Maps
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Google reopens Map Maker edits in August with your help
Google put Map Maker editing on ice in May after digital vandals got away with some rogue changes, but it's finally ready to get things back on track... if you're willing to pitch in. The internet giant says it will start reopening edits in early August, but it's asking the community to play a much larger role this time around. Instead of leaning primarily on Google itself for moderation, some Map Maker areas will also depend on Regional Leads (that is, eager volunteer cartographers) to review any tweaks.
Android gets Google Maps desktop-to-mobile destination info, too
The latest update to Google Maps on Android is one of those things that honestly should have happened a long time ago, but surprisingly didn't until recently: Now you can send destination info directly to your mobile device from the desktop. Just like on iOS. And as Android Police points out, it all sounds pretty facile. So long as you have the latest version of the mobile app installed, from the Maps website you should see an option to send the current query to devices you're signed into with your Google account. From there, an actionable notification pops on your gizmo and you can either check out the destination's website (if there is one) or its profile card on Google. Like I said, it's pretty simple and something you'd have thought was already there but actually wasn't. [Image credit: Getty Images]
Bing Maps adds trip-planning tools and easy access to reviews
If you prefer Bing Maps as your go-to navigation tool, the software's preview version received a big redesign. Focused primarily on helping you plan trips, a load of new features aim to make it easier to search, view and share multiple destinations easily. Bing Maps Preview will pull in reviews and photos from Yelp in its search results, so you'll have quick access to suggestions when traveling in an unfamiliar locale. When it comes to planning an evening out, for example, there's a new card-based format to keep each stop a few taps away. For those entries, hours, useful details and similar options nearby are all included. Bing also employs predictive routing to help you determine the best time to head, showing you what traffic would be like for a specific time of day.
Google parks its map-making tool inside Drive for easy access
To make things easily accessible, Google is nesting its My Maps feature in Drive. This means that in addition to creating custom maps for whatever need may arise, you can also nestle them alongside documents or forms created with the productivity suite's other apps. Drive's cloud storage abilities also make it simple to store and share those custom maps in a place that you'll know exactly where to find them. Even if you can't remember, Drive's search box can lend a hand. My Maps has been around for a bit, but it hasn't nearly as easy to find. Now, it's accessible from the red New button in Drive, situated in the extend menu under the core apps. As Google notes, it's incredibly useful for building a guide for multiple colleagues attending the same conference or keeping a few different hiking trails organized. And perhaps best of all, it'll pull data from a Sheet, Document or Form to save you from all of that extra typing.
Google Earth gets two new features for its 10th birthday
Can you believe that Google Earth has been around for a full decade now? To celebrate this milestone, Google unveiled a pair of striking new (and expanded) features to the planet virtualization system on Monday. The first is Voyager, which available on the desktop edition. It's designed to help you pick out and explore the coolest and newest imagery from around the world. These are organized into five categories: Street View, Earth View, 3D cities, Satellite imagery updates, and Highlight tour.
Climb 'El Capitan' with Google's first vertical Street View
Google has taken us to some high places before, but it just gave Street View users a climber's-eye-view of a sheer cliff for the first time. Amusingly, it chose to kick off the project at Yosemite's "El Capitan" rock face, which, if you'll recall, is the name of arch-rival Apple's latest OS X version. We doubt it was a 'dig,' however, since the vertical 3,000 foot formation is the most famous rock climbing site in the US. To get the images, Google partnered with with Lynn Hill (the first person to free-climb El Capitan's treacherous "Nose"), speed-climbing champ Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell, who recently conquered the brutal "Dawn Wall."
Apple is sending cars to help build its own Street View
Google's Street View cars are well known, but you may also soon see vehicles from its biggest rival: Apple. The company today confirmed that in order to improve Apple Maps, it's embarking on a mission to drive cars all over the world, starting in the US, UK and Ireland. It's created a dedicated website detailing the locations it intends to visit and when it expects to be there, which may allow you to "accidentally" get snapped by one of its vehicles. From June 15th, Apple will visit a number of US states and cities, including California, Florida and New York, as well as London, Birmingham and Essex in the UK.
Send destination info from your desktop to Google Maps for iOS
If you're looking for an easy way to send places from Google Maps on the desktop to your trusty iOS device, the wait is over. The folks in Mountain View updated the software for iPhone to allow you to send restaurants and other spots you search for on the desktop to your mobile device for reference while in route. You'll need to be signed in on both your computer and your iOS device with notifications enabled on the latter. From there, hunt for a new dinner spot and click "send to device." When you do so, a notification delivers the address alongside options for getting directions or skipping straight to navigation. Version 4.7.0 of the app also lets you edit business hours for those listings and view all of your reviews and photos from the Your Places section of your profile. If you're iOS device hasn't alerted you to the new version yet, you can nab it from iTunes now.
Apple Maps finally gets transit directions
Apple's Maps app has been lacking one of the more important turn-by-turn directions features since its launch. Today at WWDC, Maps finally got transit directions. The new feature will offer directions for buses, trains, subways and ferries. The app will also surface nearby restaurants, shops and activities. Maps also now tells commuters which subway entrance to enter and exit. Helpful in large cities with huge stations. Maps will launch in the United States in San Francisco, New York, Washington, DC, and Baltimore. Internationally it'll launch in many cities in China including Beijing, Wuhan, Shanghai and others. Other international cities include Mexico City, London, Berlin and Toronto. More cities are expected in the future.
Google Maps real-time transit info is now available in more places
Public transportation info has been in Google Maps for quite some time, but today the feature is seeing some handy improvements. First, when you select a transit option in the app, you're served a a list of options that will not only show you the next bus or train, but how long you'll be playing Candy Crush if you miss it alongside some alternative options. The details are updated in real time and you can expect to leverage the tool in more places, too. Google added partners to the list in six new locales: UK, Netherlands, Budapest, Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle. While public transit info was available for those spots, you can now access real-time info as well. The folks in Mountain View say today's news brings schedules for over 2.5 million stations, stops, terminals and more worldwide. Heck, you'll even be able to see when your train leaves on your wrist.
Google Maps delivers destination info, voice directions while offline
Sometimes you still need navigation and destination info when you're offline. Google is delivering just that with offline Maps. Even when you're not connected (or in airplane mode), the app will still provide information on places in your searches. This means that you can browse hours, reviews and other important details for places like museums and restaurants. What's more, voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation is included as well for maps that you've saved for offline use. Unfortunately, there's no word on when the new tools will arrive other than a vague "later this year." Don't miss out on all the latest news and updates from Google I/O 2015. Follow along at our events page.
Apple Transit maps could be coming to iOS 9
9to5Mac, citing unnamed sources, reports that Apple is potentially gearing up to release its updated Transit service -- the same one it nixed immediately before last year's WWDC event -- with iOS 9. Transit acts as an add-on layer to Apple's existing Maps program providing accurate navigation instructions for public transportation systems. This functionality hasn't been available as a part of the official built-in app ever since Apple switched to its own service instead of using Google's.
Apple bought a company focused on super-accurate GPS
Apple has snapped up more than a few companies that know how to deal with your location data, but it now appears to be focused on improving the accuracy of that data from the get-go. MacRumors has discovered evidence that Apple recently acquired Coherent Navigation, a company specializing in very accurate GPS. It combined the usual GPS positioning with information from Iridium's low-orbit communication satellites to pinpoint your whereabouts within inches, rather than feet.
Facebook taps Nokia for its mapping know-how
If Facebook's maps for mobile have suddenly gotten a whole lot more (or less) accurate, there's a reason. The social network is now sourcing its location data from Here, Nokia's soon-to-be-sold mapping division. According to TechCrunch's sources, only the mobile web version is using the new information, but Facebook is currently testing whether to roll Here's Maps out to all of its standalone apps like Messenger and Instagram. It's hoped that, with more accurate geolocation data, the company can offer advertisers even more minute control over who gets what product thrown in their face. Of course, Facebook is also one of the companies that is believed to be considering buying Here outright. Given this news, however, we'd imagine it being a lot less likely -- after all, why buy the cow if you're getting the milk for free?
Windows 10's phone maps help you find things to do
To put it mildly, Windows Phone's official mapping options are... basic. However, Microsoft is promising a better experience with the mobile Maps app in Windows 10. Get a recent preview version of Windows 10 and you'll see a map interface that is not only decidedly more modern-looking, but ties in more closely with Bing and rolls in some Here Maps features. You'll get the usual photos, reviews and directions (including Here's in-car navigation), but you'll also have an easier time finding things to do. You can specify that you're looking for something to eat near your hotel, for instance, and book the table reservation on the spot. This upgrade probably won't get you to switch phone platforms, but it's a big deal if you're a Windows phone fan who'd like to get Microsoft's best mapping services in a single app.
DEA approves MDMA study for the terminally ill
MDMA is widely used both on and off festival grounds. But the drug is quietly making a comeback as a therapeutic aid. Last week, the DEA approved a clinical trial that will use a combination of the psychedelic drug and psychotherapy to treat anxiety associated with terminal illnesses. Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) has initiated the study as part of their on-going efforts to validate the effectiveness of MDMA in a scientific setting. This isn't the first time it's been used to assist psychotherapy. But if the study is successful, it will introduce a new use for the drug.
Google's street art collection doubles in size
If you're the sort who's more excited by graffiti and murals than paintings hanging in a museum, today's your lucky day. The Google Art Project has doubled the size of its street art collection to a total of more than 10,000 images, including spruced-up abandoned buildings in Buenos Aires and formal projects from Sweden's Artscape festival. And there's new ways to check out these pieces, to boot -- in addition to the existing mobile and web views, Google has quietly released a Street Art Watch Faces bundle that shuffles through projects on your Android Wear smartwatch. Hit the source links if you're curious about street culture around the world. [Image credit: RUN/Dulwich Outdoor Gallery, Google Art Project]
Uber buys a mapping company to give you better ride estimates
Uber wouldn't be where it is without good ride estimates, and it's clearer than ever that the company knows this. The app-based transportation outfit just bought deCarta (its first ever public acquisition), a firm that specializes in mapping, navigation and local search. As a spokesperson tells Mashable, this is a bid to "fine-tune" any feature that depends on maps -- Uber wants better arrival time calculations, more effective carpooling routes and similar upgrades. Of course, it's probably also relevant that those features are currently powered by Uber investor/frenemy Google. The improvements will only take place behind the scenes, but don't be surprised if the Uber app's future ETA predictions are uncannily accurate. [Image credit: Getty Images]
Google Street View cameras zip through (and over) the Amazon
Google already has some odd ways of getting its Street View cameras into hard-to-reach places, but its latest effort might just take the cake. The search firm has posted panoramic imagery of the Amazon rainforest that, at some points, was taken by Trekker cameras ziplining through the canopy -- yes, you'll get a view that even locals won't usually see. There are some down-to-Earth sights, too, including snapshots from rivers and remote villages. Between this and recent collaborative mapping projects, you may end up learning a surprising amount about the Amazon without setting foot in South America.
OpenStreetMap can give directions to your destination
Some third-party apps are already using OpenStreetMap data to give you directions, but now you can look up routes directly on its website. It works just like Google Maps or any of its other alternatives: type in a location and then your destination to find out how to get there by car, bike or foot. Obviously, that's nothing groundbreaking, but the crowdsourced map's developers are hoping it would bring new blood to the website. The more direct users it has, the more people there are to add or correct the names of locations and infrastructure, or even add simple stuff that make a map better, such as one-way streets, dead-ends or U-turns. OpenStreetMap's completely free, so you can visit it anytime you want to get into the spirit of crowdsourced cartography.
