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Explore Google Maps with Link from 'The Legend of Zelda'
Here's a little something to brighten up your day -- open up Google Maps in the browser and you'll notice that the yellow Pegman now looks like Link. The fabled Hero of Time is there to celebrate the The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, which launches today on the Wii U in Europe and North America. He'll be sticking around for a good five days, which makes sense given the game doesn't come out in Japan until March 10th. In the meantime, enjoy dragging his little tunic and sword around your hometown. Who knows, maybe there's a dungeon or two to be found?
Google Maps adds Waze traffic data to the desktop, brings back Pegman
The dramatic overhaul of Google Maps on the desktop saw the world lose a good friend. That friend: Pegman. The tiny yellow avatar that you could drop almost anywhere to get instant access to Street View disappeared. Instead, the ground level perspective was accessed by first clicking on a point on the map, then selecting Street View from the pop over in the upper left-hand corner. Clearly, that's much less convenient. Thankfully, Pegman is making a grand return with the latest update to Google Maps on the desktop. Additionally, that Waze acquisition is continuing to pay dividends. The company's traffic data is finally coming to the desktop site, after being added to the Android and iOS mobile apps back in August. You'll be able to see areas of congestion and even spot incidents like accidents that bring your commute to standstill. Slowly but surely the new Google Maps is reaching feature parity with it's predecessor, thanks to constant updates like these. Maps isn't just about navigation, however. Google also sees it as a tool for exploration and education. That's why it's pushing a new feature called Earth Tours, that brings 3D bird's-eye imagery of particular locals to WebGL-enabled browsers. Now you can fly around Boston or the Alps, just like you would in Google Earth, but without the need to install another piece of software. You can check out a tour of the new Google Maps after the break.
Google Earth 6 adds 3D trees and integrated Street View
It's not hard to love Google Earth: it's free, it gives great views of one of our top five favorite planets ever, and it's free. Now Google is adding in some new functionality to push the realism to the limit in Google Earth 6. Most importantly, Street View is getting seamless integration into your virtual travels, with the little yellow Pegman set right next to the navigation controls for placing any which where. Google has also "planted" millions of 3D trees to make the 3D building view a bit more realistic, and has a new easy-access method for pulling up historical imagery. It all sounds very exciting in theory, but the best part? Google Earth 6 is free, and you can download it right now to find out for yourself.
