Update: Dueling Maps - Verizon Wireless vs. AT&T

See the bottom of this post for the UPDATE…

Are you tired yet of the Verizon Wireless vs. AT&T commericals with dueling maps? Verizon’s coverage map masks AT&T’s map for 3G. After watching the commercial "umteen" times I just had to find out if Verizon was exaggerating. But they couldn’t, right? AT&T would be all over them like a bad suit…a lawsuit! But if true, what great marketing on the part of Verizon. So, let’s see the map. Below are the maps (click maps for larger image) provided by each cellular carrier directly from their website. And, yes, AT&T has admittedly far less coverage. But AT&T really doesn’t want you to see the nationwide map. Before showing you any map, they ask you for your ZIP code first so they can zoom directly to the area of 3G coverage. You have to zoom out to see the full 3G map coverage. AT&T has since been running commercials showing a new nationwide coverage map. But don’t be fooled; that’s only "voice" coverage, not 3G for those who need high speed data transfer. Verizon wins; and this summer the iPhone is likely to be available for the Verizon Wireless network.

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Quote of the Week

“Competition is fierce for grant money. A city must be impressionable in order to compete in today’s economy. A GIS map in a grant packet can make the difference in getting awarded a grant.”

- David Lawrence, a lifelong resident of Bayard, NM and current the GIS mapping person for the town of Silver City, who is seeking a seat on the Bayard City Council quoted in the Silver City Sun-News.

Yahoo Files for Real-time Parking Sensor App Patent

The patent is titled, “Real Time Detection of Parking Space Availability” The patent describes a sensor system that determines"parking availability.” It was filed July 2008 and was made public Jan 14, 2010.

- Go Rumors

Podcast: The Challenge of Multiple User Generated Haiti Maps

As the world turns its attention to Haiti and how to best help the country in this challenging time, we look at a split in the geospatial community around user generated content of the impacted region. Vector map data from OpenStreetMap and Google Map Maker are available for use in supporting rescue and recovery efforts as well as apps for those looking on from a distance. But there are two from which to choose. Does this make for the best possible response?

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