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Posts Tagged ‘Mapping Service’

Bing Maps Go Silverlight

Microsoft just announced that it is taking the Bing Maps Sliverlight version out of beta and making it the default version for Bing Maps. The Bing Team is rolling this change out slowly. Within a few weeks, all users in the U.S. will see the Silverlight maps by default. The AJAX site will continue to work for the time being and users will be able to switch back and forth between the two version. The Silverlight version is a major step forward for Bing Maps and, in many respects, puts it ahead of Google Maps in terms of features and usability.

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In addition to this change, Microsoft also announced two new products for Bing Maps: Destination Maps and an events app.

Silverlight allows the Bing Maps team to make the user experience far more fluid than Google currently can with its AJAX-driven mapping service. The Silverlight version of Bing Maps is also the only way to access Microsoft’s Streetside images, the company’s version of Google’s Street View. Because it runs on Silverlight, Streetside offers a very fluid way of moving around the streets of the cities in the U.S. and Canada that the service currently supports. The Silverlight version of Bing Maps also allows users to seamlessly switch between maps, satellite images and highly detailed aerial photos. In addition, the Bing Maps Silverlight version also makes it easy to browse through user-generated PhotoSynth images.

Finding Treasure – Destination Maps

Destination Maps are an interesting addition to the Bing Maps Apps. With this application, you can quickly create a map of driving directions to a specific place to give to your friends. The interesting feature here is that you can choose different map types, all of which display simplified and easy-to-read maps: American, European, Sketchy and Treasure, which looks like a pirate map.

Events

Bing’s new Local Events application displays the locations of local events on the map. The application allows you to filter events by type (concert, theater, museum. etc.) and date. Currently, the selection of events in the application’s index seems a bit limited.

Bing Maps vs. Google Maps

Google, however, still offers a couple of features that Bing Maps doesn’t offer. With Place Pages, for example, Google offers a better local search experience. Google also offers slightly better maps, especially if you are planning to walk or to take public transport.

If anything, though, the current competition between Google and Microsoft is driving the development of online maps forward. Chances are that some users won’t be happy about the fact that the new version of Bing Maps works with Silverlight, but the plugin is easy to install and the results are worth the hassle of installing.

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iPhone’s Google Maps app now shows ads

Filed under: Software, iPhone, iPod touch

Have you noticed the new “Sponsored Link” search results showing up when you search in Google Maps on your iPhone? These new search results are ads. They’re easy to pick out, because they use a customized icon instead of the typical push pin icon. While it’s not surprising that Google is going to want to find every way possible to monetize its mapping service, it’s still a little disconcerting to see these results popping up.

Given this obvious new revenue stream, it makes us wonder whether Apple wants to get in on the lucrative mapping action. Their recent purchase of the mapping service company Placebase certainly suggests the possibility.

Do you mind seeing ads intermingled with your map search results on a mobile device? Why or why not?

TUAWiPhone’s Google Maps app now shows ads originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple bought mapping service company Placebase

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple Corporate, Software, Internet Tools

Seth at Computerworld has noticed Apple’s purchase of Placebase, the former mapping service company that GigaOm was praising last year. Of course, this begs the question: Will Apple be rolling their own maps?

As Gizmodo says, Apple uses the technology they buy (Coverflow, for example). We were unfamiliar with the service, but GigaOm describes some sweet features like PushPin, which provided developers with an API that could layer commercial information, crime data, etc. on a map. For a nice example of PushPin at work, check out PolicyMap.

Now for the baseless assumptions. Google maps appear in a number of Apple products, like the iPhone, iPhoto and iWeb. Perhaps Apple plans to stuff their own solutions into those slots. Or perhaps they’re after a certain technology from Placebase and not the whole enchilada.

Note that the purchase went down back in July. Seth has also discovered that PlaceBase’s founder and former CEO, Jaron Waldman, is now a part of Apple’s “Geo Team,” which sounds like the Justice League but with Al Gore in charge.

TUAWApple bought mapping service company Placebase originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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