Mapping

Announced today at Demo 07, security company Inilex is launching its own GPS car security system. Like competitor Lo Jack's early warning system, Inilex has a GPS hardware unit that's installed in your vehicle and alerts you if your car is moving when you're not in it. The unit also lets you know how fast your car is going. You can secure your vehicle via phone or a Web-based interface. What's really cool is that Inilex has created a way to make your own perimeters called "geo fences." Going outside of or (in some … Read more

Locr is a new photo hosting service that promises to make geo-tagging your photos a little easier. After uploading photos, users need to simply add a zip code or city name to set a longitude and latitude for their shots. Users can then browse other geo-tagged photos by click-dragging a Google Map.

Is this different from what Flickr offers? Yes, but without a Web-based batch uploader or a way to tag landmarks, Locr comes up short.

Locr's Web interface is really easy to use for individual uploading and geo-tagging, but it just doesn't work with multiple photos. That … Read more

Ski slope maps in 2D are often beautifully illustrated works of art that are one part navigation and three parts marketing. The next logical step was to take those same maps and make them 3D, which is what Ski.com has done with its new map explorer. You can choose from more than 20 3D maps of popular ski destinations all over the world.

Each map gives you a simple mouse-drag interface that allows you to zoom around the slopes. When you get up close, you can even see details that jump out, such as red elevated lines that represent … Read more

This one isn't exactly rocket science, but it looks like it could blossom into a useful service: Parentography. This is a user-generated directory of things to do with kids. It reminds me of Chowhound (now a CNET property), a restaurant reviews site written by foodies for foodies. This is pretty much the same thing but for parents (sadly, few venues are good bets for parents who are also foodies).

Parentography has reviews of museums, parks, restaurants, and other venues that its members recommend (or don't) for families with kids in tow. It also has a section for "… Read more

We've often thought that real-time traffic reports was an obvious use of interactive technologies, but for some reason they're still not universal. (These thoughts typically come to us while stuck on a freeway, which is often.) But a German GPS software company called Navigon says it will "radically change" this sluggish pace of development with a free service that will be offered with GPS services right out of the box, according to Twice.

The company, which is working with ClearChannel's Real Time Traffic, has made a deal with the Porsche Design Group as the first … Read more

Flash guru Michael Battle has created a 3D version of Digg. You can zoom around all the popular stories on Digg's technology page using your mouse and scroll wheel. It's not exactly the most useful interface, but it's a ton of fun and it's very slick. If you get lost, just refresh your browser. There's also a complete list of advanced navigation instructions here.

Seeing Web sites in 3D reminded me of the 1995 movie Hackers, where a young Jesse Bradford hacks into a complex computer network by flying around a magical city of what … Read more

TagMaps is an exploratory mashup/science project from Yahoo Research Berkeley that mixes Yahoo Maps with Flickr's geo-tagging features to create a neat-looking photo browser. Locations show up on the map as large tags, and mousing over one will populate the corresponding Flickr photos to the right. Clicking any of these photos will give you the title and photographer information, along with the option to visit the photo page on Flickr.

What's really cool is that you can toggle between day and night modes. Both the map and the photos change dramatically depending on which mode you're … Read more

Google has released new rich 3D imagery for Google Earth 4, its interactive mapping application, which is officially out of beta.

In place of the usual map lines, satellite imagery and raised boxes, are rich textured 3D models of famous places.

Those that are complete are easy to spot, especially with Google Earth's new navigation compass that makes directional rotations and angle views easier to manipulate. Even a monolith such as the Met Life building in New York City has enough details to make it identifiable even without its famous label.

Facades of glass, bricks and stone abound, but … Read more

When I read about "hyperlocal" blog directory Placeblogger on BoingBoing, I immediately thought of "ZipUSA," the feature in National Geographic magazine that presents a slice-of-life mini photo essay of the goings-on in a given U.S. zip code. I envisioned Placeblogger as a sort of ZipUSA directory, the kind of site where I could click around and get immersed in small-town gossip from a West Virginia blogger, urban-planning politics from Austin, or cross-cultural reflections from an expat in Singapore. Basically, I was looking forward to adding it to my extensive list of recommended procrastination tools.

But … Read more