Google Maps Adds Metro Stations & Building Outlines
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Google Maps has updated some of the street maps or hybrid views of major US cities with Metro and Subway stations and pencil outlines of buildings.  This my be a sign of Google Transit expansion, but even if not, it&#8217;s a great new addition to Google Maps. [Hattip : Google Operating System] Advertisement:  Text Link Brokers Sell [...]
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(InfoWorld) - Google has improved Google Maps with immersive views of streets from a handful of U.S. cities as well as with miniapplications that can be embedded on a map. The Street View feature places users at the road level, giving them the perspective of drivers and pedestrians and thus offering a deeper and more detailed experience of the location than aerial images provide. So far, Microsoft has been at the forefront of immersive online maps imagery, introducing so-called bird's-eye views in late 2005 that allowed users to tilt aerial images and view them from an angle. In November of last year, Microsoft unveiled 3D views of 15 U.S. cities, a feature that lets users zoom in and out of these urban areas and get a three-dimensional view of buildings, terrain, and the like. On Tuesday,Â Microsoft increased the number of cities availableÂ in 3D in its Live Search mapping site. Google debuted Street View on Tuesday with major roads in San Francisco, New York, Las Vegas, Miami, and Denver and promises to add more cities "in the near future." Meanwhile, Google also announced it is now possible to build lightweight applications so that users can mash them up with Google Maps. Called Mapplets, these gadget applications will be available in the Maps site for users to choose from and apply to their maps. Currently in preview mode, Mapplets can be found in a special version of Google Maps for users who want to try them out. Mapplets take the concept of Google Maps mashups one step further, Google said. Previously, developers could build an application on top of Maps and make it available on a specific Web site. Now, those mashups can be packaged as a Mapplet so that several can be combined on a single Maps Web site. Developers can find more information about creating these mapplets in this documentation page. To allow for the creation of Mapplets, Google merged two of its existing application programming interfaces: the Gadgets API and the Maps API.
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By Zhang Kun  SHANGHAI:  Move over Google Earth, there's a new kid in town.  Shanghai scientists have developed a three-dimensional (3D) mapping system that will allow users to see the sides of buildings, which is not possible to do using Google Earth.
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Hoping to make it even easier to turn its online maps into collages of local information, Google Inc. is introducing tools that will stitch together applications from a hodgepodge of Web sites.
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(InfoWorld) - Google has created a searchable index of Google Earth data files, a feature that should make it easier for users to find and adopt third-party overlays for this popular mapping application. Google Earth's search engine now returns KML (Keyhole Markup Language) files which developers have created to add data to the application's maps, the Mountain View, California, company said Wednesday. "Users can now search through all of the world's KML files, making the millions of Google Earth layers on the Web instantly accessible for geobrowsing and exploration," wrote Chikai Ohazama, a Google Earth product manager in an official company blog. Google expects to later extend this capability to its mapping Web site Google Maps, Ohazama wrote. Google Earth is a free, downloadable PC application that taps a multiterabyte database of aerial and satellite images to let users "fly" around the globe using a video-game type user interface. By creating overlays in the KML file format, users can create markers to pinpoint places and provide all sorts of information about an area, making Google Earth a repository of local business listings, homes for sale, photos, architectural drawings, videos, historical facts and geographical data. KML users range from casual, individual users to large organizations like Discovery Networks, the U.S. National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic. KML can also be used to add data files to Google Maps, a mapping Web site that is one of the most popular among developers for creating mashups, which are Web applications that use data and features from an existing site or online service via application programming interfaces (APIs). Online maps, in combination with local search engines, have become very popular in recent years, giving people a way to discover local businesses and attractions, obtain driving directions and view satellite images of an area, among other things. Google competitors like Microsoft Corp., Yahoo Inc., AOL LLC and Ask.com have made their mapping sites a high priority for development. Advertising revenue in local search engines is expected to grow from US$3.4 billion in 2005 to $13 billion in 2010, according to The Kelsey Group Inc.
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On Monday, Ask.com is introducing AskCity, a service that integrates maps with information about local businesses, restaurants, listings and reviews.
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Google Inc. will introduce on Wednesday a new feature that lets users create personalized maps which plot the locations of everything from cheap gas locally to the latest earthquakes worldwide.
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Blog: Enhanced information isn't available for all cities yet, though.
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By Steve Lawson's  GOOGLE Earth is being expanded to include new multimedia content from the UN Environmental Program, the Discovery Network and the US National Park Service.  Users will be able to access the information via a Featured Content option in the sidebar.
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Blog: CNET News.com is looking for the best images from Google's new Street View feature illustrating personal elements
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(InfoWorld) - Nokia Corp. has added new features to its mobile mapping application, with a revamped user interface and a status indicator to alert users when they're connected to a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite. The new version of Nokia Maps is free and became available for download on Tuesday. Other improvements include a more refined "nearby" search feature, which scouts out preprogrammed points of interest on the maps based on where the user is located. Basic route planning is free, although users may incur data transfer fees from their carriers. Other navigation upgrades are available for a fee. Nokia charges for a voice-guided navigation feature as well as other city and travel guides. Guides contain information on local cafes, music and clothing stores, museums and Wi-Fi hotspots, Nokia said. Nokia is offering a three-day trial for some of the advanced navigation features. Nokia said map data will be available for 150 countries by the end of 2007, with 50 of those able to use the application's navigation feature. Nokia has published a list of countries for which a navigation license is sold. Also improved is the PC Map Loader application, which lets users load maps onto their devices from their home computers before needing a map on the road. That function is now 10 times faster. PC Map Loader is also a free download. The mapping application,Â launched in February, is compatible with devices running on Symbian Series 60 second and third edition operating systems. Â
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Yeah, but what's that in cubic furlongs? Those among you who recently adopted the new Vulture Central standards of volume, length, area and, critically, the speed of sheep in a vacuum, might be interested to learn that Google Maps has decided to offer a few alternatives of its own.â¦
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Yahoo Maps To Add Traffic Updates and Reports  Yahoo is not only becoming the goto place for multimedia search and online entertainment, it's also now offering a new service for monitoring traffic conditions online. Yahoo's offering of traffic updates lets users plan their daily travel routes around slowdowns like constructon or ...
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Google Inc.  said on  Tuesday it was introducing street-level map views of various  U.S. cities, giving Web users a panoramic, 360-degree images as  well as the overhead views Google Maps has offered.
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A three-panel layout features search suggestions and specialty search engine results, along with new algorithmic improvements.
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New alpha release is the first to include the much-anticipated, database-driven revamp of the bookmarks feature called Places.
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Google Inc. has introduced several widgets designed to help non-technical users persoanlize maps with weather and other information.