Google has launched a new, Google Maps-based trivia game called Smarty Pins. The game asks you a number of geographically-based questions, and you drop your pin in the correct location to answer. The questions have a great range of difficulty, and pull from different topics like entertainment, sports, and history. Smarty Pins tracks your points as miles. You start with 1,000 miles,...
Shortly after the Google I/O keynote ended, Google pushed out an update to Google Maps to bring some new features to the free turn-by-turn navigation service. The change log this time is rather short, but the update does make it easier for you to search for places and know where to go. According to Google, search results will appear on the map with descriptions so that you can now...
Sometimes, you have to go off the grid Google has reintroduced offline maps in a recent update of the Google Maps application, and as Google often does, they leave a little mystery about how you can use them and how to download one. That's where we come in. We'll show you how to download and "install" a map for offline use and tell you how you can use them so you're not searching...
Google is buying the satellite imagery company Skybox Imagery for half a billion dollars. Google has used imagery from Landsat satellites for much of their mapping images, though in recent years they've been replacing that with detailed orbital shots from a variety of sources. Adding a satellite imaging company to their portfolio will enable Google to more quickly and accurately update...
Google has updated its Google Maps app in Great Britain adding in directions for travel using public transportation. The app update is available now for iOS and Android, as well as on the web on the desktop, will cover almost 17,000 routes of bus, train, tram, and ferry navigation. The update will work on travel across England, Wales, and Scotland, with Northern Ireland still in the...
Drastic improvements to navigation and search interface highlight app overhaul Google today unveiled a pretty great refresh to the Google Maps app today, bringing vast improvements to the navigation experience and usability across the board. For once Google has also included a proper changelog with the update, giving us a peek at what's actually new in this update. Beyond that, though...
Google Street View kicked things up a bit today, now adding the ability to travel back in time. Starting today, Street View in Google Maps on desktop allow you to view historical images dating back to 2007. That's seven years worth of history for you to explore — be it in your own hometown or around the world. You can view construction projects, past events or even just the changes in...
Google is expanding its Street View data again, this time adding more in-depth Trekker data (those are the sweet imaging backpacks) for Angkor's thousand-year-old temples in Cambodia. Clearly a very historic place that couldn't be mapped by traditional Street View equipment or even high-resolution satellites, this type of imagery really shows off the power of the Trekker program.
Google is petitioning the Supreme Court to dismiss one of the Google Street View lawsuits. Google Street View vehicles would scan unencrypted and open Wifi networks to help find the Street View cars location, which led to cries of privacy violations, and ultimately lawsuits.
And so it begins. Google's always loved April Fools' Day and has used the opportunity for more than a few well-produced jokes. And, just like Black Friday deals and CES announcements, the new April Fools' Day is the day before April Fools' Day. And so Google's kicking things off with the Google Maps Pokémon Challenge. Says the YouTube description announcing the Pokémon challenge:...
75 locations at first with more to follow A quick heads up to our friends in India that Google has flipped the switch on indoor mapping there. The feature that we've had in the U.S. and Europe for a while now helps you navigate such buildings as shopping malls, museums and airports. The maps are viewable on the desktop, in the Android app or even in the iOS Google Maps app if you're...
Over 60 new indoor locations added to the Street View project bring your travel destination to your screen Traveling to visit loved ones this holiday season? If so, Google may have something you'll be interested in as a slew of airports, train, subway and even a cable car station have been added to Street View. No longer will you have to hit the nice lady at the information desk to find...
Maps update rolling out to more users this evening Google Maps has been updated, and it seems like this evening the staged rollout is picking up steam. More folks are getting the update, which brings things like bug fixes and stability improvements — things we always love to see — but also some improvements to core features. The full change log: Faster access to navigation,...
Maps gets Waze incident reports; Waze gets Google Search, Street View in map editor Following Google's acquisition of Waze back in June, we're starting to see the first signs of cross-pollination between Google's Maps and the collaborative navigation app. From today, Waze-reported incidents are starting to appear in Google Maps on mobile, and Waze users can also benefit from new Google...
Cars, backpacks, trolleys, snowmobiles and trikes are slowly mapping the world from a first person point of view. We know Google has been hard at work mapping the entire world with a combination of different satellite footage, but how much of that area is also covered by first person Street View imagery? On its "About Street View" page, Google has published a map that pretty granularly...
Closure affects Latitude on Android, iOS, the web and Latitude API Alongside today's Google Maps for Android news, the company has confirmed that Latitude, its location-sharing service, will be closing from Aug. 9. The shutdown affects Latitude in its entirety — on the web, Android, iOs, through badges and the Latitude API. After the Aug. 9 cut-off date, Latitude components such as...
Google's public alerts system can save your bacon by keeping you up to date with important safety information Michael wrote in about something he noticed in Google Maps for Android. Seems there is a Flash Flood Warning for parts of New Hampshire, and Google Maps made sure he knew about it when searching for a location. It's not only pretty cool and pretty important, but it serves as a...
Interested groups can now offer their services as Google Street View mappers For some time now Google has been using a 360-degree view backpack-mounted camera system to map popular locations on foot, and it is now ready to open up the program to third-parties. Google wants to map the whole world, and it means the whole world. From the tops of mountains to the bottom of the ocean, there...
Google 'excited' about enhancing Google Maps with Waze data The rumors were true -- Google has announced that it's closed its acquisition of Waze, the collaborative navigation and traffic app. In a post on its official blog, the company confirmed the buy-out, saying that it was "excited about the prospect of enhancing Google Maps with some of the traffic update features provided by...
New look, new features for Google's mobile mapping software At the Google I/O keynote in San Francisco, Google showed a sneak peek at the "next major version" of Google Maps for Android. Visually, it looks a lot like the iPhone Google Maps app, with a big search bar front and center, and re-vamped, smoother graphics. There's also a new Zagat experience built-in, with a new five-point...