Google Map for Android 6.5 and other Google Geo News

The new release of Google Maps for Android (for Android 4.0 phones) includes:

• 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.
• crisper, less cluttered map that is easier to read
• 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

Finding Naturist Areas and other LBS News

MapMuse today announced the 2012 release of its Nude Beach and Naturist Maps, a series of web maps and an accompanying iPhone app that plot the locations of nude beaches, nude resorts, nudist clubs, nudist colonies, and nude runs around the world.

- press release

Glassmap, an app (Android/iOS, Facebook log-in) to passively share your location with friends, has lauched. It started at Standord, where 10% of students use it and has launched at 10 other schools. The big improvement ovr other apps like this (Google Latitiude, Loopt)? It uses an order of magnitude less battery.

- ReadWriteWeb

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Thursday proposed voluntary guidelines for [auto] manufacturers, including a recommendation that they design dashboards so that distracting devices are automatically disabled unless the vehicle is stopped and the transmission is in park.

Thankfully, backers understand that sometimes a passenger keys in an address to the in-car GPS or of course driver could use a phone not integrated into the dashboard for navigation. Maybe that's why this is voluntary.

- AP

Groupon has acquired Hyperpublic, a small company that develops location-based technology that can be integrated into other applications.

- PC World

Google has added "leaderboards" to Google Latititude, something many suggest means its going after Foursquare in a big way. You earn points for checking in and data is shared on Google +. So far the feature is only on the latest Google Maps for Android.

- PC Mag

Google to Show Off Indoor Mapping and other CES News

Google will be brining its "blue dot" to the buildings and floors of CES, the large consumer gadget show that launch Tuesday in Vegas. The folks at Slashgear say it works well.

The official CES showroom floor has all been indexed by Google Maps and can easily be pulled up and even saved to cache. No more mapping for the closest Hollister inside Mall of America instead get turn by turn directions to Samsung, NOKIA, and all the other booths at this years CES.

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Google Blocks First Person Shooter Maps Promotion and other Google Geo News

Google has moved to block "Google Shoot View," one of the creepiest Google Map modifications yet. It's a website that let you look at Google's popular, first-person Street View images down the barrel of a virtual, shootable M4A1 rifle.

There's no real "game" with blood or points, but Google revoked access to the API to the Dutch ad firm that created it cited a breach of Terms of Service.

- MSNBC

It turns out Amazon, despite using Android to power its Kindle Fire, does not want developers building on the platform using any Google services, including Google Maps.

So, to make its maps work on the Kindle Fire’s version of Android, Zillow’s app offers a mobile version of its regular online maps—which are already supplied in almost all cases by Bing. GPS-enabled services are turned off on the Kindle Fire app, but users can still search for an address or location to find homes they’re interested in scoping out.

It's not a huge will for Microsoft/Bing/Bing Maps but it's one platform where Bing might rule.

- Xconomy

Google Map Maker got an update:

With today’s update, the service has been improved, with a particular focus on first-time users. There’s now a new pop-up box that appears on the screen when you first visit the website, walking you through the tool’s use. In five screens, Google explains the icons used, how you add and edit places, add roads, and review edits by others. And it’s all so darned pretty. (Google is getting pretty – this still seems weird.)

Will the change encourage more edits and additions? Should OSM have a look to see how it might make its update process more accessible?

- TechCrunch

- Google Lat Long Blog

API Updates from MapQuest, Esri and Chitika

Esri offers a statement on the future of its APIs, in response to recent announcements from Adobe regarding Flash for Mobile and runors about Silverlight.

We’re committed to providing the best technology for GIS developers and giving choices from the most widely used developer platforms in the market. By offering many options, we enable developers to address different customer needs and expectations. Our commitment is not based on a specific technology, but based on supporting the GIS developer regardless of the platform chosen. Each of these areas: JavaScript/HTML 5, Flex, Silverlight, and native application code, gain significant improvements in the upcoming ArcGIS 10.1 release.

- ArcGIS Server Blog via @cageyames

MapQuest offers some unlimited and less limited APIs no doubt in (rather late) response to Google's plan to charge for high transaction users. Thefully unlimited access option is the free Community Edition licence built on OpenStreetMap. Read the blog post and the licenses to be sure you understand the restrictions.

- MapQuest Dev Blog via @cageyames

I expected a stronger response from the mapping API providers to Google's announcement about fees for heavy users, but perhaps most realized the population impacted is not all that large. Still, Search Engine Land offered an alternative via a post from a the company behind Chitika Maps (never heard of it).The hook? The company "pays you" to use its API via ads on the maps.

 - Search Engine Journal