The new release of Google Maps for Android (for Android 4.0 phones) includes:
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redesigned the Navigation home screen in Android 4.0+ to make it easier to enter a new destination or select from recent and favorite locations by swiping left or right.
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crisper, less cluttered map that is easier to read
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prioritzed transit mode (subway over bus, less walking, etc)
Get the update from Google Play (was Android Marketplace).
- Lat Long Blog
There's also new oblique imagery for many areas in the U.S. and two abroad:
US:
Atlanta, GA; Canyon Lake, TX; Charleston, SC; Dallas, TX; Houston, TX; Lakeland, FL; Lubbock, TX; Orlando, FL; Port Charlotte, FL; Roanoke, TX; San Luis Obispo, CA; Smyrna, TN; Walker, LA
International:
Adelaide, Australia; Cordoba, Argentina
- Lat Long Blog
by Adena Schutzberg on 03/29 at 05:08 AM |
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In a large infographic MapQuest shared a variety of stats related to number of routed miles in six months of 2011 (and its equivalence in moon visits, etc.), whether women or men use the service more (women do) and popular searches. There's also a map of the use of MapQuest on Black Friday. Most valuable numbers are at the bottom: how it ranks among other services.
- MapQuest Blog
Newly-released Android app
ObscuraCam lets users pixelize faces and strip metadata from internet video.
It also strips out GPS data so citizen journalists and activists can protect themselves and/or those they cover. Of course, those simply concerned about personal privacy can use it, too. An earlier release suported just still pictures and a sibling will add in more data using the mobile device's sensors. The app is in the Knight New Challenge.
Telenav, Inc. begins offering its free Scout for Apps service, an HTML5, browser-based, voice-guided turn-by-turn GPS navigation service, to all mobile web and app developers. Optimized for iOS now, Android later.
by Adena Schutzberg on 03/27 at 04:50 AM |
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Skobbler [which uses OSM] has announced its decision to withdraw from the Android Market.
Their free GPS Navigation app has been a big hit on the iOS platform with over 1.5million users worldwide. Skobbler cite the success of Google's free Navigation app on Android as one of the reasons for their decision not to pursue development on that platform.
- Pocket GPS World
- Skobbler Blog
- press release
The New Haven Register ran an article tiled "Mapmaking enthusiast celebrated by Google for contributions." It profiles Map Maker contributor and Yale University librarian, Daniel Mugaburu. Google likes his work so much it made "him an international ambassador of online cartography, flying him around the world to talk about using Google Map Maker technology." I could not read much more so I went directly to the comments where I found what I hoped I'd see:
Chris wrote on Feb 19, 2012 2:25 PM:
" It is fun to contribute to community maps. I prefer to contribute to OpenStreetMap, the Global Wiki map. The big differences from G Maps are that the underlying data is accessible and contributors own their work in OSM - you're working for the community not a closed company map. "
I wonder if folks at Yale will try to have him change teams.
via @daleloberger
NESTA named OpenStreetMap as #38 of its 50 New Radicals.
In partnership with the Observer, and using an expert panel of judges, we have identified who we think are the people and organisations who are changing Britain for the better; those applying fresh approaches in practical and scalable ways, through social, technological, scientific and artistic methods.
Of course OSM is not really new, nor does it change only Britian, so maybe substituting "the world" for Britain would be more appropriate. Who is NESTA?
NESTA is the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts - an independent body with a mission to make the UK more innovative.
Says the Guaridan on the selection:
We're going to look back and wonder why we ever had maps any other way.
- via @openstreetmap
by Adena Schutzberg on 02/20 at 05:15 AM |
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A company called LowestMed has launched a mobile app that allows consumers to compare drug prices at their local pharmacy chains.
The app will be a mobile extension of the company's Web resource for comparative drug prices and prescription discount cards.
- eWeek
Waze launched version 3.0 for Android. "The latest iteration of the app features a complete overhaul from the ground up, including a new minimalist graphic interface as well as Foursquare and Yelp POI integration to make it the most powerful local search navigation system on the market."
- press release
RunKeeper has nine new partners using its API, bringing the total to 45. New ones include:
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Fleetly: Lets users track and improve their Fitness Level in a social game.
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Pedometer Ultimate: Turns your iPhone or iPod touch into a powerful GPS stopwatch.
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Nexercise: An interactive game that makes fitness fun.
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CleverRun: Predicts your target time for your next race and compares your runs to runs of the same distance.
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Cycle Log: Helps cyclists track performance with GPS mapping, interval timers, voice cues and more.
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Coachya: Helps coaches provide training plans, track, manage and bill their teams and athletes.
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Vitogo: Lets you log your strength training with coaching, motivation and social support.
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Weighty: Allows you to submit your weight and fat percentage to the Health Graph.
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Scosche myTREK: A wireless pulse monitor that is worn on your forearm and lets you manage your pulse, training type, calories burned, distance/speed/pace and more.
(I don't use RunKeeper or any phone based workout app. I just use my old Garmin Forerunner 201. It's the one Kate M. gave me after I lost my first one.)
- Bostoninno
Safely, the family safety app suite from Location Labs is announcing it "has enabled more than one billion family safety location checks since inception." And, there's a new feature: a check-in feature for the kids - so they don't have to call to say where they are.
- press release
by Adena Schutzberg on 02/01 at 03:00 AM |
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Narrow your search further:
android,
api,
check-in,
family locating,
foursquare,
health,
location based services,
location labs,
runkeeper,
safely,
traffic,
waze,
yelp
Google is open-sourcing Google Sky Map, an app created by employees at Google's Pittsburgh office who wanted to put the sensors in Android phones to the test. While the app has seen more than 20 million Android phone users since 2009, the app will now be used in student projects at Carnegie Mellon University.
A number of other apps and API are to be shut down entirely.
- eWeek
Hertz Global Holdings Inc. has acquired from Thales Navigation the remaining 35 percent of Navigation Solutions, the operational arm behind its in-car global positioning systems, known as NeverLost.
- AP
The highlight of the [latest ChaCha] upgrade is the exciting all-new Real-Time Map feature, which allows users to see questions recently asked by others using the application. For the first time ever, ChaChees will visually see on a real-time map what questions are being asked where.
Why "visually see"? Why not just "see"?
- press release
Rentenna.com -- the free, groundbreaking rental tool that condenses everything a renter would want to know about a rental building into a single score -- releases its interactive "Rentenna Score Map" to the public today.
You can score and map anything now. The question is: which provide viable business models?
Local restaurant search tool "Ness" added maps in its new release.
by Adena Schutzberg on 01/23 at 03:00 AM |
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Narrow your search further:
android,
chacha,
google,
hertz,
location based services,
ness,
neverlost,
open source,
rentenna,
sensors,
sky map,
thales
