Google Data » Mano Marks

Fab Friday is Just Getting Started

Mano Marks — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 18:34:00 +0000

Fab Friday is back this week! We’re now fully into October. It’s a good time to stay indoors and code up some maps. To help you do that, we’ve got some videos you can use.

First off, for the iOS developers, I’ve got a new playlist, Getting Started with the Google Maps SDK for iOS. This goes into much greater detail than previous videos along the same lines, walking you through step by step. I cover:

Setting up your development environment
Getting and testing an API key
Creating your first application

Here’s the playlist:

Next up, we have a Maps Live episode where Josh Livni and Felipe Hoffa give a glimpse into the future of air travel using Google Big Query and the Google Maps JavaScript API. Check out their video here:

That’s all for this week. Have a great weekend, and happy mapping!

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Visualizing Airport Delay Correlations with Google BigQuery and the Maps API

Mano Marks — Thu, 26 Sep 2013 18:00:00 +0000

Last week Felipe and Michael from the Google Cloud Platform Developer Relations team released a video demonstrating the new Pearson correlation analysis available in Google BigQuery. Their example used more than 70 million flight records to find correlations on departure times, which could be used to predict whether your plane would be late. Specifically, you can find out which set of airports best predict your airport’s possible flight delays the following day.

As you can see from their code (watch the video for context), they’re using iPython Notebook to work with the BigQuery results, and matplotlib to get a quick visual of results. But one aspect that’s hard to see in these results is the spatial relationship of the airports. Maps to the rescue!

My goal was to create a simple visualization, where selecting any airport would highlight which airports you should look at to predict delays the next day. Using the Google Maps JavaScript API I went ahead and did just that:

To create this map, using the same code noted above, we first created a JSON dump of the correlations on departure time for each airport to each other airport. Then, using an article on visualizing earthquakes as a template, I modified the code so that we have a simple dictionary of all airports, keyed by their airport id. Last but not least, I added a function that gets called when an airport marker is clicked in order to restyle all the other airport markers according to their correlation. This method checks the selected season (winter, for example, has different correlations than spring), and highlights correlated markers by setting the color and scale of the circle symbol.

https://gist.github.com/jlivni/6602202

Thanks to BigQuery, running complex correlations over billions or trillions of attributes is surprisingly easy. But don’t forget if your data does have some spatial component, a quick mapping visual can add some great context to your results.

Posted by Josh Livni Maps Developer Relations Team

Full screen maps and new marker features now available in the Google Maps Mobile APIs

Mano Marks — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 22:15:00 +0000

This week we are pleased to announce updates for the Google Maps Android API v2 and the Google Maps SDK for iOS. We’re listening to your feedback, adding features requests that you’ve starred more than 195 times on the issue tracker. This includes cross platform support for map padding, flat markers, and marker rotation, described in the video below:

Full screen maps with map padding
Want to add a translucent Action Bar overlay to your map in Android? Or use a full screen layout in iOS 7? Map padding makes it easy to create full screen maps with custom interface overlays. Google Maps UI controls and attribution will automatically be repositioned in the visible area, and changes to the map camera take padding into account, so you don’t need to do this yourself.

Full screen layout maps are more immersive on Android (left) and iOS 7 (right).

Give your markers a sense of direction
We’ve added a marker rotation property, to allow you to rotate a marker around it’s anchor point. The new flat property allows you make the marker lie flat on the map surface, rather than popping out to face the camera. These two new properties are especially useful for indicating compass directions when the map is rotated or tilted.

Marker animations come to iOS
Time to make your markers move! There are a few ways to animate markers on Android, and today we’re adding the ability to animate marker position and rotation on iOS using the Core Animation framework. Animation for these properties happens automatically, but this can be customized if you’d like something a little different, or turned off entirely. You can also animate the icon of your marker using the existing images and duration properties of UIImage.

Playback GPS routes using flat markers (left), or use animated marker icons (right, iOS only).

Platform specific updates
The latest version of the Google Maps SDK for iOS now officially supports iOS version 6 and above, adding support for iOS 7, and removing support for iOS 5.1. Those of you running maps on mathematically intensive applications will be glad to know we have added ARMv7s support (and we’re investigating ARMv8 as well). For the the full list of new features and bug fixes see the Android and iOS release notes.

We’re rapidly adding new features, so if you had your fingers and toes crossed for a feature that isn’t in this release, please let us know on the issue tracker. Lastly, if you have any technical questions that aren’t answered in the developer documentation, post them to the Google Maps Developer Community on Stack Overflow.

Posted by Daniel Schramm, Associate Product Manager, Google Maps Mobile APIs

Fab Friday is Animated

Mano Marks — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 19:06:00 +0000

It’s been a few weeks since the last Fab Friday post. The team has been hard at work on a couple of new videos for you. Take a look:

First up is The Mobile Experience, a new series where Paul Saxman talks about mobile map design. In this episode, Paul talks about building a smartphone interface for browsing a collection of places on a map that can be browsed one handed.

Paul posted his Google Maps Android API v2 code on GitHub.

Next up, we have an episode of DevBytes: Maphacks on animating markers. Ankur Kotwal and Chris Broadfoot talk about the latest techniques for marker animation on the Google Maps Android API v2.

That’s all for this week, have a great weekend and happy mapping!

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Building Better Maps in Russia and Hong Kong

Mano Marks — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 03:58:00 +0000

When you travel or look at a map of your city, you want it to be as accurate as possible. We do too. That’s why we’re launching our Ground Truth initiative in Hong Kong and parts of Russia (including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and large areas in the west of the country), so we can build a better map that helps you find what you need and get to where you’re going, quickly and easily. These new, updated maps for Russia and Hong Kong will automatically become part of your maps using our JavaScript, Android, and iOS APIs. Ground Truth enables us to update a country’s map at a faster pace to provide you with an up-to-date map that mirrors the real world as closely as possible. Ground Truth also makes it possible for you to contribute your local knowledge to the map and report any issues you find through the Report a Problem tool, so together we can build a better map.

The updated maps in Russia and Hong Kong now provide detailed walking paths in many well-known parks and landmarks, making navigating easier especially in pedestrian-friendly Hong Kong. For example, we’ve added walking paths to Victoria Park - you can now zig zag across the park as you please.

Russia is rather large, so many people prefer to travel by car. Today’s update is good news for drivers as well, as we’ve made big improvements to our road network. We’ve updated street names, turn restrictions and one-way streets as well as completely new maps in more than 50 towns across Russia. So the next time you drive to the city center for shopping, try out the Google Maps app for Android and iPhone to get there.

If you’d rather adventure by sea, we’ve also added ferry routes, down to the specific harbor of departure. For example, in the updated map of Hong Kong’s Central and Western District below you can see the ferry routes as well as nearby points of interests and transportation options.

The updated map also indicates places of interest more clearly, such as hospitals, national parks, and universities. For example, Moscow State University, Russia’s oldest and largest university, now has more detail with cleaner walking paths, named roads, and labels for different department buildings.

Whether you’re gazing at the awe-inspiring spirals of St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow or strolling through the bustling Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade in Hong Kong, Google Maps is here to help you see, explore, and discover the world!

To learn more about Ground Truth, check out this presentation from Google I/O 2013: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsbLEtS0uls

Posted by Kirill Levin, Google Maps Software Engineer

Fab Friday Stays Indoors

Mano Marks — Fri, 16 Aug 2013 19:03:00 +0000

It’s Friday again, and you’ve survived another week. Time for some mapping!

I’ve got another video for you! Yesterday I released a Google Maps Shortcuts episode on indoor maps in the Google Maps SDK for iOS. Check it out:

I’ve also put together this playlist for iOS Developers using our SDK.

For JavaScript developers, Emily Bennett is doing a series of tutorials on Webdesigntuts+ on using the Google Maps API. Emily is the creator of the Portsmouth History Photo Map which we featured as a Map of the Week. She’s got three tutorials up, and one more on the way. Nice work Emily!

That’s all for this week. Have a great weekend and happy mapping!

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Interactive Map of the Paris Metro

Mano Marks — Wed, 14 Aug 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Map of the Week: Interactive Map of the Paris Metro

Interesting Maps API Components used: Geometry Library, KMLLayer, Styled Maps, Polylines, InfoWindows, Symbols, Markers

This week we are featuring a sample app by the French web development house Medusis. They have put together a custom directions application that guides you between Paris metro stations. It is available in both French and English. It is a beautiful app that uses several interesting features of the Maps API, some of which may not be immediately obvious.

The map is centered, naturally, on the city of Paris. The Paris Metro network is shown using a KMLLayer object. That way they can load in a large amount of unchanging data. You’ll also notice that the base map is styled to mute it to emphasize the metro lines, while preserving access to the Google base map data.

To find directions you can either use the drop down boxes in the top left or simply click on the stations. Notice that a couple of things happen. The KMLLayer that loaded the original layers switches to a grayscale KML file, to allow the use of Polylines to emphasize only the routes needed.

Each station also gets an InfoWindow that has the icons of the Metro lines serving that station. Each trip can be made of more than one Metro line. The portion of the line used in a particular trip is highlighted by using a Polyline. Markers for hubs and the origin and destination are highlighted using a Circle Symbol.

The map uses its own algorithm to compute the best route, using our Geometry Library to calculate distances to find the correct route.

This is a great demonstration piece on using the Google Maps API to show custom data. Well done Medusis.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Fab Friday is Custom Made

Mano Marks — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 18:31:00 +0000

Another week down, and time for another Fab Friday.

First up this week, I’ve got a video for you. Don’t I always have a video for you? The inimitable Brett Morgan filmed another Maps Shortcut episode, Custom Info Windows in the Google Maps SDK for iOS. Check it out:

Next I have a map for you. August 1st was Swiss National Day, and to celebrate, we have a timeline of when the cantons joined the Confederation.

This timeline is brought to us by Vasile Cotovanu, who also created the Swiss Cantons mercator puzzle, and more. And as usual, all his code is over on Github.

Finally, for you do-gooders, there’s a great event coming up. Apply now for the 2013 Geo for Good User Summit:

Calling all mapping specialists who use their powers for environmental and social good! Apply now for this annual hands-on technical workshop hosted by the Google Earth Outreach team from Nov 12-15 at the Google headquarters in Mountain View, CA: http://geoforgood2013.earthoutreach.org

That’s all for this week. Have a great weekend, and happy mapping!

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Map of the Week: Hill Mapper San Francisco

Mano Marks — Wed, 31 Jul 2013 20:40:00 +0000

Map of the Week: Hill Mapper San Francisco

Hill Mapper San Francisco uses the Elevation API to show how steep streets are in San Francisco.

Streets that go uphill, relative to the current location of the marker, are red, and downhill streets are blue. The opacity of the color represents how steep the hill is.

If you drag around the marker, the Polylines change color, as the marker’s elevation changes the relative elevation of the streets.

It’s particularly powerful if you view it with satellite imagery.

If you want to search for a particular location, the search box uses Places Autocomplete to help you find it.

All around, this is a nice, innovative use of our APIs to show off useful information.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Fab Friday is on the Street Again

Mano Marks — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Hey y’all, it’s Friday again, and Fab Friday is back with a great new video.

It’s high summer in the Northern Hemisphere and you’re going to want to go outdoors. Specifically, on the street. As we announced last week, with the latest version of the Google Maps SDK for iOS you can now include Street View in your app. Brett Morgan from the Maps Developer Relations team produced a Maps Shortcuts episode on this new feature, showing you how easy it is to start. Check it out:

That’s all for this week, see you next week!

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Map of the Week: Monarch Butterfly Migration Explorer

Mano Marks — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 20:14:00 +0000

Map of the Week: Monarch Butterfly Migration Explorer

Why we like it: This is a classic mashup style map, using the Google Maps JavaScript API with the Flickr API to create HeatmapLayers of photos tagged as Monarch Butterflies.

You can see in the 2012 migration season there were many pictures taken of the Monarchs all over and many of them made it up to Canada. And in 2013 that number dropped off considerably, possibly due to the increased use of pesticides.

The map defaults to a satellite map type, but if you click on “Map” it changes to our roadmap map type. You can see the map uses the Google Maps visual refresh.

We really like how this map uses these two APIs to discover and display trends that neither of the APIs were designed to do. We also like the great use of Google Maps for data visualization, and hope we see more from this developer.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Fab Friday is Summering

Mano Marks — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 19:00:00 +0000

It’s been a while since we posted a Fab Friday post. Naturally, with it being summer and all, I was a little distracted. But it’s not summer in Sydney, and they’ve been busy! You may have seen that we launched Dynamic Maps Engine Layers in the JavaScript Maps API a couple weeks ago. Josh Livni hosted a Maps Live episode on it: Visualizing Maps Engine Data on JavaScript Maps. Check it out:

This week we launched version 1.4 of the Google Maps SDK for iOS. It includes cool new features like Street View, indoor maps, and an updated map style. Check out this Maps Live episode Luke Mahe and I did.

It’s shaping up to be a great summer in the Northern Hemisphere! Thanks Sydney!
Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Map of the Week: Portsmouth History Photo Map

Mano Marks — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 19:30:00 +0000

Map of the Week: Portsmouth History Photo Map

Why we like it: The Portsmouth History Photo Map is a great demonstration of combining old maps and photos with Google Maps.

You start by viewing the 1896 map of Portsmouth on top of a Google Map. The old map is overlayed on top of the Google Map using an ImageMapType.

You can choose to look at standard Google Maps base map by clicking on Modern map, which reverts you to the road map.

The featured markers, such as this one for Charles Dickens, are created using a standard Marker with a custom icon and size.

Instead of the standard InfoWindow, the developer created a Custom Overlay that allows for a more dynamic experience, allowing for a gallery of photos to be displayed in the overlay.

Finally, to control what’s showing on the map, the developer created a custom div that sits on top of the map and controls it with onclick events.

All in all a great custom implementation of our API.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

More Beautiful Maps: Announcing DynamicMapsEngineLayer

Mano Marks — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 03:16:00 +0000

Organizations around the world use Google Maps Engine to host their geospatial data: ecological records used in the fight against habitat destruction, census income and age distributions, and up-to-date store locations and hours. Much of this data is available for public consumption.

Today we’re announcing a new way for developers to visualize and interact with data hosted in Maps Engine: DynamicMapsEngineLayer. This class performs client-side rendering of vector data, allowing the developer to dynamically restyle the vector layer in response to user interactions like hover and click.

Play around with this map of public watershed boundary data from the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, one of our Maps Engine nonprofit grantees:

To get started making your own maps, check out our developer documentation for DynamicMapsEngineLayer and find public datasets hosted by Maps Engine that interest you in our gallery (if there is a “Maps API code” link below a map, click it and copy the code snippets shown). For a deeper dive, also take a look at the Google Maps Engine API, a RESTful web services API that allows developers to read and write data stored in Google Maps Engine, and learn about querying public datasets. Contact us for more information about Google Maps Engine for your organization.

Posted by Jen Kovnats, Product Manager, Google Maps API

Map of the Week: ShotHotspot

Mano Marks — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 16:00:00 +0000

Map of the Week: ShotHotspot

Why we like it: ShotHotspot plots geotagged photos from around the web onto the Google Maps JavaScript API. Drawing on sites such as Panoramio and Flickr, it allows users to search and find good places to take photos.

Users start with a Places Autocomplete powered search.

Once you select an area ShotHotspot shows you a map of that area, and where all the pictures were taken. It uses the MarkerClusterer and InfoBox utility libraries to organize the information.

Once you are there, you can use drawing tools to create your own custom search area.

And when you zoom to the area you want to visit, you can get directions to the location you’ve selected. Notice too they use the Static Maps API to display thumbnails.

This is a great resource for finding places to take pictures.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Darting around Fab Friday

Mano Marks — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 16:00:00 +0000

It’s Friday again, you made it through another week! OK, we made it through another week.

I’m actually pretty excited because next week I’m going to Israel. If you’re in Tel Aviv, I’ll be speaking at the GDG on Tuesday the 19th, come and say hi. Pieter Greyling and Kasia Derc-Fenske will be speaking with me, so you’ll get a three-in-one.

On Tuesday, I hosted another Google Maps Shortcut episode, this time on Tiling in the Google Maps SDK for iOS. Check it out.

Next week Brett Morgan will be hosting a Maps Shortcut on using Google Maps with Dart. Be sure to check that out.

That’s all I’ve got this week. Have a great weekend and, as always, happy mapping!

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Map of the Week: Citymapper Android App

Mano Marks — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 00:02:00 +0000

Map of the Week: Citymapper Android App

Why we like it: Citymapper is a great example of combining Google’s data and basemap with an app developer’s own data and making a slick, useful interface. Citymapper helps Londoners get around by showing them locations of tube stations, bus routes, taxi fares, the status of transit lines, and much more. It’s built on top of the Google Maps Android API v2 and our Directions and Geocoding services.

It all starts with figuring out what you want to do.

From there you can get walking, biking, transit, or taxi directions. It’ll even tell you how many calories you’ll burn, or how much the taxi should cost.

You can also get information on Tube closures.

And play with a rampaging Android.

You can save your favorite lines and stations in the app as well, allowing you to customize your experience. All around, this is a great combination of our maps with highly localized data.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Fab Friday is Tiling

Mano Marks — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 18:48:00 +0000

It’s Friday, and here’s a quick Fab Friday to take you through the weekend.

This week, the Google Maps Engine team launched the Maps Engine API, which allows users of Maps Engine to programmatically interact with their data. It also allows any developer to interact with data made public by Maps Engine users. Pretty cool!

Also this week, Chris Broadfoot released a Google Maps Shortcut on his Android Maps Utility Library. You can check out his code on Github, and the video here:

Next week, I’ll be doing a Maps Shortcut on Tile Layers in Google Maps SDK for iOS.

That’s all for now, see you next week and happy mapping.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Fab Friday is Back!

Mano Marks — Fri, 31 May 2013 22:00:00 +0000

It’s been a few weeks since the last Fab Friday. A lot has happened since then. Well, actually, Google I/O happened. Plus we launched a visual refresh of the Google Maps JavaScript API v3. And we announced that over a million sites are now using the Google Maps API. And we had updates to both the Google Maps Android API v2 and the Google Maps SDK for iOS. Wow, a lot really has happened.

Right now, over on Google+ we’re doing a series of video highlights from Google I/O. Every day we’re posting a new video. Currently we’re running the Google I/O 2013 Google Maps Mobile playlist.

We've also recorded a couple more Google Maps Developers Live videos since I/O. Last week, Josh Livni presented a Google Maps Shortcut on The Maps API Visual Refresh.

And this week, Brendan Kenny did a Maps Garage episode on Exploring Map Data with Crossfilter, where he demonstrates how to use a Google Map as a type of Crossfilter view, so that selections within histograms or graphs influence what is drawn on the map, while interactions with the map drive what is drawn in the other views.

That’s it for this week, have a great weekend and happy mapping!

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

We’re going live from Google I/O

Mano Marks — Thu, 09 May 2013 22:39:00 +0000

[Reposted from the Google Developers Blog]

By Mike Winton, Director of Developer Relations

At Google I/O 2013, we will share the future of our platforms with you. Developers from all over the world are the key innovators of powerful, breakthrough technologies, and that’s why we challenged ourselves to make the Google I/O experience available to every developer, everywhere.

Watch Google I/O live

From the comfort of your own home, office, secret lair, or anywhere you have a reliable Internet connection, you can stream Google I/O May 15-16 live. Brought to you by Google Developers Live (GDL), the Google I/O homepage will become the GDL at I/O live streaming hub starting on May 15th at 9 AM PT (16:00 UTC). From this page, you can:

Stream 4 channels of technical content on your computer, tablet, or phone. You’ll feel like you’re right there in the keynote and session rooms, listening to product announcements straight from the source. Live streaming will run on developers.google.com/io from 9:00 AM PT (16:00 UTC) to 7 PM PT (2:00 UTC) on May 15 and 16.

Watch exclusive interviews with the Googlers behind the latest product announcements. This year, GDL will be on site, broadcasting one-on-one product deep dives, executive interviews, and Sandbox walkthroughs from the GDL stage.

Get the latest news in real-time. We’ll be posting official announcements during I/O. You’ll be able to see the feed on the Google I/O homepage, in the I/O mobile app (coming soon), and on +Google Developers.

Never miss a session. All Google I/O technical sessions will be recorded and posted to GDL and the Google Developers YouTube channel. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for archived session updates.

Live blog the keynote

Grab our live blogging gadget to add the keynote live stream to your own site or blog. Customize the gadget with your site or blog name, live blog alongside real-time Google announcements, and share a dynamic Google I/O experience with your readers. Have questions? For more info, check out our live blogging gadget FAQ.

Get together locally

Experience Google I/O with your local developer community by hosting or attending an I/O Extended event. If you’re hosting, register here and learn how to hold a totally epic event with our handy Organizer Guide. Otherwise, with over 400 sites in 90+ countries, chances are good that there is an I/O Extended event near you. Find an event now!

And before I/O, tune in to Google Developers Live programming to connect with Google engineers, prep for this year’s event, and browse our archived content. For official conference updates, add +Google Developers to your Circles, follow #io13 for big announcements, join the Google I/O community, and keep an eye on the Google I/O site.

Mike Winton founded and leads Google's global Developer Relations organization. He also enjoys spending time with his family and DJing electronic music.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Fab Friday is Directed

Mano Marks — Fri, 03 May 2013 19:16:00 +0000

It’s Friday again. Of course for those of us on Maps Developer Relations, our weekends are filling up with thoughts of Google I/O. OK code demos and slide prep for I/O. More on that soon :-)

I’ve got another video for you. This week I did another Shortcuts episode, Directions and the Google Maps iOS SDK. The title sorta says it all doesn’t it? Showing you how to do an async call to the Google Directions API.

I posted the code on my personal github account.

We’ll have another Maps Developers Live event next week, details TBD, so watch +GoogleMapsAPI for more details.

I’m looking forward to seeing some of you at I/O, and hope the rest of you can catch us on I/O Extended.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Fab Friday is Geotemporal

Mano Marks — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 18:53:00 +0000

Well we’ve made it to Friday and you know what that means, another edition of Fab Friday from Google Maps! Plus, you know, a weekend, rest, relaxation, etc. Not that we’re getting that on the Maps team. No, we’re working hard on preparing for

Google I/O. But in the meantime, we’re keeping Google Developers Live going with some great content.

For instance, check out the latest Shortcuts episode by Chris Broadfoot, Large Data Geotemporal Visualizations with WebGL.

Next week, I’ll be doing a Shortcut on adding driving directions to the Google Maps SDK for iOS using the Google Directions API.

That’s all for this week, see you next time. And happy mapping!

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Map of the Week: Isuzu Trail View

Mano Marks — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000

Map of the Week: Isuzu Trail View

Why we like it: Isuzu Trail View is a great use of Custom Street View Panoramas to create an immersive experience.

Built to showcase the capabilities of the Isuzu KB in the South African market, the site creates an off-road Street View experience through one of four trails mapped by driving a KB.

Users can visit the trails using the custom Street View images collected by Isuzu, or through a Google Map in Satellite mode.

This is a powerful demonstration of the use of custom panoramas in conjunction with Maps.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Fab Friday is Geolocated

Mano Marks — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000

Happy Friday everyone! This week, we have another video for you, and some updates!

This week, I did another Shortcuts episode, Geocoding and the Google Maps iOS SDK .

I showed you how to do a call to our Google Geocoding API web service and place it on a map in iOS. The code is available on my Github account.

Speaking of iOS, this week we launched the latest version of the Google Maps SDK for iOS, version 1.2. Check out our +GoogleMapsAPI post for more details.

This week we also updated our JavaScript samples pages. When you click on a sample, it shows you the code right there. And by the way, our team has put in has created more than 100 samples to show off various aspects of the API.

That should make the samples easier to get up and running.

That’s it for this week, have a good weekend and happy mapping.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Map of the Week: Genève transit simulator

Mano Marks — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000

Map of the Week: Genève transit simulator

Why we like it: The Genève transit simulator uses Google Maps to simulate the movement of the various transit networks run by TPG in Genève (Geneva).

The map uses Symbols on Polylines to display the predicted motion of the tram or bus. It uses a ‘mouseover’ event on each of the markers to open an div element displaying more information.

The map also lets you view the map with the Stamen Watercolor map tiles using an ImageMapType.

This map was produced during the Urban Data Challenge by Robert Ille. It’s a nice demonstration of the power of our Symbols on Polylines and the power of public data in conjunction with maps.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Fab Friday is Located

Mano Marks — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 18:55:00 +0000

It’s Friday everyone, and in California it’s turning into spring. Warm, longer days make for fun outdoor adventures during the day, and cozy nights making maps. OK, seriously, get out there and have some fun.

Here’s a video to warm up your nights. In this Shortcut, Paul Saxman shows you how to quickly take data from Google Drive and load it onto your Android app that uses Google Maps Android API V2. He also put the code up on github so you can quickly get started.

Next week, I’m going to be doing a Shortcut on incorporating the Google Geocoding API into an iOS app that uses the Google Maps SDK for iOS. Please join me on Tuesday.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Posted by Mano Marks, Google Maps Developer Relations Team

Map of the Week: Zomato

Mano Marks — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 21:26:00 +0000

Map of the Week: Zomato

Why we like it: Zomato has a nice new App that uses the Google Maps SDK for iOS.

The Zomato Restaurant Finder app “gives you restaurant recommendations around you and lets you look at menus, pictures and maps for 90,000 restaurants in India, United Kingdom, UAE, Philippines, South Africa, Qatar and Sri Lanka.” Its simple interface gives you a map built in to each restaurant page, and also opens up a more detailed full map as necessary.

The interface uses a custom icon on the marker to represent the restaurant instead of the default marker. And for Directions, it uses the Google Maps URL Scheme to open the Google Maps app if it is installed, or maps.google.com if it isn’t.

Zomato also has nice web and Android apps as well.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Map of the Week: OpenSignal

Mano Marks — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:46:00 +0000

Map of the Week: OpenSignal Web and Android apps.

Why we like it: OpenSignal collects stats on cell and wifi networks around the world through it’s Android App. Users of the Android app pass anonymous reports to OpenSignal on the signal strength that they detect. That data is then compiled into heatmaps which are overlayed on top of a Google Map using an ImageMapType.

On Android, OpenSignal uses the Google Maps Android API V2. Heatmaps are overlaid on the Map with a TileOverlay.

Users can also see their local cell tower or wifi routers.

This is a innovative use of Google Maps to show useful information to the user.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Fab Friday Says Hello

Mano Marks — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 22:07:00 +0000

It’s Friday, and the week, and month, are almost over. Time for the weekend celebrations, and some map coding, to begin!

This week, I have a couple of videos for you. First up, we have the latest Google Maps Garage episode, Raster Data For Your Mobile Maps. Josh Livni and Paul Saxman explore adding map tiles from a WMS service to your Android app using the Google Maps Android API V2.

This week, I also did a Google Maps Shortcuts episode, Build Your First Google Maps iOS App. In it, I show you how to get quickly up and running using the hellomap-ios project on github.

Have a good weekend and happy mapping!

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Map of the Week: Cambridge Cluster Map

Mano Marks — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 17:48:00 +0000

Map of the Week: Cambridge Cluster Map

Why we like it: The Cambridge Cluster Map is a simple, visually appealing map that shows off the power of using a map to make a meaningful data visualization. According to their site, “The Map is designed to open the Cambridge technology cluster to the world. Through visualisations, reports and directories the Map paints a vivid picture of the business community that’s grown up over forty years.“

The map uses Circles, custom icons, InfoWindows, and Styled Maps to show data in various data sets, including fast growing companies, billion dollar companies, spinouts from Cambridge University, and much more.

One interesting feature is the use of circles, which the map places under a marker to show the amount of revenue generated in that location. The bigger the circle, the bigger the revenue.

The custom icons serve double purpose, showing both the number of employes and the kind of building, with multiple companies or a single one.

All in all a beautiful map which also manages to convey a lot of information.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Kick-start Your Fab Friday!

Mano Marks — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 19:29:00 +0000

Another great week, another great Friday.

First in news from yesterday, the first imagery from the latest NASA LDCM satellite, known as Landsat 8, started coming in. I’m really excited since I got to watch the launch. I can’t wait for the imagery to start showing up in Google Earth and Maps.

This week, we have another great Google Maps Shortcut video and some code from Chris Broadfoot, Kick-start Google Maps Android API v2 Development. Chris walks you through how to quickly get started with developing an app using the Google Maps Android API.

And his hellomap code can be found on github.

Next week, we have Paul Saxman and Josh Livni presenting the latest Google Maps Garage, Raster Data For Your Mobile Maps.

A few weeks ago, I told you about Luke Mahe’s Mercator Puzzle. Well, Vasile Cotovanu has ported it for Swiss cantons puzzle. And he has posted his code on github.

Nice work Vasile!

I hope you have a great weekend. See you next week!

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Map of the Week: #FindTheEggs by Tesco

Mano Marks — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 18:37:00 +0000

Map of the Week: #FindTheEggs

Why we like it: #FindTheEggs is a fun use of the Google Maps API Street View Service.

Users search around their neighborhood to find eggs, which are created using Markers.

There’s a nicely styled inset map to help you find them, called Eggdar:

When you click an egg, you get an animation of it opening:

If you get all three eggs, you get a prize which you can redeem in store or online. Provided you’re a UK resident :-).

All in all a fun game that makes a nice promotion for Tesco.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Fab Friday is Quaking

Mano Marks — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 19:21:00 +0000

It’s time to finish another great week with Fab Friday!

On Wednesday, the Google Earth Outreach announced the Outreach Developer Grants. It’s a great opportunity to do good for the world, so check it out.

On Tuesday, I recorded another Google Maps Developers Shortcut, Earthquakes on the Move, where I talked about parsing GeoJSON from the US Geological Survey to display earthquakes on the Google Maps SDK for iOS.

Next week Chris Broadfoot will show you how to kick-start Google Maps Android API v2 Development. If you’re an Android developer who wants to work with the new Google Maps API, or a Maps developer who wants to make the move to Android, this is the GDL for you.

Have a great weekend, and see you next week!

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Make a map that will change the world with Google Earth Outreach Developer Grants

Mano Marks — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 17:44:00 +0000

Cross posted from the Google Maps Blog

For the third year, I’m excited to announce the call for 2013 Google Earth Outreach Developer Grants applications is now open. Google Earth Outreach Developer Grants provide funding to nonprofit organizations ranging between $10,000 and $20,000 on average to build a map that will help them accomplish their mission, be it around environmental issues, humanitarian causes, disaster relief prevention, or health issues. If your nonprofit has a great idea for a map that can change the world, apply for a 2013 Google Earth Outreach Developer Grant today.

This year, we checked in with our 2011 Developer Grantees to learn about the impact their maps had on each nonprofit’s overall mission one year after the launch of the map. We were proud of the many achievements of the nonprofits’ work. Here are some of my favorite examples:

WWF & Eyes on the Forest mapped deforestation rates and wildlife habitat in Sumatra.

WWF & Eyes on the Forest created a map to showcase deforestation in Sumatra. With the Google Maps Engine map as part of their “Don’t Flush Tiger Forests” campaign, they convinced 17 out of 20 US retailers to stop buying toilet paper from companies cutting down intact hardwood rainforests and critical tiger habitat in Sumatra.

The HALO Trust mapped their minefield clearance work in a Google Earth Tour

The HALO Trust clears minefields in previously war-torn regions around the world, including Angola, Afghanistan and Cambodia. Upon the launch of their Google Earth tours designed to raise awareness about their work, they saw the most traffic to their website over the entire calendar year.

iNaturalist taps into citizen scientists who submit research-grade species observations to a global map using Android devices and iPhones

iNaturalist.org’s Android app, designed to collect species observations from around the world from citizen scientists, has been installed on over 2000 Android devices. The number of scientific-grade research observations has more than quadrupled.

We look forward to hearing about the impacts of our 2012 Developer Grantees’ maps as they are launched in coming months. Good luck to nonprofits who apply to our 2013 Google Earth Outreach Developer Grants, and if you are a nonprofit with a great idea for a map, apply for a grant!

Posted by Tanya Birch, Google Earth Outreach

An update on the Geocoding API V2 deprecation

Mano Marks — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:00:00 +0000

In March 2010, we released the Geocoding API V3 web service, adding features such as a correctness measure and recommended viewports, to give developers more tools for creating amazing mapping applications. At that time, we also announced our intention to shut down V2 of the API in March 2013.

We’re hearing from many developers that they need more time for the transition to the Geocoding API V3. So, we’re extending the deprecation timeline for V2 by six months. This means the Geocoding API V2 will continue to work until September 8, 2013 and we will shut the API off on that date. If you’re a developer and have questions about migrating existing applications to Geocoding API V3, please see our handy upgrade guide for help.

Today we’re also reducing the limit on Geocoding API V2 from 15,000 requests per day to 2,500 requests per day, which is equivalent to the daily limit on the Geocoding API V3. If you are affected by this limit reduction and require more geocoding quota, please contact our sales team.

If you have questions about these changes, Google and the broader Google Maps developer community can help. Please tag your question with the “google-geocoding-api” tag on Stack Overflow.

Maps for Business customers will be unaffected by this change and will continue to be subject to their purchased limits.

Posted by Ken Hoetmer, Product Manager, Google Maps API

Fab Friday is the Story

Mano Marks — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:00:00 +0000

It’s Friday again, and I’m really ready for the weekend, let me tell you! It’ll give me some time to develop some mapping ideas I have, mostly involving earthquake feeds.

Speaking of which, I’ll be doing another Google Maps Developer Shortcuts next Tuesday on loading JSON feeds into an iOS map using the Google Maps SDK for iOS. Join me at 10am Pacific.

On Tuesday I did a Shortcut on using Storyboards with the Google Maps SDK for iOS. Check it out:

Lastly, I spoke this week at GDG Silicon Valley on Google Maps Mobile APIs. Here are my slides from the event.

Have a great weekend!

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations team

Map of the Week: DTS Campus Map

Mano Marks — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 20:00:00 +0000

Map of the Week: Dallas Theological Seminary Campus Map

Why we like it: The DTS campus map takes advantage of the Google Maps API 45° imagery to display the campus in a unique way. The map creates extruded shapes for the buildings, making a polygon for each wall of the building and of the roof. And by using polygons, it was easy for the developer to add in infowindows as well.

Even more impressive, when you rotate the image, the map redraws the buildings so they stay in the correct orientation.

This map is an excellent example of simply making the Google Maps experience even better.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations team

Fab Friday is Taking a Shortcut

Mano Marks — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 23:21:00 +0000

Fab Friday is back, and raring to go. I have a couple of videos for you today, but first a couple of announcements.

On Tuesday, Android Play Services launched an update, which included new features in the Google Maps Android API v2. Circles, new Polygon features, an OnMyLocationChangeListener, and more than 20 bug fixes top the list of changes.

Remember the Mercator Puzzle my colleague Luke Mahe wrote a few weeks ago? Well, he updated it, added more countries and randomized which ones show up in the puzzle. Now it’s on More than a Map, and looking good!

Yesterday, for the premiere episode of Google Maps Developer Shortcuts, Paul Saxman shared some tips and techniques for getting data in a Google Drive Spreadsheet onto a Google Map, using a little bit of Apps Script and touch of Javascript. Here’s the video:

Finally, last week Paul and I did a Maps Developers Live session on the latest version of the Google Maps API SDK for iOS. It’s gotten a lot of views, hopefully you’ll like it too:

Have a great weekend and see you next week!

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations

Map of the Week: Roadtrippers

Mano Marks — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Map of the Week: Roadtrippers

Why we like it: Roadtrippers bills itself as a “simple and intuitive road trip planner that helps you discover, plan and book the best places and experiences along your way, curated by local experts and travel writers” and their approach sure works.

Roadtrippers lets you build itineraries within the US through a simple map interface, and store them on their site.

Their interfaces uses the Autocomplete feature of the Places Library and the Directions Service to let you create multi-waypoint trips, as well as calculate gas mileage and time the drive would take.

They also let you search for places along the way that would be good to visit.

They also have great guides for finding areas to visit.

This combination of features makes it a great site to plan your travel.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Map of the Week: Snapette

Mano Marks — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 18:57:00 +0000

Map of the Week: Snapette

Why we like it: Snapette is “the fashionable shopper’s handy best friend. Our easy-to-use mobile app is the perfect shopping tool to help you find designer fashion currently in stores near you.” With both a website for browsing fashion in specific shops, and mobile apps that let you view what’s around you, it is a great match of shopping and maps.

On Android, Snapette uses the new Google Maps Android SDK V2 to show stores where a particular product is available.

And you can click on an individual store and get driving directions.

The integration of the new Android SDK lets you tilt and turn the map to get a better sense of distance.

Overall, it’s a great shopping experience, and a great mapping experience.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Google Places API Developer Challenge Winners Announced

Mano Marks — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 18:00:00 +0000

We’re happy to announce the winners of the Google Places API Developer Challenge, an event that brought together 87 developers from 27 countries around the world to build applications that address some of the most pressing needs facing our communities. The winning apps address important community issues such as emergency response, homelessness, public transport and environmental impact. Many exciting prizes await these talented developers, whom we look forward to seeing later this year at Google I/O.

Challenge participants were encouraged by civic leaders to combine the Google Places API with one or more municipal data sets to create an application that helps improve their communities. You can check out the applications gallery to see the full suite of incredible applications submitted by developers around the globe, then continue reading to see how the four winning developers and three runners-up succeeded in meeting the goals of the challenge!

And the winners are...

Judges’ Choice Awards:

Enchentes.org by Jonathan Kraemer (Brazil)
Enchentes.org is an application that helps flood victims find shelter and other resources. Users can see the flooded areas on different river levels to plan evacuation routes, and determine safe routes to supermarkets, hospitals and shelters. In the future, the application may allow users to register issues like car accidents, falling trees blocking streets and other road blockages to assist with safe route planning. View the demo video.

Homeless REACH by Jim Horner (United States)
The Homeless REACH platform allows anyone to quickly find up-to-date, real-time information on available shelters and services within a selectable radius of their current location or from any address. Designed for caregivers, the application allows individuals to quickly and accurately find resources to aid in the care of the homeless. View the demo video.

TTC Pass by Christian Muise (Canada)
TTC Pass is a website that allows for collaborative editing of the locations for purchasing various transit fares in the city of Toronto. Visitors can search for specific types of transit passes, update the availability of passes at a specific location, or add new locations to the data. View the demo video.

We’d also like to recognize the runners up, who submitted some amazing apps:

CrosscutUSA by CrosscutUSA (United States) - View the demo video.
Save the Rain by Mark Laudon (Canada) - View the demo video.
GrowShare by William Mantegna (United States) - View the demo video.

People’s Choice Award:

GeoLanka by Bhagya Silva (Sri Lanka)
Over the past years, the property prices of Sri Lanka have risen to an all-time high. One of the primary reasons is that there is no consolidated way to discover values of properties that are for sale around any place. GeoLanka brings together all the leading property sales/rental websites in Sri Lanka to one view where the general public can go and view the properties for sale/rent. View the demo video.

We’d like to thank all of the developers who participated in this challenge for contributing their great ideas and hard work! We discovered some great examples of simple, useful, and powerful applications that have the potential to really improve local communities and cities, and the lives of the people that live there.

For more information on the Geo APIs, please visit: https://developers.google.com/maps/

Posted by Rob Gray, Head of Product Marketing, Google Maps for Business

Map of the Week: Street Ready

Mano Marks — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 19:30:00 +0000

Map of the Week: Street Ready, by Converse and Foot Locker

Why we like it: Street Ready is a cool app that uses the Google Maps API Street View service to create a fun game in the streets of London, Paris, and Milan.

As you move around the game, you see animated Markers. The goal is to navigate around each city to reach the markers, which then transform into shoe icons. Collect them all to complete the level.

Some of the icons turn into a pair of headphones, which give you a prize of downloadable music.

I haven’t gotten all the way through so maybe there are other prizes as well. Check it out, listen to some tunes, and see if you can get a high score by getting through a level really fast.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Fab Friday is Spherical

Mano Marks — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 21:57:00 +0000

We’ve made it to Friday once again, and once again we’ve got a video for you.

But first, we just added draggable polygons to the Google Maps API. All you have to do is set draggable: true in PolygonOptions. My team member, Luke Mahe released a cool puzzle that demonstrates moving the polygons around map. And, when you do, the polygon will keep size and shape respective to the projection. Which means, when you move the polygon it may appear to grow or shrink depending on where it is on the map.

This week, Chris Broadfoot did a Google Maps Developers Live session: Photo Spheres and Street Views. He explains how to go from a Photo Sphere taken with an Android Jelly Bean 4.2 device to a custom Street View panorama. You can contribute Photo Spheres to Google’s Street View directly, or you can create a pano with the Google Maps API right away. Check out the video here:

In upcoming events, there’s a great hack event in San Francisco called EcoHack, February 22-23. EcoHack is about using technology to improve and better understand our natural environment. Several Googlers will be there, including Maps Developer Relations’ own Josh Livni. Check it, help the planet, and have fun coding.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Map of the Week: Side-by-Side Router

Mano Marks — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 22:36:00 +0000

Map of the Week: Side-by-Side Router: Using Google’s API, Michael Schade - a contributor to Arlington, Virginia-based research-and-development startup Mobility Lab - has created the Side-By-Side Router, a tool that lets you compare driving, walking, biking, and transit options.

Why We Like It: Side-by-Side Router allows you to easily compare routes between two locations using the Google Maps API Directions Service. When you select a start and end location, it shows you all four travel modes that Google Directions provides, driving, walking, transit, and bicycling.

Each route is colored differently. Using Symbols to put arrows on the Polylines, it shows you the direction of travel. And to encourage you to be green, it uses Styled Maps to display a nice pale green background. It also uses simplified road geometry, and turns off neighborhoods and airports to declutter the map.

All in all, this is a nice use of the Google Maps API to present a complex set of data in an attractive and easily understood way.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Fab Friday is Going North

Mano Marks — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 00:43:00 +0000

Congratulations, you’ve gotten through another week and made it to Fab Friday! I hope you’re as excited as I am :-). I’ve got a few videos, as I always do. But first, be sure to check out next week’s Google Maps Developers Live event next Wednesday with Chris Broadfoot talking about Photo Sphere and Street View.

This week, Brendan Kenny and Paul Saxman talked about High-performance Geospatial Visualizations using WebGL:

Last week, we released two videos on Google Santa Tracker, one for Android and one for Chrome:

Lastly, on February 5th, Paul Saxman will be in Toronto for the Samsung Developers Office Hours, where he’ll be talking about Mobile Mapping with the new Google Maps Android API v2. If you get a chance, go see him talk about this exciting new SDK.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Map of the Week: Cycling the Alps

Mano Marks — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 20:11:00 +0000

Map of the Week: Cycling the Alps (web) (Android) (Chrome Web Store)

Why we like it: Cycling the Alps has it all: Street View, Earth View, a website, an Android app, a Chrome App, terrain, satellite and street maps. Let’s start with the web.

Using the Google Maps API V3, Cycling the Alps gives you a great view of the Alps and the passes you can use to cycle through it.

Click on a route, and you’re presented with a number of options:

Including different ways to explore it in Street Tour, 3D Tour, and elevation Profile.

If you select a Street Tour, it will present a series of Street View images along the route. You can select either direction that’s available.

The 3D Tour mode uses the Earth API to show you the route, as does Explore in 3D. In the Android app, it launches Google Earth with an intent that includes the KML tour:

The app also uses the new Google Maps Android API V2, giving it easy access to the most modern Google Maps, including the street maps, satellite imagery, and terrain:

There’s so much more to mention, and we can’t cover it all, but we can mention one last feature: the Profile view which uses the Elevation Service of the Maps API to show an elevation profile of the route:

In short, Cycling the Alps is a great way to see many of the possible uses of the Google Maps API in all its different forms.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Fab Friday is in the New Year

Mano Marks — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 23:45:00 +0000

Hi and welcome to the first Fab Friday of the new year! I had a wonderful vacation and now I’m raring to go!

First up, we have a couple of recent Google Maps Garage videos. Last week, Brendan Kenny and Paul Saxman did Mapmaking Excellence with Chrome DevTools where they shared their techniques for using the DevTools to save time and sanity.

And this week, Paul and I did Pushing the Pin Beyond the Limit where we discussed various Google Maps API Utility Libraries for managing and extending Markers.

Finally, a note that Brendan Kenny and I will be presenting Mapping Hidden Stories at Strata in February, and if you’re attending, we hope to see you there. And of course, we'll provide an overview of what we present during one of the subsequent installments of Google Maps Garage.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations team

Fab Friday is Mobile

Mano Marks — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 19:49:00 +0000

Wow, miss a week a whole lot happens! Last week we launched

This week we also announced the Google Maps on iOS and the Google Maps SDK for iOS.

There were also two Google Maps Developers Live events. Last week, Chris Broadfoot sat down with the Places API team, Justin Chu, Marcelo Camelo, and Andrew Bennetts, to talk about Radar Search and Photos. Check it out:

And Tuesday, Paul Saxman and I discussed basic and advanced techniques for loading data into a Google Map using JSON and Esri Shapefiles, creating map visualizations for tweaking data, and exporting data once you're happy with it.

The code from my demo is in our Google Code repository here. Paul will post his code soon.

Posted by Mano Marks, Google Maps Developer Relations team

Map of the Week: London Typographica

Mano Marks — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 21:45:00 +0000

Map of the Week: London Typographica
Why we like it: London Typographica showcases crowdsourced images of lettering and typefaces around London. It uses Styled Maps to both provide a clean background to display their markers and to allow people to navigate to areas they may want to explore.

Markers drop onto the map using Marker animation, the movement capturing our attention. Clicking on a marker doesn’t open an InfoWindow, but rather brings in a side panel that overlays on top of the left side of the map.

London Typographica is an excellent way for type and lettering enthusiasts to explore London and find their way around, and a great way to use the Google Maps API.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations

Building a better map of Europe, and Report a Problem in API maps

Mano Marks — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 00:05:00 +0000

More than 800,000 web sites use the Google Maps API to create compelling location-rich applications, including travel guides, real estate portals, engaging data visualizations, and many more. To help ensure that the maps behind these applications are best in class, the Google Maps team works constantly to ensure that our geographic data is comprehensive and accurate. As part of this ongoing effort, we’re happy to announce we’ve just released updated maps for 10 countries and regions in Europe: Andorra, Bulgaria, Estonia, Gibraltar, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. These new maps will appear immediately on all Google Maps API sites, with no code changes required.

Today’s update is part of a project called Ground Truth that began in 2008. Through this initiative, we acquire high-quality map data from authoritative sources around the world and then apply a mix of advanced algorithms, supplemental data (including satellite, aerial and Street View imagery), and human input to create a map that corresponds as closely as possible to the real-world facts that you’d find if you were to visit that location.

For example, this update adds a new 70-km section of Bulgaria’s Trakiya motorway, which opened recently to drivers but hasn’t been reflected on most maps of the region until now.

In addition to updating our map data, we’ve also enabled the “Report a problem” tool in the API for each of the 40+ countries where this tool is available on the consumer version of Google Maps. Through this tool, any visitor to a Google Maps API V3 site can now submit corrections and feedback directly to Google, just as they might on maps.google.com. We review and verify all user feedback and then publish any appropriate corrections -- often within just a few minutes or hours of our review. The launch of the “Report a problem” tool in the Maps API allows the Google Maps team to increase the accuracy of our maps -- and provide quick and targeted updates to both developers and consumers -- without requiring any work from the owners of sites that use our API.

We hope these more comprehensive and accurate maps of Europe will enable Google Maps API developers to further enhance their applications (or create entirely new ones) from Barcelona and Budapest to Bratislava and beyond!

Posted by Ken Hoetmer, Google Maps API Product Manager

Fab Friday is Fantastic

Mano Marks — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 21:52:00 +0000

It’s Friday again. Getting ready for the weekend? I know I am. I’m thinking about what mapping project to do over the weekend.

If you’re in the same situation, this video might be helpful. On Wednesday I did another Google Maps Garage. In this one, I walked through some common errors that crop up in Google Maps Apps when loading in JSON objects. I also give out a tip on using Google Earth to gather latitude and longitude for your app.

Regular Fab Friday readers know I am a fan of video game maps. Well, I am also a fan of fantasy maps. And I recently stumbled on this map of the novel Legends of Nuvia: The Soul of Kaesh by Owen Borseth which uses the Google Maps API to show a map of the world of Nuvia.

I like it as a simple example of using a Custom Map Type. In this case, it uses an Image Map Type, and uses tiles created for that purpose.

Posted by Mano Marks, Google Maps Developer Relations team

Map of the Week: Instant Street View

Mano Marks — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Map of the Week: Instant Google Street View
Why we like it: Instant Google Street View starts clean, with a simple search box.

As Google, we find this approach very appealing.

As you type, it rapidly updates the page with images from Google Street View...

...until you get where you want to see.

Instant Street View uses the Google Places Library Autocomplete Service to quickly get the location you’re looking for. It uses the Street View Service to display the Street View panoramas. And when you’ve found what you want to look at, you share it via your favorite social media or get a quick map view:

Most of all, we love that it’s fast. So get out there and share some great images from Instant Street View.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations

Fab Friday is Thankful

Mano Marks — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 17:00:00 +0000

Yesterday was Thanksgiving in the US. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for the wonderful time with my friends and family. And I am thankful that I get to work with the best group of developers in the world every day. That’s you, Google Maps developer. I truly enjoy working with you. Thank you for giving me the best job in the world.

And to give back a little, I have a video for you! It might be really helpful if you, like many developers, are going to relax and try something new or revive an old project over the weekend.

On Tuesday, Brendan Kenny and I did the first in a series of episodes on Google Developers Live called Google Maps Garage. At the Garage, we get into the nuts and bolts of creating Google Maps applications. In Tuesday’s episode, we focused on common mistakes and road bumps that people run into when making Maps applications, including things like common CSS errors, not setting the sensor parameter in the bootstrap call, and more. Take a look.

Next week, I’m doing it again! There’ll be another Google Maps Garage event next week on Wednesday at 14:00 Pacific. I’ll be diving into some more practical implementation details on using the Google Maps API.

Have a great weekend, and to the US developers out there, Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted by Mano Marks, Google Maps Developer Relations Team

Fab Friday is Stylin’

Mano Marks — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 04:38:00 +0000

I’m back from Sydney and excited about the upcoming US Thanksgiving Holiday. Of course I’ll probably spend some of the weekend coding and making maps. If you’re like me, I think you’ll enjoy the video I have to share with you as inspiration for your work.

Yesterday, Paul Saxman did a special Maps Developer Live session Mapping with Style, where he discussed how he designed a few of his favorite map styles, and shared a few of his tools and techniques for designing maps for visualizations.

Next Tuesday at 10 am Pacific Time, Brendan Kenny and I will be doing the first installment of Google Maps Garage, where we discuss practical aspects of developing Google Maps applications. In this episode, we will delve into common mistakes people make in developing Maps applications.

Finally, I should note for our French Maps fans that we added France to the Traffic Layer in the Maps API.

To see if traffic is available in your country, you can check our Maps coverage spreadsheet.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations team

Fab Friday is in Sydney

Mano Marks — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 23:30:00 +0000

I’m at the Google office in Sydney, meeting with Engineers and attending the Geo for Good event. I love being in Sydney, it’s a great city. I got mixed up on the time zones, and realized that I was writing a post on Friday in Sydney but it’ll be published on Friday in California. I should have used the Google Time Zone API. Or, you know, Google Calendar.

This week I have a video for you, and some slides. First the video.

Last Friday, Paul Saxman did a Google Maps Developers Live session, Google Maps Developers Live: Ships, Polylines, Symbols, Oh My!, continuing from the previous session he had done with Brendan Kenny, Visualizing Data with the Google Maps API: A Journey of 245k Points.

Here’s the video:

On Tuesday, I presented at Geo for Good Down Under, a Google Earth Outreach event. My session was New Advanced Features of the Google Maps API, and I posted my slides and links to my demos.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Announcing the winners of 2012 Google Earth Outreach Developer Grants

Mano Marks — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 16:43:00 +0000

In 2011, Google Earth Outreach launched a new program to fund nonprofits that want to create cutting-edge maps for public good. Today, we’re excited to announce the winners of the 2012 Google Earth Outreach Developer Grants program. We’ve selected eight nonprofit organizations, listed below, that have presented a compelling ideas for a new map or mapping technology that will make a positive impact on the world. Each winner received a grant to support the technical development of their map. The winners include:

Organization*	Idea
The Royal Canadian Geographical Society	A Developing World: a Maps API application containing UN Human Development Index data
Clinton Health Access Initiative	Getting to Zero in Southern Africa: A Temporal and Spatial Map of Malaria Progress
SamSamWater Foundation	Rainwater Harvesting Tool: Calculate Your Drinking Water using Google Maps
Wild South	Cherokee Trails: Google Earth tours, a map, and an Android app documenting Cherokee Indian geography and the struggle of the Cherokee to remain in their homeland.
Internews	Change of States Map: a Maps API application documenting local impacts and adaptations to climate change in the US.
Vanishing Worlds Foundation / World Oral Literature Project / Language Landscape	Language Landscape: an Extensible Model for Mapping Language Dynamics
the Jane Goodall Institute	Community-based Forest & Wildlife Monitoring: Scaling Up and Sharing Dynamically Generated Maps
Atlantic Public Media	Monarch Migration: a Google Earth Tour

Work is already in progress on each of the projects, so check back on our Developer Grants page in the coming months to see these maps come to life, and to explore maps created by last year’s grantees.

Watch this video to see an example of a Google Earth Tour made possible by the 2011 Developer Grants program is the Arctic Tern Migration, created by the Atlantic Public Media.

We’re very excited about the organizations that were funded this year, and we wish to thank these hardworking organizations who are improving conditions for people and the planet.

Posted by Tanya Birch, Google Earth Outreach

*These organizations were funded through the Google Inc. Charitable Giving Fund at the Tides Foundation.

A better view of natural geography through the Maps API

Mano Marks — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 18:11:00 +0000

This blog post was cross-posted from the Google Lat Long post from Friday. We have however added in some information for developers.

When you look at Google Maps, we want you to see the most comprehensive, accurate and easy-to-understand representation of the entire world. Friday, we unveiled some visual improvements to the basemap that will help enable that goal, and for Maps API Developers we’ve added in some selectors to help you style this experience how you like.

Google Maps now clearly shows terrain, color gradations to depict vegetation, and labels for natural land formations. This enriched visual data allows you to quickly and easily see where the great forests, deserts, and mountain ranges around the world begin and end. It also conveys how natural land formations can impact where, how and why man-made developments like urban cities, dams and bridges are made.

For example, here’s how Southern Asia appeared before terrain and vegetation information was added:

And on the improved map below, you can now clearly see the dry deserts of Pakistan, the rocky Himalayas, and the rich jungles of Laos.

Another great example is the area north of Vancouver, Canada. Here’s how it appeared before:

And here’s the same area that now accurately shows the mountainous and rocky terrain in that area, immediately providing insight into why cities and settlements have been developed further south, rather than in the hilly landscape.

In addition to terrain and vegetation information, labels for large natural features are also now available when searching on Google Maps. Ever wonder where the Amazon Basin is? A previous search on Google Maps provided the below result:

But now, helpful labels provide more clarity:

So when you search Google Maps for dozens of natural land formations like the Gobi Desert,Melville Peninsula, or Nullarbor Plain, you’ll see improved, well-labeled results.

Developers using the Google Maps API may want to change the look and feel of the terrain and land cover. For instance, you might want to mute the color of the land cover.

So we’ve added in two new selectors that help you style these additions to maps, landscape.natural.landcover and landscape.natural.terrain. These selectors allow you to style these features howow you like, so that you can make it match the look and feel that you’re going for on your web site. For more information on map styles, check out our Styled Maps documentation, and head over the Styled Maps Wizard to play with the new selectors.

We hope this new visual information literally provides you with a more comprehensive and accurate lay of the land, and comes in handy whether you’re planning a trip or just browsing the map. From lush rolling hills to expansive deserts, just click and explore!

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Fab Friday is Back

Mano Marks — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 18:12:00 +0000

After a one week hiatus, Fab Friday is back, and let me tell you, I missed you. To celebrate, I brought you something...two more videos!

Last week, Paul Saxman and I did a roundup of recent Google Maps API announcements, including the release of the Google Maps Time Zones API and the inclusion of traffic information in driving directions. Here’s the video:

This week, Paul teamed up with Brendan Kenny for a Maps Developer Live event: Visualizing Data with the Google Maps API: A Journey of 245k Points. They looked at a really interesting data set of digitized ships logs from the 18th and 19th centuries. The results, entirely rendered in the browser, are beautiful and useful.

Check out the video:

Speaking of videos, here’s our our official playlist of Google Maps Developers Live events:

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Two new ways to add location intelligence to your apps

Mano Marks — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 18:26:00 +0000

Cross-posted from yesterday's post to the Google Enterprise Blog, where we announced two new enterprise features.

Businesses have a lot of moving parts – sometimes quite literally. Map-based information is useful for any business that relies on a fleet of vehicles, employees who travel, or other mobile resources. To help organizations build their own location-enabled applications, we're launching two new APIs:

Google Maps Tracks API allows an organization to build applications that can store, display and analyze GPS data on a map. The API is built on top of Google’s reliable cloud infrastructure and offers specialized features such as geo-fencing.

Google Maps Geolocation API enables an application or device to determine its own location without the use of GPS by looking up the locations of nearby wifi access points and cell towers. By limiting GPS usage, a device can save battery life and work indoors or in remote areas.

The Google Maps Tracks and Geolocation APIs allow an organization to develop customized location-based applications to meet specific business needs. The Google Maps Tracks API, for example, can provide a fleet management company with tools for analyzing data from past and present deliveries. By seeing routing information on a familiar Google Map, they can determine which routes can save time and fuel. Using the Google Maps Geolocation API, the fleet management company can equip its vehicles with advanced positioning capabilities. Even in dense city blocks where GPS dropout is common, a dispatcher can still locate its fleet.

The Google Maps Tracks API also allows businesses to take advantage of a technique called geo-fencing, where a company can create a virtual region on a map to notify a device when it enters or exits a predefined area. For example, the same fleet management company could set up notifications that would automatically alert drivers whenever they were 10 miles outside their delivery territory and need to turn around. Automated notifications could reduce dependence on a central dispatcher, allowing the delivery company to use their employees more efficiently.

Today, more than 800,000 developers worldwide use Google Maps APIs to create their own applications based on the unique capabilities of Google Maps. With the launch of Google Maps Tracks API and Google Maps Geolocation API, companies can use real-time location-based information to make their operation run more smoothly and efficiently.

Posted by Nabil Naghdy, Google Maps Product Manager

Fab Friday is More

Mano Marks — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 21:19:00 +0000

Once again, Friday rolls around and it’s time for some Fab...Friday that is.

This week, we have another video for you. On Monday, Paul Saxman sat down with Luke Mahe and Chris Broadfoot, who were visiting Mountain View from Sydney, to discuss The Inner Awesomeness of More Than a Map, a new site that launched last week, showcasing the power of the Google Maps API. Luke and Chris discussed building the site and showed off some of the great samples.

Next week, Paul and I will review some of the recent launches and things you might have missed in the Google Maps API in our Maps API Round-Up.

And if you’re in Portland this weekend, Josh Livni and I will be at State of the Map US, and WhereCamp PDX. Hope to see you there!

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations team