Official Beijing Olympic Venue Map Disappoints; BBC Goes Interactive with VE

I’ve been hunting around for the best maps of the Beijing Olympic venues. I’ve been disappointed so far with what I’ve found. Seems like Beijing released an official standard map of the event that everyone is copying, but its a very static and not very helpful. However, the BBC is using Microsoft Virtual Earth for their olympic venue map and they’ve done an absolutely fantastic job. It’s icon driven; click on the icon; see a snapshot of the building and get the events that will take place; click on the event and you’ll see the Brits that will compete. The BBC site was launched July 16.

SocBut: The Local Social Network

Yes, the name does sound odd, but when you realize it’s short for Social Butterfly, and pronounced “sock boot” perhaps it’s more appealing. The idea behind SocBut is a social network where you include your ZIP Code and a distance to just receive messages from others within that area. It’s sort of “hyperlocal” social networking. Conceptually, it’s great, but it suffers the same challenges other locally based networks have: creating critical mass to make it interesting. Recall that Meetro died because of this challenge. That said, I give the founder credit for giving it a go and doing the intro video himself.

Quote of the Week

“For me, we’ve always been a believer that Sony Ericsson has done a lot in the past and had a good portfolio. But they’ve got settled in a comfort zone; they do music and digital imaging very well, but these are now a given for consumers. People are looking for something else now, and that’s GPS and browsing and Internet services. Sony Ericsson is going there with the X1 [due in the fourth quarter] but that’s just one product.”

Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi on Sony Ericson’s disappointing earnings report and plan to cut 2000 jobs, speaking to ZDnet UK via ZDnet Asia.

Mapplr: No Maps

There are slews of new press releases about new map-based websites. Most are “just another” map of hotels or homes for sale. I like the name PR describes the site as: “Mapplr (http://www.mapplr.com) is a publisher of hip and stylish hotels, restaurants, and cafes worldwide.”

The most interesting thing: no maps. Yes there are lists of favorite hotels including pictures and links, but no maps. I guess they missed the trend of maps being a requirement for such sites.

Nigeria Moving Forward on Nationwide Mapping

Stakeholders have announced support for a digital map and enterprise GIS. The President of Nigerian Institution Surveyors, Dr. Sola Atilola supports the plan noting its key to development. However he didn’t offer a specific return on investment.

The project has the following components; Geodetic Control and Digital Aerial Photo Acquisition; Determination of Geoid Model and establishment of Continuous Operating Reference Station and Orthophoto, Contour Lines and Digital (vector) Mapping; GIS Database and Enterprise GIS; Bathymetry Survey of Lagos lagoons and creeks; supply of equipment and training and public enlightenment/education.

- PunchNG