I’ve been extremely busy this week and haven’t been able to blog as much as I’d like too. Of course that always means there is a pile of news to catch up on at the end of the week. This week we can thanks Google for that, as the company has announced new features and updates for a bunch of its mapping services.
Google Earth Enterprise Version 3.2
Version 3.2 of Google Earth Enterprise launched this week bringing new features to the mix. The service, which functions like the consumer-oriented Google Earth but enables businesses to host it on private servers, can now be accessed through the web browser as opposed to a separate client, offers historical imagery, Mercator imagery tiles for 2D maps, and support for ocean terrain data processing.
Los Angeles Metro in Google Transit
Famously traffic-clogged Los Angeles is the latest city to be added to Google Transit thanks to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Now when users navigate to the Google Transit layer in Google Maps they’ll have access to directions and stop times for 5 rail lines and over 200 bus routes.
My Location with Google Maps on the desktop
We’ve known this would happen sooner or later, but My Location (previously only available for Google Maps for Mobile) is now available for Google Maps on the desktop. My Location relies on the W3C Geolocation API to find your approximate location when you use Google Maps. In accordance with Google privacy agreement, you’ll always be asked if you’d like to share your location via a button at the top of your display. The service uses Wi-Fi access points to find your location, or your IP address should you not have any hotspots nearby. Right now, My Location for Google Maps only works on Google Chrome or Firefox 3.5 browsers natively, but should also work if you’re using a different browser with Google Gears installed.
Improved location-based Google Search
For a long time now Google has provided Google Maps results for location searches. Now, in an effort to add more context for travelers and others likely to look up geographical locations using Google, the company has added pictures to its Google Maps results. Click on any picture and users will be taken to the photos layer on Google Maps where they’ll be able to find other locally geotagged pictures.
Mysterious Google Earth event on July 20
What will be the big announcement? CNET believes the July 20th event being held in Washington, DC., could be highlighting new additions to Google’s Moon coverage. July 20th is the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, and astronaut Buzz Aldrin is a scheduled speaker. Makes sense to me.
Google Mobile Product Search extended
Google announced its Mobile Product Search for Android and the iPhone back in April, and this week extended the list of supported devices. The service, which lets you compare prices for products on your mobile phone, is now supported by the Palm Pre and all other mobile devices with an internet connection in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and South Korea.
