Tracking Santa: the backstory

[Cross-posted with the Official Google Blog]When I look back on four years of tracking Old St. Nick on Christmas Eve, I can't help but smile. The Santa tracker has really come a long way. I always thought NORAD's Santa Tracker was a great holiday tradition, but I felt like it could have been even better if people could visualize exactly where Santa was on Christmas Eve. So in 2004, shortly after Keyhole was acquired by Google, we followed Santa...

Read More

Snow conditions of Alpine skiing resorts in Google Earth

It is undeniable: winter has arrived here in Europe. Piles of snow line the roads, white roofs and snowmen call for your attention. I can't help but start thinking about skiing and snowboarding.A very easy and visual way of checking the latest snowfalls in ski resorts in the Alp regions of Austria, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland is the new "Ski resorts in the Alps" layer in Google Earth. You can find it in the Gallery folder of the layers panel...

Read More

Where does our oil come from?

[Cross-posted with the Google.org Blog]There’s a great deal of talk about the high cost of oil and the billions of dollars that the US and other oil-importing nations spend each year to buy oil. As part of the Google.org Geo Challenge Grants Program, Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) has created a map of US oil imports by country since 1973. By clicking on the green light to play, you can see the countries supplying oil to the U.S. (either in terms...

Read More

Where in the world is ... (answers)

If yesterday's quiz left you a little stumped, here are the answers!1) This is the largest in a chain of islands in the Tyrrhenia sea; and the legendary home of the sorceress Circe.-- Isola Ponza, Italy 2) Throughout 2008 this active stratovolcano has been sending plumes of ash and water vapor over a nearby town, a town that was evacuated in 1994 due to danger from the volcano-- Tavurvur volcano, Papua New Guinea3) Part of an island chain named by Captain Cook for the day on which he discovered them, forty-nine days after Easter Sunday.--...

Read More

Even more GPS trails in Google Earth

As holiday season approaches, are you planning a trip somewhere? If you are an outdoor person and would like to make hiking, biking, or even flying part of your fun, then make sure you check out the new EveryTrail layer before you go. The EveryTrail layer showcases GPS trails captured by outdoor adventurer with pictures taken along the trails. Download a trail by clicking on any picture in an EveryTrail balloon and start a virtual tour of your...

Read More

A one-two-three on licensing your content to Google

[Cross-posted with the Content Central Blog]With Google Maps and Google Earth, we strive to provide our users with the most comprehensive, accurate and compelling representation of the world. We believe that integrating the geospatial data produced by governments and other public sector organizations is vital to achieving these goals. The positive effects of governments using Google Maps and Earth to share their geospatial data are many, but this post isn't for our standard sales pitch. Rather, my purpose is to address a specific question...

Read More

Your maps in your hands for the holidays

[cross-posted with the Google Mobile Blog]Just in time for the holidays I'm proud to present to you My Maps Editor by Google, now available for download in Android Market! In just four months of my 20% time and with a little help from the 20% time of my coworkers this application has gone from an idea in my head to a full application ready for you, really demonstrating the ease and power of developing on Android.With this application you can create,...

Read More

Where in the world is...

1) This is the largest in a chain of islands in the Tyrrhenia sea and the legendary home of the sorceress Circe.2) Throughout 2008 this active stratovolcano has been sending plumes of ash and water vapor over a nearby town, a town that was evacuated in 1994 due to danger from the volcano.3) Part of an island chain named by Captain Cook for the day on which he discovered them, forty-nine days after Easter Sunday.4) This is the crater...

Read More

The gift of gadgets

The holidays always mean a lot of traveling for me -- traveling to the airport, to stores, to Grandma's house, and all over town.Getting from Point A to Point B has always been easy on Google Maps. Simply click on "Get Directions" and you're on your way - whether by car, by foot or by public transit (in select cities). Now with our new directions gadget, you can bring driving and walking directions powered by Google Maps right to your website.With the gadget, the days of manually typing and updating multiple blocks of text directions are over....

Read More

Map making in new worlds

We are pleased to announce the launch of Google Map Maker, mapmaker.google.com, for 43 new countries and territories, including Argentina, Costa Rica, and Fiji. Map Maker now allows people to create complete maps for 164 countries across the world. As we expand the launch of Map Maker to more countries, we never forget that for any user it's all about the world they live in. Map Maker is all about making your local data rich, complete and vibrant....

Read More

Street View for Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile

We've got good news for Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile users -- now you can access Street View (including the amazing imagery released yesterday!) from your phone.  Since the Street View team has had a busy year launching imagery from across the world, we wanted to make it available on the phones that are popular in those countries. You can read more about this release on the Google Mobile Blog.Posted by Ryan Pollock, Mobile T...

Read More

Double the coverage, double the fun

The Street View team has been pretty busy lately, between the international launches and the re-design, but there's still more: today we're doubling the amount of coverage in the United States. This will bring Street View to some new cities, like Memphis, Birmingham, and Charleston (SC), and also to a few states for the first time, like Maine, West Virginia, North Dakota, and South Dakota. You can read more about this milestone and the big year Street View has had on the Official Google Blog. I'll leave you with a sampling of some of the sights...

Read More

Mapping all the way...

My Christmas Eve countdown tells me I have just over two weeks to finish my holiday shopping (so maybe I should get started).  With holiday parties to attend, travel plans to finalize, and relatives coming to town, this time of year can be hectic.  We've put together a collection of Google Maps Holiday Solutions to help get you through the holidays with ease. Whether you're trying to avoid traffic jams, find the best restaurant in town to impress your in-laws, or track Santa's journey, visit http://maps.google.com/holidays to...

Read More

KML in Research contest extended!

The KML in Research contest deadline has been extended to February 1st, 2009.  We're extending the entry period to give students and researchers an opportunity to finish up their projects during this busy time of year, and to give more people the chance to enter.  Those of you who have already entered can improve your submission and resubmit prior to the new deadline.To get your brain warmed up, consider these entry ideas:Curriculum materials...

Read More

Google Earth... in your browser... on your Mac!

[Cross-posted with the Google Geo Developers Blog]A long time ago, at a conference not too far away, Google launched the Google Earth Browser Plugin, with the Google Earth API. At the time, we promised that we would bring it to the Mac, and now we have.Today, we're excited to announce the release of the Google Earth Browser Plugin for Mac OS X 10.4+ (PowerPC and Intel). The Mac plugin is supported on Safari 3.1+ and Firefox 3.0+. The download link...

Read More

20 days, 9 hours...

With Thanksgiving dinner eaten and the calendar changed to December, it's officially the holiday season. And for the Geo team, that means it's time get ready to track Santa. Once again, Google has teamed up with NORAD to bring you the Santa Tracker, allowing you to follow Santa's path around the world with Google Earth and Google Maps. You can find all the details on the Official Google Blog.Posted by Aaron Stein, Santa Tracker T...

Read More

New Zealand, New Street View

The Street View team has been keeping quite busy lately, between adding new cities, debuting in new countries, and re-designing the layout. And today, there's yet another exciting launch: imagery of New Zealand. Whether you've been thinking of planning a trip to New Zealand, or wanting an opportunity to experience its cities, mountains, and beaches, you'll find plenty to explore. The imagery includes everything from major metropolitan areas like Auckland and Christchurch to the scenery of Lake Wakatipu; from the sub-tropical north...

Read More