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We've seen the feature before on services like MapMyRide and surely many other maps, but as of yesterday, we will probably begin seeing it pop up all around the web - elevation on maps. Google announced yesterday that it would be bringing elevation to its Maps API, ensuring a whole new slew of Google Maps mashups. Sponsor The new service, available for use as either the ElevationService class or the Elevation Web Service (which doesn't require an API key to use), provides "the elevation in meters for one or more sets of coordinates" or a select number of points, equally spaced along a path. As Google points out in its blog, the most obvious use for elevation is in planning out something like a bicycle route. "In fact you'll be happy to hear," the company writes in its blog "that the Maps API bicycling directions already factor in elevation". Already, for bicycling junkies like myself, the ability to check out routes and elevations on sites like MapMyRide is extremely useful, if not just really interesting. The mashup on Google's blog post about this new feature shows how the data can be used to give a side-view of any path, alerting you to any unforseen inclines or descents. Aside from bicycling, there are any number of uses for this sort of data - avoiding hills in icy winter travel, figuring out sight lines or just choosing the best route to drive that moving van and not have everything slide to the back end. While there are other services, as we've mentioned, that have already offered this feature, there's something about it coming to Google Maps. We already use Google Maps to plot out our routes and get directions, so why go somewhere else to get elevation? Now, you might not have to. We're hoping this gets added as a standard feature on Google Maps soon. Take a minute to play with the embedded map below and see how the elevation data can be used with Google Maps. Discuss
Original post:
Google Maps API Gets Elevation
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api,
around-the-web,
data,
elevation,
feature,
google maps,
Maps,
routes,
seeing-it-pop
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Google just announced that the mobile version of Google Product Search can now tell you if a certain product is in stock at nearby stores. Currently, Google is only working with a handful of retailers, including Best Buy, Sears, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn and West Elm, but the company is actively looking for more partners. To see these results, just browse to Google.com on your mobile phone (Android, WebOS or Android), click the "more" link and then "Shopping." The local inventory will be updated in real time and is currently only available for users in the U.S. Sponsor Google obviously thinks that providing the best local results possible is the future for a large number of its services. Now that most modern mobile browsers can forward your location data to web apps, it's become even easier for Google to offer these kinds of local results and Google's initiatives around Google Maps and Place Pages show how serious the company is about local search. For now, with this small number of participating retailers, this isn't necessarily the most useful feature yet. If Google actually manages to get more businesses to use this feature (and/or to expose their inventory through an API), then Google Product Search - which has remained relatively underused - could easily establish itself as the go-to local shopping service. For more details about the mobile version of Google Product Search, have a look at this video (the introduction of Product Search starts about 19 minutes into the presentation) Discuss
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Google's Mobile Product Search Now Shows Real-Time Local Inventory
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api,
Business,
google maps,
google-product,
location,
mobile-version,
presentation,
search
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Google Maps is a great program, but it's always been disappointing to see where in the world it doesn't offer much coverage. Today the Google Africa blog announced that local business data has been added for 30 countries in Africa. "As well as searching online Maps for towns, highways, or roads," Joe Mucheru and Jarda Bengl of Google wrote today, "Google Maps users can now find local businesses. This could be a burger place in Lagos, a garage in Kampala, a hairdresser in Accra or an airport shuttle in Dakar." Sponsor Google added a large number of streets and roads throughout Africa to its maps in May of last year and has offered mobile location services in Africa for several years . Today's announcement included pointers to the Local Business Center and Maps API, so users in Africa can help fill out the maps all the more. Discuss
Originally posted here:
Google Maps Adds Businesses in 30 African Countries
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Africa,
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api,
Business,
business-data,
google maps,
google-africa,
great-program,
jarda-bengl,
local-business,
Maps,
offered-mobile,
world-it-doesn