News about en-us Google unveiled its completely redesigned Google Maps product on the web at I/O 2013, and at a panel dedicated to the new Maps experience, Maps User Experience Design Lead Jonah Jones and Engineering Director for Maps on the web Yatin Chawathe took us through what went into creating Maps and the engineering effort behind the considerable change seems prodigious.]]> One of the most interesting product demos on display at Google I/O this year was a virtual sky diving simulation build using eight separate computers running Chrome, along with a Kinect-like motion sensor made by ASUS called the Xtion Pro. The Maps Dive experiment was created by Portland-based independent digital agency Instrument.]]> Google took the lid off of its new version of Maps at I/O 2013 today, which is a dramatic redesign of the long-standing navigation and place-finding software across all platforms. We got a chance to go hands-on with the new Maps, which is still a beta product, with access only given out to a few select users so far. In the video above, you check it out in action as a Google rep gives us a walkthrough.]]> At its I/O developer conference, Google today announced a new Maps API for mobile developers, updates to Maps for Android and iOS, as well as a completely refreshed Google Maps experience on the desktop. After the main keynote, however, Google also announced a major visual refresh for sites that use its Google Maps API. Currently, the company today announced, more than one million sites use the Maps API and all of them will get this visual refresh over the next few months. These sites reach about a billion users every week. The refreshed look, with new base map tiles, default markers and window style, will become the default in the Google Maps API experimental branch (which despite its name is actually the most-often used branch) on August 15. Developers can also opt in to use it today by just changing a single line of code. It will roll out to the release branch (which is used by most Maps for Business customers) in November. This is what it’ll look like: Google says it “carefully designed the change to work seamlessly with all existing sites,” so developers don’t have to make any major changes to their existing sites. Here is a full list of all the major changes: Newly designed base map tiles. Markers, info windows, and map controls have been redesigned. The Scale control now appears on the bottom right, instead of the bottom left. The default fonts used in labels and UI elements has changed. The marker property raiseOnDrag has been replaced by crossOnDrag. All shadows have been removed in the visual refresh. Any shadows specified programmatically will be ignored.]]> Google's bound to pull back the curtain on some goodies at its annual I/O conference next week (though it's being characteristically quiet about the whole thing), but could a redesigned version of Google Maps be one of them? That's what the folks at the (completely unofficial) Google Operating System blog hint at -- they've come into possession of a pair of screenshots that supposedly depict Google's new approach to mapping, and if true they point to some serious modifications.]]> A new front has opened in the smartphone war, and for the first time in many years, Apple is both outnumbered and outgunned. I'm not talking about the phones themselves. iOS is still better than Android, although the gap has narrowed. The next iPhone will doubtless be the best phone in the world when it's released, as ever. It won't be as customizable - no Swype, no Facebook Home - but those remain relatively minor inferiorities. The new battlefront is different. The new battlefront is the cloud: Google Maps vs. Apple Maps, Siri vs. Google voice search, iCloud vs. Dropbox et al, and Google Now vs...well, nothing at all, yet. This is a big deal. As we grow accustomed to an always-online world of ubiquitous computing, your phone becomes less a device in and of itself and more a gateway to its cloud services. And it's very hard to argue that Apple is anything but the serious underdog here.]]> This hasn't been a great year for Foursquare. "Check-ins are no longer what they used to be," as Ingrid Lunden observed last month. There seems to be a general consensus that "Foursquare keeps resembling Yelp more and more..." but that comparison isn't necessarily flattering, especially since there's little doubt that Yelp has much greater public mindshare. Then former Square COO and current Khosla Ventures partner Keith Rabois attacked them publicly (click through for the article's amusing corrections, if nothing else!) prompting some bizarre musing from Michael Lazerow on when it's OK for someone like Rabois to bash a founder. (My answer, for what it's worth: whenever he freaking feels like it. He's not the Pope. He's not the President. He's just a venture capitalist. If you're worried about public criticism hurting a company, then it's built on apparent rather than real value and it deserves all the criticism it can get.)]]> For years now, Google has offered its Google Maps Engine to enterprises who want to visualize their custom geospacial data and starting today, anybody will be able to use a subset of this functionality thanks to the launch of Google Maps Engine Lite (beta). This new tool, Google says,  will allow any mapping enthusiast to “create and share robust custom maps using this powerful, easy-to-use tool.” Maps Engine Lite allows users to upload small spreadsheets with locations and visualize them on a map. They can also compare up to three different data sets for, the company stresses, non-businesses purposes. These custom maps can have multiple layers and users who don’t have any spreadsheets they want to upload can also manually draw lines, mark specific areas and set place markers. Google offers a total of nine base maps, including its usual satellite and terrain maps, as well as styles that emphasis city boundaries political boundaries and highways. Maps Engine Lite also offers about 150 different icons that you can be used to mark specific places. To help new users get started, Google also published a tutorial that offers a few sample data sets and a set-by-step guide to publishing a custom map. Google says it will still offer My Maps, its earlier custom mapping tool for the time being and My Maps users can import their maps into the new Maps Engine Lite. Over time, however, Google product manager Beth Liebert writes in today’s announcement, My Maps will be “incorporated into Google Maps Engine Lite.” For now, Google is officially labeling Maps Engine Lite as a ‘beta’ and it’ll only be available in English for the time being.]]> One of the things that’s frustrating about Apple’s Maps is that you don’t get the integrated transit information that’s the lifeblood of living in a place like New York City or San Francisco. Google Maps has always had that information integrated into the product, which is a huge help for people who live in those metropolitan areas. The difficulty for Google is to keep up with all of the transit options, especially when it comes to live information. Today, it announced updates for NYC, D.C. and Salt Lake City, which will show you live departure times for seven lines on the NYC Subway system (MTA) and buses, subway in D.C. (Metrorail) and trams in Salt Lake City (UTA). There are more than 800 cities with transit information available in Google Maps, but these three cities are getting more attention, since they have the most riders. Google Maps has been a massive success since launching on iOS last December, and transit information is a huge advantage. Here’s what Soufi Esmaeilzadeh, partnership development manager for Google Maps, had to say about the update: With transit information in Google Maps you get pick-up locations, departure times, estimated travel time, and even fare amounts for 800 cities* across more than 25 countries around the world – that’s information for 100 million miles of daily public transit trips at your fingertips. These are clearly not easy problems to solve, since most of the information relies on the transit lines themselves reporting information in real time in a way that Google can access it. Those are relationships that the company has built over the years, which allows it to seamlessly integrate the data into its offerings. As I mentioned, this was the one thing that immediately turned me off of Apple Maps. Having to rely on third-party applications that are kind of woven into Apple’s service just didn’t cut it for me. When you are waiting to get on a bus or train, you need that information quickly. Seeing delays, for example, in real time, can help you decide on whether to taxi and give you enough of a heads up to let someone know that you’re going to be late. There’s nothing worse than standing there waiting for a train and having no idea when it’s coming. Google is actively seeking more transit partners, and has an entire site dedicated to it in which they]]> Winter is almost over, but that isn’t stopping Google from expanding its list of ski runs on Google Maps. Just over a month after its last update, Google today announced that it has added trail maps for another 100 resorts in the U.S. and Canada to Google Maps. Today’s update includes a number of major resorts, including Oregon’s Mt. Hood Meadows and Timberline Lodge resorts, as well as smaller ski areas like New York’s Hunter Maintain Ski Resort. Ski runs on Google Maps are marked by the usual blue, green and black lines to mark the difficulty of the terrain. Ski lifts are shown as red dotted lines. Before last month’s update, Google launched its effort to add ski runs to Google Maps by adding about 90 maps in November 2012. Overall, Google Maps users can now find about 225 different ski resorts on Google Maps. Except for a few European mountains that were part of the first batch, Google hasn’t released any new maps for European ski resorts since. Here is a list of all the newly added resorts:]]> Google has been doing a lot to make Google Maps more about exploring the world, including places few will ever be able to see with their own eyes. Today, the company announced that it has added more locations to Maps, including Street View-style access to some of the highest peaks in the world.]]> Microsoft and Google are currently involved in a patent lawsuit in Germany that could, according to FOSS Patents’ Florian Mueller and a number of German reports, lead to an outright ban of Google Maps in the country. Microsoft’s EP0845124 patent in Europe is for a “computer system for identifying local resources and method therefor” and was issued in 1996. The issue was discussed in a regional court in Munich today and as Mueller notes, it doesn’t look like Google was able to convince the judge “that the patent is highly probable to be invalidated at the end of a parallel nullity proceeding.” If Microsoft wins the injunction it is asking for, Google could have to shut down its mapping service in Germany, both on the web and on mobile phones (or at least on all of its own Motorola phones). In the worst of all cases, it could even be ordered to stop distributing Chrome in Germany unless it blocks access to Google Maps from the browser. The more likely option, however, as the German press agency DPA reports, is that Microsoft could offer Google a license for its patent. A Microsoft spokesperson told DPA that this could be “a way to end this war.” Google’s lawyers also argued that Google Maps is too important and shouldn’t just be shut down. Currently, about 4 million Germans use the service, and shutting down access to it for anybody with a German IP address would not just inconvenience them but also hurt Google’s image. For now, Google is keeping its cool (at least in public). A Google spokesperson gave us this statement: ““We are confident in our position and look forward to defending it in court.” FOSS Patents’ Mueller also reports that Google’s counsel argued that the company would “suffer irreparable harm if it had to shut down a key part of its Google Maps service in Germany and that customers who then use competing services (such as Microsoft’s Bing Maps, which Judge Dr. Zigann mentioned) may never return to Google Maps.” All those Germans who decided to hide their houses on Google Maps’ Street View will probably cheer for Microsoft to win this injunction. The court will render a decision about this injunction in about two months.]]> Google Maps for iPhone received its first significant update today, with new features that are designed to improve in-app search, making it easier to find relevant place information. Google Maps now lets you search your Google Contacts within the app, meaning if you use Google as your primary address book you'll now be able to call up addresses even if they're not stored locally on your phone, and the new location categories make it easier to browse nearby businesses even if you're not sure exactly what you're looking for.]]> The football season may be over, but with 202 days to go before the next NFL game kicks off again, Google today announced that it has brought its Street View cameras into the Indianapolis Colts' Lucas Oil Stadium. The new 360 degree imagery, Google Maps product manager Evan Rapoport writes, is "another example of how we’re working hard (and having fun!) building the most comprehensive, accurate and usable map of the world -- complete with imagery from inside your favorite sporting venues."]]> Nintendo just announced that Google Maps with Street View is now available for Wii U systems in North America. So you now have the ability to wander around Martha's Vineyard if you don't have access to your tablet, computer, or phone -- or pretty much any other Internet-connected device.]]> A while ago, Google took its Street View cameras to the slopes and started documenting ski runs at a few select resorts. Today, Google is expanding its mapping options for skiers by adding 38 new run and lifts maps to Google Maps, including its apps for Android and iPhone. These include well-known ski resorts like Squaw Valley, Big Sky and Whistler Blackcomb.]]> Google Maps just won Best Mobile App at the Crunchies 2012 and Daniel Graff, Google's director of Google Maps for mobile talked to our own Colleen Taylor after accepting the award. In the interview, Graff noted that it was a unique opportunity for him and his team to start from scratch. Looking ahead, Graff stressed that the next frontier for maps will be about personalization.]]> After getting the boot as the default mapping application on iOS devices with the introduction of iOS 6, Google Maps returned to the App Store in December with a new look, new features, and it quickly won back user mindshare and massive adoption. And today, it won something else, too: the Crunchie for the Best Mobile Application. The runner-up was Evernote, which also had an amazing year. But don't feel too bad for them - Evernote won last year.]]> When Google announced a new project it called Trekker last October, it sounded like a far-reaching and futuristic 20% type undertaking. Today, that project has come through with some of the most detailed and amazing interactive imagery of the Grand Canyon, as promised, showing off Google’s vision for how the world can be catalogued and detailed for everyone’s daily tasks and travels. Starting today, these images will start showing up on Google Maps for everyone to check out. In a blog post from Google Maps Project Manager, Ryan Falor, he discussed exactly how these images were taken and where these images will be applied: This breathtaking imagery collection was made possible with the Trekker. Our team strapped on the Android-operated 40-pound backpacks carrying the 15-lens camera system and wound along the rocky terrain on foot, enduring temperature swings and a few muscle cramps along the way. Together, more than 9,500 panoramas of this masterpiece of nature are now available on Google Maps. Take a quick look at some of the amazingly detailed photos that the Trekker backpack captured: Sure, 40 pounds might sound really heavy, but when you’re out trekking through nature, carrying heavy objects isn’t something totally new. The idea of Trekker is that there are so many views and vantage points that you can’t capture simply by driving a Street View vehicle up and down roads. There are places that cars and trucks can’t go, and this is where Trekker comes into play. Up until now, here’s the type of image you could expect when poking around the Grand Canyon on Google Maps: Yep, it’s the street. Not so pretty. Check these out, though: You’ll now be able to see more, explore more and plan more, all before you leave for your big trip. It started with the Grand Canyon and there’s no telling what location will be “trekked” next by Google. While Trekker isn’t a consumer device, it does look like Google will be sending these things out into the wild to get more data like the shots you’ll see in the below video: I discussed the possibility of Street View technology becoming available for Google Glass at Trekker’s launch and was told “Absolutely.” As you can tell, Google wants people to feel like they’re Christopher Columbus, exploring areas in ways that nobody else ever has, while documenting their experiences along the way. There could be a]]> Nokia's rebranded HERE mapping service has snagged another car-maker -- signing Toyota Motor Europe to use Nokia Local Search for Automotive for its Touch & Go in-car navigation and infotainment systems. As well as digital maps, Nokia's service will bring community-generated content to the in-car systems -- including "millions" of ratings, reviews and images.]]> Google Maps is not only a strong product, it’s a strong platform. With its Map Maker tool, people from around the world can participate in making Google’s maps more detailed, accurate and up-to-date. This is exactly what happened for North Korea’s maps, Google announced today. Google’s Senior Product Manager of Map Maker, Jayanth Mysore, discussed what went into these new detailed views: To build this map, a community of citizen cartographers came together in Google Map Maker to make their contributions such as adding road names and points of interest. This effort has been active in Map Maker for a few years and today the new map of North Korea is ready and now available on Google Maps. As a result, the world can access maps of North Korea that offer much more information and detail than before. We know this map is not perfect — one of the exciting things about maps is that the world is a constantly changing place. We encourage people from around the world to continue helping us improve the quality of these maps for everyone with Google Map Maker. From this point forward, any further approved updates to the North Korean maps in Google Map Maker will also appear on Google Maps. Here’s a before and after look at North Korea, with more details popping up thanks to the Map Maker community: We recently reported exactly how Google is managing its Map Maker community, giving them badges for accomplishments and adding more detail to make Google Maps better. While this community isn’t fully relied upon for Google Maps, it is definitely an important part of the entire system. With everything that goes into making Google Maps the most powerful service of its kind, companies like Apple who are trying to do the work on their own definitely have some catching up to do. Right now, Google allows people from 200 different regions to participate in the editing of the Maps product.]]> Rejoice, Windows Phone users: your daylong Google Maps crisis will soon be over. After causing quite a kerfuffle the other day by effectively blocking Windows Phone users from accessing Google Maps in-browser, Google has released a statement (obtained by The Next Web) clarifying its rationale and promising that it would soon fix the issue.]]> Roamz, a local search startup for web and mobile, is today showing off one of the first implementations of the new Google Maps iOS SDK in its new iPad app, due out after the holidays. The Maps iOS SDK, which was released at the time of the Google Maps iOS app launch earlier this month, allows mobile developers who use maps inside their apps to use Google Maps instead of Apple's implementation. ]]> A while back, Google started bringing its Street View technology indoors under the name Google Business Photos. These images, however, were often hard to find and somewhat buried on Google's local listings and Google Maps. Starting today, Google is bringing these images right to its search results pages by highlighting them on the business listings it now often displays in the right sidebar next to the regular search results.]]> Just in case you haven't heard enough about the Google Maps for iOS app in the past few months, we decided to take the new app into the Fly or Die studios to figure out whether Google's navigational offering is worth its salt. As usual, John and I disagree over a couple of key points, but we both agree that Google Maps is an excellent upgrade to the old Google Maps, and it still has a leg up on Apple. ]]> According to Google’s Jeff Huber, Google Maps for iOS is a runaway success, having seen over 10M downloads in just 48 hours after its launch. This is a pretty huge number, and rare that a company as large as Google would share such numbers. Still, it’s impressive in every way. The app stands atop the free app leaderboard on Apple’s App Store, clearly suggesting that the people have spoken. They prefer Google’s offering to Apple’s, bundled with iOS 6. We knew it was coming, the question was just when. We hinted that it would be coming before Christmas, and Google waited until the last possible moment to do so, as Apple freezes its App Store over the holidays, when it comes to new releases and submissions. This is what Huber had to say: More than 10 million downloads in less than 48 hours after release! We’re excited for the positive reception of Google Maps for iPhone around the world. Congratulations to the Maps Team on the recognition for the passion and hard work they poured into it, for this release and over the last 7+ years. If you’re an iPhone user and haven’t downloaded the Maps app yet, get it on the App Store or visit: https://itunes.apple.com/app/id585027354?mt=8. If you already have it — thank you, and please tell a friend. Any feedback you have is welcomed, here in G+ or in the app (just shake it). You can read our entire run-through of Google Maps for iOS here, and it seems like the feedback from users has been mostly positive. The Maps team told me that the company will be iterating on it quickly, meaning that some of the features that were left out at launch, such as biking directions, might find its way into the app in the new year. The future is bright for Google’s mobile apps, having also released a massive overhaul to Gmail and Google+ on iOS as well. It looks like the “borg” has found its design heart.]]> For all her faults, Siri is a useful companion. Sometimes. But she defaults to Apple Maps. Thankfully it's rather simple to trick Siri into giving you directions with Google Maps instead. No jailbreak required. As shown in the video above, instead of saying, "Take me to the nearest Best Buy," tell Siri "Take me to the nearest Best Buy via transit." Those two little extra words prompts Siri to open a screen which displays transit apps. Simply click the button next to Google Maps to bypass Apple Maps altogether. It's that easy.]]> Apple is getting embarrassed right now as Google's new iOS Maps app shoots to the top of the charts. But there is one upside to the beatdown. After three months of holding out to avoid Apple Maps, many people are now upgrading to iOS 6 or an iPhone 5. Last night I watched several people learn of the existence of Google Maps for iOS, and the first thing they did was update their phone's firmware.]]> To go along with its brand new, built-from-scratch iOS Maps app, Google has released a new SDK which will allow developers to utilize its service within their own apps. The key is that the SDK allows access to a URL scheme that lets you call up the app from anywhere you like within your own. Say, you have a contact management app. If you surface a person’s address, you could choose to launch Google Maps by default, rather than Apple’s iOS 6 offering. Tonight, Senior Product Manager on Google Maps, Andrew Fost, wrote about it on the Google Geo Developers blog: The SDK features vector-based maps that load quickly, allowing users to easily navigate 2D and 3D views, rotating and tilting the map with simple gestures inside your app. Developers can also change the Google maps view to include information such as traffic conditions, and control camera positions in 3D. Access to API keys is being progressively rolled out to developers who register interest. Yes, along with calling up the app, it can be fully woven in, so if you have developed an app like Foursquare, you could choose to use all of Google’s real-time data, information and graphics. Tapping a routing button within any type of app can fire off Google Maps: The SDK documentation, along with URL scheme instructions are available on Google’s Developer site now. Sadly, developers will have to register for API access, which means that there’s no telling how long it will take to see our first apps with Google Maps woven in. Of course, it’ll be after that Apple App Store “Holiday Freeze”, so look for them in the new year. Choice is good for developers, but most importantly, for consumers. [Photo credit: Flickr]]]> As we hinted at time and time again, Google has released its native Maps app for iOS…before Christmas. The timing couldn’t come soon enough, as many people have become frustrated with the built-in iOS 6 Maps that Apple offers. Even Apple’s own CEO took it upon himself to apologize for the not-so-polished product, an stand-up act which I actually applauded. Today is about Google Maps, though. The company has spent the past seven years refining its offering, making its internal systems run quickly to keep up with as many detours, traffic conditions and new apartment complexes that it can. All of that hard work paid off with this app, it’s absolutely gorgeous, runs as smooth as a video game and is a complete user experience overhaul from any Google Maps experience you’ve ever had. The new swipe gestures to bring up menus, as well as the great detail in which information is displayed are clear as soon as you open the app. Good thing, because 50% of the Google Maps usage comes from mobile devices, obviously. Now here’s the bad news on this version of Google Maps, there are no biking directions, offline mode (although as soon as you get a route, it is cached on your device), indoor maps or offers as of yet. This would seem to be incomplete, but clearly the team wanted to put together a fantastic Maps app that serves the need of iOS users right this moment. Yes, Google didn’t want to pack everything in too tightly until the world had a chance to play with it. Fair enough, but some of these things would have been nice. But yes, overall, it’s that good. I took it for a spin yesterday and was able to figure out its new UI immediately. Basically, the map is the UI. All of the menus are neatly tucked away, pulled up and out with gestures that are masterfully designed for iOS. If Apple had only waited a bit longer, this could have been the experience that shipped with iOS 6. It also complete with a brand new SDK so that developers can start integrating it into their apps. I spoke with Google Maps for Mobile Director, Daniel Graf, and while he said that Google didn’t hold out as long as it possibly could to release this, I would say that waiting until Apple’s infamous Holiday App Store freeze]]> Earlier this year, NASA updated its iconic "Blue Marble" image of the Earth, and last week, it released the first version of the "Black Marble," its image of the planet at night. We'll still have to wait and see if the "Black Marble" will be just as iconic as NASA's earlier efforts, but it sure looks stunning and, thanks to a collaboration between Google, NASA, and NOAA, you can now explore it just like any other map built on top of Google Maps.]]> When we sat down with the Google Maps team a few months ago, we got an inside look at how Google makes its Maps product the best, most authoritative and reliable service in the world. Google says over one billion people use maps each month. The tools that are used internally to build the maps that we see are a mix of Google's own data and infrastructure, as well as data from other sources and updates from the community all passed through its internal Ground Truth initiative. At the time, I described the project as using Photoshop, with layers, but for mapping. It's really fun to watch someone work on it. Today, the Maps team announced an update for 10 areas in Europe.]]> While I've managed to resist the call of the Wii U so far, neat tricks with the GamePad like the newly-announced Google Maps app Street View integration have me sorely tempted. Nintendo announced today that Google Maps will be arriving on the Wii U gaming console in early 2013, delivering a unique Street View mode for the GamePad touchscreen controller that allows users to pan around various locations as they view satellite map imagery on their television.]]> Google is said to have distributed an external test version of its native maps app for iOS, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. Citing "a person with direct knowledge of the matter," the WSJ says that Google is readying the app for submission to the App Store review and approval process, though there's no clear timeline for when that will take place. ]]> Nokia is capitalizing on its strong reputation regarding maps with a new product called Here today, which offers users a number of new features, like Collections, which lets users save and share locations for cross-platform access, 3D imaging via its web platform and an explore feature that offers points-of-interest recommendations based on your location. This is a rebrand, designed to build Nokia's mapping efforts as a separate product.]]> The Apple Maps controversy cooled down over the last few weeks (though it got a bit of a replay when Scott Forstall's exit/ouster from Apple was announced last week), but one question still remains: when will Google launch its native Google Maps app for iOS? According to a new report in the The Guardian, Google plans to have the app finished by the end of the year - something we also heard in September. Some at Google, however, aren't sure if Apple will actually approve it.]]> After launching its new 3D imagery on mobile a few months ago, Google today finally brought these 3D buildings in select cities and its new tour guide feature to Google Earth 7 on the desktop. With this update, Google is also bringing its 3D imagery to five new cities: Avignon, France; Austin, Texas; Munich, Germany; Phoenix, Arizona and Mannheim, Germany.]]> The Google Maps basemap is getting a visual overhaul today. Unlike most updates, though, this one is for the actual maps and not just the interface. Starting today, Google Maps will show you information about terrain, as well as color gradations to depict vegetation and additional labels for natural land formations like the Gobi Desert and the Amazon Basin.]]> Google just announced that it has added 25 million new building footprints to Google Maps. Most of the company's recent announcement around mapping had to do with flashy updates like 3D maps and buildings in Google Earth or thousands of miles of updated street view imagery. Today's update stands out because of the large number of footprints the company is adding. Among the areas included in this update are a number of major U.S. cities, including Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami and the San Francisco Bay Area, but chances are you will notice changes all across the U.S.]]> Google today launched two new APIs for Google Maps that are specifically geared toward tracking the location of vehicles, mobile resources and employees. By announcing these new APIs on its enterprise blog and by asking developers to go through its sales team to purchase access, the company is clearly signaling that these features aren't so much meant for casual apps, though it's easy to see how many location-aware apps could profit from using these tools.]]> One of the coolest features that you can get from Google is the capability to see on a map and time it the time it will take to get to a destination either by walking, bike, car or mass transit based on traffic conditions. ]]> Google has yet to publish a native Google Maps app for Apple's iOS devices (although we hear it's coming soon), but in the meantime it continues to beef up the experience on its iOS-focused web app, today adding its popular Street View functionality, for users to see actual images of a location or a route.]]> As the fallout from Apple's decision to launch its own mapping app for iOS continues, Google is clearly trying to turn Apple's problems into an opportunity for itself. Without a native Google Maps for iOS app, however, Google's only way onto the iPhone is as a web app. For the most part, the mobile version of Google Maps can easily rival the old Apple Maps app, but the one missing feature is Street View. According to AllThingsD's Walt Mossberg, however, that's changing tomorrow.]]> In a new piece today that cites multiple current and former Apple employees as sources, Bloomberg Businessweek asks the question of whether Apple's maps fiasco would've happened under Steve Jobs. The report reveals that Jobs had "come to loathe" Google, not only for copying iOS, but also for "withholding" turn-by-turn voice-guided navigation from Google Maps on Apple's mobile platform.]]> Editor's note: Grant Ritchie is the CEO and founder of Locationary, which created the Saturn management and exchange platform for local business profiles and POI data. Follow Locationary here. The Apple iPhone 5 has been quite a story for a while with many "firsts": the fastest hardware, the most first-week sales, and so on. The device is also now famous for what it doesn’t have: Google Maps.]]> Google Maps gets more awesome by the day. Earlier this week, the service started rolling out stunning underwater imagery- if you will, a seaview mode. Now Google took to the Google Maps blog to announces the inclusion of more high resolution images including a major build-out of 45-degree images. This update brings a lot of new data to the mapping service. Google Maps and Earth now features 17 cities and 112 countries and regions with high-resolution aerial and satellite imagery. In addition, 51 cities can now be viewed in a 45-degree mode including 37 cities in the US and 14 abroad (full list below). It's never been easier to burn a little time and escape from your cubical to a far away land.]]> Thanks to a partnership with The Catlin Seaview Survey, Google Maps now displays Street View-ish images of the Great Barrier Reef and popular underwater spots around Hawaii and the Philippines. Clear your calendar. Forward your emails. It's time for an undersea adventure. As Google explained in a blog post today (now pulled) you can now use Google Maps to swim with a turtle, follow a manta ray or lose yourself watching the sun set over a reef. You can go diving in Maui's Molokini crater or join snorkelers in Oahu's Hanauma Bay. And of course all this is possible without swim lessons or sunscreen thanks to the magic of Google Maps.]]> Google today announced that it is bringing its indoor maps for places like airports, museums and malls in Google Maps for Android to France. So the next time you stop by at Galeries Lafayette in Paris, you will be able to see detailed floor plans for every floor, including information about escalators, ATMs and nearby restrooms. The details of these maps vary in detail, but the floor plans for supermarket chain Carrefour, for example, will even show you what's in the different aisles and give you walking directions.]]> Remember that one time you downloaded iOS 6? You were so excited about features like Panorama and... well, Maps. There was nothing else to be all that excited about, at least from a Christmas-morning, I-can't-wait-to-play point of view. And then, you opened up Apple Maps to find that your childhood home didn't really look like your childhood home at all, but a flat, f&#(ked up version of your childhood home, and that you were actually two blocks east of where you thought you were, despite the street signs that told you otherwise? Those were good times. ]]> Everywhere you turned last week, there was another story about iOS 6 Maps. Some feel like it’s a great new direction for Apple, but people like me feel like we’re left with an ugly experience that shouldn’t have been introduced to the public in its current state. sh Yes, Google Maps was removed from iOS 6, but we’ve known that for quite a while now. What we didn’t know was that Apple would make no real improvements on its own offering from the second developers starting tinkering with the OS until the day it was made public. As I tried to use Apple Maps for the first time with the first developers version, it felt very unpolished and not well thought out. That’s rare for Apple, so I figured that things would get better. Sadly, they didn’t. Google Maps has been a major player in the maps space since it launched almost eight years ago. I had no idea what went into making the product, or more importantly, keeping the product up to date. Luckily, the team allowed me to take the same glance at its processes that a few other publications recently had, but a bit more. As you listen to the company speak, it reiterates its mission of “organizing the world’s information”, but it rarely talks about how that organization actually happens. I took a look and was pretty impressed. Is it something Apple can catch up to quickly? Let’s see, shall we? Merging the virtual and real-world After I sat down with Jack Menzel of Google’s Search team, he walked me through how the product has come along, along with plans and ideas for the future. I was able to do the very same thing with the Maps team on Friday. Both products are changing the way we interact with the physical world around us. It all starts with a project called “Ground Truth”, which is Google Map’s team that takes all 1,300 sources of map data and merges them into a consumable product that we see on the web and our mobile phones today. It’s not a simple process, but it’s one that is fantastically tricky, involved, complex and yet…full of common sense. Imagine getting files of junk from every source of topographical information in the world and then having to normalize it for your world-class system that services millions of users. It’s involved, multi-layer and]]>