Android and Me » google maps

Google Maps update brings better Latitude tracking, more transit options, better battery life

Anthony Domanico — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:50:07 +0000

Lost in the hullabaloo of the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show yesterday was an update to the Google Maps application that Google pushed to the masses. The latest Google Maps for Android claims to improve battery life while at the same time improving location tracking within Google Latitude, a service known for its adverse effect on battery life.

The latest Google Maps has also improved Transit Navigation; the update brings a better estimate of your location when you lose GPS signal and ups the number of possible transit routes from 3 to 4. As someone who has used Transit Navigation, the changes are very welcome and address a few frustrations I’ve had with Google’s service, which is still in beta.

Finally, the latest update brings more indoor maps, which you can use to navigate around various indoor venues in the US, mostly in the Las Vegas areas for CES.

It’s nice to see Google working to enhance their feature set while focusing on improving battery life, which can get very negatively hit in the Navigation process. If you haven’t already, be sure to head over to the market and update your Google Maps app to enjoy the latest and greatest Google has to offer.

Google+, Google Maps, Google Goggles all updated

Anthony Domanico — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:23:31 +0000

It’s apparently “update all the applications” day over at Google today. Google+, Google Maps and Google Goggles have all received an update of some form or another.

Google+

The Google+ application has been updated today, bringing several new feature enhancements and the standard stability improvements and bugfixes. The full changelist is as follows:

Search
+1 photos
+1 comments
High resolution photo upload support
See if someone’s online and currently typing in Messenger conversations
Start Messenger conversations by just entering a phone number
Links to posts or profiles can now open inside the app
Instant Upload supports videos again
Several stability improvements and bug fixes

Arguably the biggest improvements are the added ability to “+1” photos and individual comments, two features previously only available in the browser version of the Google+ application. It was beyond frustrating wanting to “+1” a picture or someone’s comment and having to launch a browser when I was around a computer to do so.

Messenger also received a few cool new options, making it more like Google Talk. Within the Messenger section of Google+, you can now see if people are online and whether they are currently typing in your conversation. You can also start a new Messenger conversation by simply adding the recipient’s phone number.

If you haven’t already (or set your market to auto-update), you should probably head over to the market and update your Google+ application.

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Google Goggles

Google Goggles also received a fairly significant update to add some pretty cool new features. The changes:

Continuous Mode allows you to use Goggles without pressing the shutter button.
Goggles can recognize text in a document and return a link to its online version. Try it on your favorite newspaper!
You can help Goggles recognize more objects. Tap on ‘Do you have a better suggestion’ in the Goggles results page.
Google Goggles will now show user submitted results in the search results page.

The coolest one of these additions in my opinion is the ability to scan a newspaper article to receive a link to the online version of that story. The other features are pretty cool, too.

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Google Maps

Google Maps received a very minor update, bringing bugfixes and performance enhancements to several devices.

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Final Thoughts

There you have it; Google has provided updates to three of its applications, two of which have pretty significant improvements and enhancements. Head over to the market and give these apps an update.

Video: Google Maps 6.0 hits the market with Indoor Navigation

Edgar Cervantes — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:55:54 +0000

Google Maps has been one of Android users’ best friends. Even before Android, this nifty service has been a life-saver for all of us, letting us know our whereabouts and how to get to our destinations. Though getting to a place is itself an important task, sometimes buildings are so huge (airports, malls, etc.) that we tend to get lost in them. Wouldn’t it be great if Google could help us navigate inside buildings as well? Well, the new Google Maps update is here to do just that!

As a celebration of Google Maps for Mobile’s sixth birthday (earlier this month), the Search Giant has released version 6.0 of what could be our most productive application. With this new update, Google has given us Indoor Navigation, along with a toolbar to switch between features, and a new Places home screen.

That is right, my friends. You can now use Navigation inside many public buildings. (For a full list of current available locations, click here). Finding your way around the airport, mall, etc. will be as simple as a few taps. No more asking around and walking endlessly to find a restroom or a certain area of the building. Google Maps now tells you where you are, inside of the building, even including the floor on which you are located. Hopefully most popular buildings will be available for Indoor Navigation shortly. We will never be lost again.

Aside from indoor navigation, Google has thrown in a couple of other new features in the new Google Maps update. One of them is a new tool bar, meant to make it easier to jump from feature to feature. Simply hit the drop-down menu at the top, and Google Maps will display all the different features that can be accessed. (See image in the left-side).

The third new feature is a new Places homepage. It’s what you can expect from Google Places. Want to look for a good place to go around your area? Simply check Google Places, and it’ll find the closest locations to whatever it is you would like to find (restaurants, cafes, bars).

Head to the Android Market and download this update! The only requirement is that you have Android 2.1 or above, so you have to have a very rare device for this update to be incompatible. Don’t forget to check out the videos, and let us know what you think!

Have you guys tried the new features yet? I believe Indoor Navigation will definitely make a huge difference in our everyday lives. Are you guys looking forward to using it?

Google acquires local ratings expert Zagat; Maps integration coming soon

Dustin Earley — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 19:05:09 +0000

Google isn’t shy when it comes to acquiring other companies to bolster their already robust selection of services. Today’s acquisition of Zagat is a perfect example.

Zagat is a restaurant rating service that thrives in the “local” arena. Using a scale of 1-30, Tim and Nina Zagat, friends, family and other die-hard foodies have critiqued restaurants for over 30 years now. Currently available in over 100 cities, Zagat’s sophisticated rating system will soon be integrated into Google services. Maps, Places and Search will all see some form of integration in the coming months.

Zagat has suffered lately due to the shift in information distribution. What originally started as a locally shared paper book hasn’t had the best luck in making the transition to digital. Details surrounding the acquisition are sparse, but as expected, both companies are putting on a smiling face for the public. Zagat gets to live on in some of the most frequently used web services to date, while Google gains yet another reputable name to add to their portfolio of acquisitions.

Who do you use for restaurant rating? Yelp, Zagat, Google Places, Urbanspoon? Let us know in the comments below.

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Google Maps 5.8 arrives on the Market with photo uploads, My Places and more

Alberto Vildosola — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 20:55:23 +0000

The Google Maps team is back with another update for their Android app. Once again, they managed to cram a bunch of new features into it. The undoubtedly best mobile mapping app in the world is now at version 5.8, and here’s what’s new:

Upload photos for a Place
My Places as a simple way to manage the Places you’ve starred and recently viewed
Descriptive terms for Places in search results
Add a new Place on-the-go when checking in

You can now upload photos of places right from your phone. These photos will then be saved to a folder called “Photos for Google Maps” on your Picasa account. There, you’ll be able to see and delete any photo that you’ve uploaded to Google Maps. This is a pretty cool feature, and one that I could see myself using a lot in the future. Even more, there’s a lot of potential here for Google to integrate the Google+ app. After all, we’re already uploading every picture we take on our phones automatically to Google+.

The second feature is My Places for the mobile app. If you’re an avid user of the Google Maps desktop app (like me), then you’re probably familiar with My Places. Put simply, My Places lets you keep track of every place you’ve ever rated or starred. And you can now do that from your Android phone.

Then there’s descriptive terms for Places and the ability to check into a Place even if it doesn’t exist. Descriptive terms on the mobile app work the same way they do on the desktop version. Every time you search for something, descriptive terms give you a quick description of the place.

You’ll also now be able to check into places that don’t exist. If the place you’re in doesn’t appear on Google Maps, simply add it and then check in. I’m guessing after a certain amount of check-ins, these previously missing places will automatically appear on Google Maps.

Not surprisingly, both the new check-in feature and the ability to upload photos are somewhat social features. But they also allow users to improve Google Maps. Forget about using Google+ to improve Google Search, imagine what will happen once Google has an army of Google+ users out there taking photos of everything and adding all the places on the face of the Earth.

Gallery

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Video: Google Maps 5.7 update brings Transit Navigation, other convenient features

Edgar Cervantes — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 18:12:58 +0000

Google Maps updates tend to be very minor, since the app is already very well designed. This is definitely not the case for its new update to version 5.7, which brings Transit Navigation, search categories and Photo Viewer for Place pages.

Transit Navigation and Updated Directions

Transit Navigation brings stop-by-stop directions for public transportation in over 400 cities. It basically works as you would expect; it determines your location through GPS and lets you know when/where to get off. Google Maps even alerts you via the notification bar if you happen to be doing anything else on your device.

Those who use turn-by-turn directions often know that the Navigation and Google Maps apps needed better team work. Google Maps has now better integrated Navigation to the Google Maps app by adding a Navigation button in certain areas. Aside from being located in the top-right corner of directions, it is also added as a search option. The Navigation button is now conveniently placed right next to the “Get Directions” button, and you can skip the Directions if you so chose.

Improved Search Suggest

Google has added labeled icons next to search suggestions. These icons reflect the type of place the suggestion refers to and allows for easier specified searching. Now search suggestions will display an icon of a pin, a star, a clock, a person or a magnifying glass. The pin represents a Google Places listing, the star represents your starred locations, the clock labels previously searched locations, a person icon represents your contacts and the magnifying glass covers all other categories.

Photo Viewer for Places pages

This new feature is pretty much self explanatory. Photo Viewer is available via the Google Maps application, and it allows you to see the images tagged to certain locations. If you’re traveling around and would like to see areas near your destination en route, this is definitely a convenient way to do it. Direct from Google Maps.

Full List of Changes

Get GPS stop-by-stop public transit directions in Navigation (Beta)
Receive search suggestions based on previous direction destinations and visited Place pages
Get directions in less clicks with updated Directions experience
Improved battery power management for Navigation (Beta)
Browse photos of Place pages in a gallery view
Use the ‘Download Map Area’ lab to save map areas for offline viewing

Download / Update

Google has definitely gone above and beyond with this new update to Google Maps, so get your update to check out these new features. The only requirement is that you have Android 2.1 or above, so most of us are covered! For further details, enjoy Google’s tutorial for Google Maps 5.7 below. Do you guys like this update? Which features are the best? Which will you use the most?

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Google Mobile Search gets brand new features, right before Google Search press event

Alberto Vildosola — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 15:47:54 +0000

Google seems to be rolling out a new version of its Google Search website for mobile devices. This new version focuses heavily on local search; they’re adding a row of icons below the search bar to let you look up restaurants, bars, gas stations, etc.

Tap on any icon, and Google allows you to get directions or phone the location–right from the website. This update is part of a bigger push within Google to own the local space. Google’s strategy to become the go-to location for everything local includes NFC, Google Wallet, Google Offers, Google Places… and now this Google Search update.

Coincidentally, there’s a Google Search press event happening in less than an hour. You can watch live here. We expect the company to go into details about these new features at the event. But Google might have some surprises tucked away, so make sure you stay glued to Android and Me for any big announcement to come out of this press event.

While we wait for the video feed to go live, tell us which new features you’d like to see Google announce today. Who knows? Maybe you’ll nail one of them.

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Google Navigation to get true offline mode this summer?

Anthony Domanico — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 18:01:11 +0000

The folks over at AllAboutPhones have just uncovered some awesome news for fans of Google Navigation.

In the opinion of many, especially developers of alternative navigation applications, the main fundamental flaw of Google Navigation has been that it requires you to be connected to a data plan in order to use it. Google has offered a partial remedy to this with cached routes, wherein Google Navigation will automatically store your route and the surrounding areas in case you happen to lose coverage along the way. Though this solution is helpful, it doesn’t go all the way; Google Navigation is rendered useless if you wish to navigate to a different location but happen to find yourself in a dead zone.

AllAboutPhones is reporting that a full-fledged solution should land on Google Navigation sometime this summer, adding full offline map support. Once this update drops, Android users will no longer need to rely on their data connection to get them from point A to point B. Judging by the delivery of this functionality in other applications, we assume Google’s solution will require users to download a maps package for their region (most likely U.S. only to begin with) and store that data on either the phone’s memory or an external SD card.

What’s missing from this report is what price, if any, Google will charge for this service. Though I would like to see Google continue to offer an amazing navigation service at no cost to the end-user, I have a feeling this may not be the case. That being said, we’re hopeful Google surprises us with this one.

What do you guys think? Will this service be free? If not, what would you be willing to pay for it? Let us know in the comments.

Google Maps for Android gets updated with better check-ins, better transit info, and more

Alberto Vildosola — Wed, 25 May 2011 22:21:07 +0000

Google Maps for Android keeps getting better and better. El Goog just released a new version of the popular app to the Market with a handful of new features. It hasn’t been more than a week since the company updated Google Maps for the mobile browser, and here we are once again with a new version of Google Maps for Android. Seeing the service get updated so frequently, you get the sense that the company is extremely obsessed about the local space.

In this new version, Google has improved the way users can check in and check out of places. Now, when you go to a Place page, you can check in and give the place a rating right there on the same page. Last month, Google released the Location History dashboard, which allows people to see where they’ve been and how much time they spent at work or home. I’m not sure how many people actually use this feature but you’ll now be able to change your home and work address right from inside Latitude. Have fun realizing that you’re spending way too much at work — or slacking at home for that matter.

Google Maps is not only good at giving you driving directions, but the app is also extremely useful for those of you who walk everywhere — and now it’s better. In this version, Google has updated the transit station page, making it easier for users to plan their trip. With each page now showing “a list of upcoming scheduled departures for different lines, all the transit lines serving the station, and links to nearby transit stations.”

I find it a little coincidental that Google updates the Google Maps app right before a big press event. Something tells me that this version of Google Maps has something to do with tomorrow’s event. Maybe it has some hidden feature that the company will show off tomorrow. You know what would make me want to use Latitude’s Location History dashboard, if it showed me all the places where I’ve used my Nexus S to pay for stuff. I guess we’ll find out soon.

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Google Maps updated for mobile browsers, full features galore

Edgar Cervantes — Fri, 20 May 2011 21:48:47 +0000

Given that more than 40% of Google Maps usage is done via mobile devices, Google has just updated this service to work fully with mobile browsers. Android users may not be very convinced about this update, since the native app does a very good job at being as effective as Google Maps for the web. Google’s intentions, though, are to offer users a consistent full Google Maps experience among multiple platforms (it is also available for iOS, which does not have a native app as efficient as Android’s).

Upon visiting maps.google.com on your mobile browser, you will have to opt-in to share your location info with Google. After doing so, the new Google Maps for mobile browsers will be in the palm of your hand, offering features like:

See your current location

Search for what’s nearby with suggest and auto complete

Have clickable icons of popular businesses and transit stations

Get driving, transit, biking, and walking directions

Turn on satellite, transit, traffic, biking, and other layers

View Place pages with photos, ratings, hours, and more

When signed into your Google account, access your starred locations and My Maps

Alireza AliGoogle Mobile Blog

As already mentioned, this may not replace your native app, but having multiple choices is always better for everyone. Go check it out and tell us what you think of it. Who knows… You might end up liking it better!