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 learn more. And if you're already a Google Maps whiz, share this page with friends and family who could benefit from the solutions!
Monday, 8 December 2008
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 learn more. And if you're already a Google Maps whiz, share this page with friends and family who could benefit from the solutions!
Thursday, 4 December 2008
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:
The top entries in both the student and professional categories will win a prize pack that includes a Garmin GPS to help with future KML projects, an Apple iPod Touch to keep you from working too hard, and a Google Earth tote bag just for fun.
If you are working on representing data in KML check out the tools page and find ways to make your project easier and more dynamic.
For general help with KML and KML resources head to the code.google.com KML documentation page.
To get your brain warmed up, consider these entry ideas:
- Curriculum materials for students in: history, geology, Earth science, astronomy, political science, urban planning, etc
- Mash together different datasets using layers
- Visualize large datasets and allow users to explore collections
- Map data from a sensor network in real time using network links
- Use Google Charts API within Google Earth to easily plot figures dynamically
- Animate trends in demographics, economic models, or environmental changes using the Google Earth time slider
- Visualize models in an easy to share file format
The top entries in both the student and professional categories will win a prize pack that includes a Garmin GPS to help with future KML projects, an Apple iPod Touch to keep you from working too hard, and a Google Earth tote bag just for fun.
If you are working on representing data in KML check out the tools page and find ways to make your project easier and more dynamic.
For general help with KML and KML resources head to the code.google.com KML documentation page.
[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 should now be available to all users from any Earth API-powered site. We also released a game, Puzzler, in honor of the new Mac plugin. It is, of course, playable on a PC as well. We think you'll like it. And as usual, it's open source, so you're free to adopt the code.
In addition to the Mac release, we've also upgraded the Windows version of the plugin. See the release notes for more details.
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 should now be available to all users from any Earth API-powered site. We also released a game, Puzzler, in honor of the new Mac plugin. It is, of course, playable on a PC as well. We think you'll like it. And as usual, it's open source, so you're free to adopt the code.In addition to the Mac release, we've also upgraded the Windows version of the plugin. See the release notes for more details.
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
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.
Monday, 1 December 2008
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 to the mountainous south.
You can read more about this launch on the Google Australia Blog, so I'll use this opportunity to share some of my favorite images:
Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown
Auckland Museum
Sky Tower, Auckland
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
Today we're happy to announce some big improvements to the Street View feature in Google Maps! Thanks to feedback from our users, we've now made Street View even better and easier to use.
For one thing, Pegman, our plucky mascot, is now close at hand wherever you go. He hangs out right on top of the zoom slider:
To enter Street View, drag Pegman to a street (or just keep zooming in all the way, and the lowest zoom level is now Street View imagery). Tip: if you hold Pegman over a location for a second, you'll see a preview of what it looks like. Which direction you're facing depends on which side of the street you drag to:
Also, we've revamped the layout of Street View to give you more room for looking at really big stuff like the Colosseum in Rome, or for zooming in to get a better look at small stuff like this space invader mosaic in Paris.
The minimap in the corner lets you see the surrounding area. To see Street View and the map at the same time, you can click on the
Want to learn more and see the new features in action? Check out this video, narrated by Pegman himself:
And since Pegman now has even more of a starring role while you're exploring Street View, we thought we'd take a moment to celebrate him with a parade of Pegman Easter eggs, sketches, and prototypes:
Friday, 21 November 2008
(Cross-posted from the Google Mobile Blog)
I waited in line on launch day to buy my first-generation iPhone, and ever since then it has never left my side. The best part is that it keeps getting more useful with every software upgrade Apple puts out. This time around, Apple has improved their version of Google Maps by putting even more Google features in your pocket.
The most eye-catching one is Street View: Apple's silky-smooth implementation makes it a joy to pan around the world. You might wonder why you'd want to look at panoramas of the world while you're already out in it, but I've found it handy for getting an idea of what to look for when going somewhere new. In somewhere like New York, it's also a great way to get your bearings when you pop out of a subway station in an unfamiliar part of town.
Speaking of subways, my favorite new feature is the addition of Google Transit and walking directions. In a time of congested roads and fluctuating gas prices, driving isn't always the best way to get from A to B, so why limit your options? Now when you get directions, you can switch between driving, walking, and public transportation directions (where available) with a single tap.
Google Maps has schedules for transportation systems in more than 100 cities worldwide, including New York, Tokyo, Montréal, Zürich, and Perth — and now it's easy to get that information on your iPhone. As more transportation agencies decide to share their schedule information, their routes will be available on the iPhone the instant they appear in Google Maps on the web.
Finally, in the latest version of Google Maps for iPhone, you can email information about a location to your friends, which can be a great help when coordinating a get-together.
To get these new Maps features on your iPhone, you'll need to update your phone's software through iTunes. I hope you'll find these new additions as useful as I have. And don't forget that even if you don't have an iPhone, Google Maps for mobile is available for many other kinds of phones, including BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian Series 60, and Android — visit www.google.com/gmm for more details.
by Joe Hughes, Mobile Maps Software Engineer
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