Tunisia. While some countries may take this feature for granted, other territories don’t widely have access to this type of free software. For example, residents of North Korea have combined their efforts to produce a community developed version of Google Maps.


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Google adds more of India’s historical locations to Street View

Avatar for Mark Hearn Jul 31 2014 - 7:41 am PT
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Google announced today the availability of 76 historical sites in India that can be viewed from Google Maps or through the Google Cultural Institute site. These 360-degree photos will let you take a tour of the Kangra Fort without having to pack a single bag. Thanks to support from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), along with previous efforts, Google’s imagery of historic shots of India has surpassed 100 pictures, with locations like the Taj Mahal and Humayun’s Tomb already available to view.


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Google Maps now showing ads directly in search results on both desktop & mobile

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jul 23 2014 - 12:29 pm PT
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Google has announced that it’s bringing more ads to Google Maps on both the desktop and mobile by integrating local ads into the new list view for search results it rolled out recently. That means that when you search for things like restaurants, hotels, and other points of interest, you’ll see ads appear at the top of the search results in addition to overlaid on the map itself (as pictured above).
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Google Views updated with +1 and comment support

Avatar for Mark Hearn Jul 22 2014 - 8:03 am PT
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Google recently updated its Views platform with comments and +1 support. This lets people reach out to photographers about their photo spheres and opens up conversations for subjects like technique and travel. Packed with awesome images, some of the community produced photo spheres have already racked up millions of views, according to Google Maps product manager, Evan Rapoport.


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Ahead of Android One rollout, Google launches Maps in Hindi on both web and Android

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jul 22 2014 - 5:46 am PT
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Just in time for Google’s Android One rollout in India and other developing nations, Google is opening up Maps to millions of native speakers in India today with localized Maps on both the web and Android that show Hindi for the first time alongside English:
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Google Maps update adds biking elevation info, new voice commands, more

Avatar for Chance Miller Jul 17 2014 - 4:24 pm PT
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Google this afternoon updated its Maps app on Android to version 8.2 with a plethora of new features, enhancements, and changes. The biggest changes come to the biking routes that Maps offers. With this update, biking routes now show elevation, including the ability to compare the elevations for various routes. This, of course, means that you can now easily tell which bike routes will be the easiest on your legs. This feature is listed as beta for now, though.


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You’ll soon be able to take a virtual trip to London as Google Earth adding 3D imagery of the whole city

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jul 17 2014 - 4:50 am PT
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London may be an expensive tourist destination, but Google will soon offer the next best thing to hopping on a plane: complete 3D imagery of the entire city. The London Evening Standard reports that every building in London will soon be included.

A Google Maps spokesman said: “Using 45-degree aerial imagery, we’re able to recreate entire metropolitan areas in 3D. This means every building, not just the famous landmarks, the terrain, and any surrounding landscape of trees are included to provide a much more accurate and realistic experience of the city” …


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