cartography

Google Map Maker arrives in U.K.

Google has brought its Map Maker tool to the United Kingdom, letting ordinary people contribute mapping data to the widely used Google Maps service.

The company announced the move today on its Lat-Long blog and at an event at the famed World War II code-breaking site of Bletchley Park.

That means the public could help endow online maps with the same level of detail that's in the superb Ordnance Survey maps -- which seemingly document every footpath, Roman road, and hamlet in Old Blighty.

Google Maps has become a major force in modern computing as Google combines information on … Read more

Missing directions: Will Apple's old maps app live on forever?

For those who haven't yet upgraded to Apple's iOS 6, or who can't upgrade because they're using an older device, there's an air of uncertainty about just how long they'll get to be able to use one of its most useful features.

That feature is maps, something that used to be powered by Google in iOS versions 1 to 5, but which now uses data from Apple in iOS 6.

Love it or hate it, Apple Maps are here to stay. But can you say the same about the old version?

Neither company is … Read more

Google Map Maker: Unleash your inner cartographer

Google on Monday unveiled a new Web-based tool, Map Maker, that lets people add roads, lakes, businesses, and other features to unmapped regions of Google Maps.

With the tool, people can using tracing tools to build maps in Cyprus, Iceland, Pakistan, and Vietnam, according to the Google LatLong blog. Also open for cartographic contributions are several Caribbean nations: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Grenada, Jamaica, Netherlands Antilles, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.

I'm of two minds about this. On the one hand, it'… Read more

Google's sky gets podcasting, maps with dragons

While computer monitors and TV screens continue to become the size of small stars, there's no beating the real thing short of visiting a planetarium, or lately--Google Earth. Yesterday Google unveiled the second iteration of Google Sky for Google Earth at the Astronomical Society's annual conference in Austin, Texas. Among the more notable additions is podcasting that's been integrated into the Earth and Sky layer. These short 90-second podcasts will tell you anything that's coming up this week (or that's historically taken place), and you can listen to them right from the app via … Read more

Ski.com gives Google Earth a run for its money

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