Digital Earth Blog

As their lead over Google Maps continues to dwindle, MapQuest has rolled out a few more new features.  By “new”, I mean new to MapQuest, not new to online mapping.

In this case, the new feature is draggable route changing.  This is almost identical to the feature that Google released about 16 months ago.

It’s a good move by MapQuest.  Before they can really try to innovate, they need to catch up first.  This is another step toward that goal.  I still think they’re toast in the long run, but it’s nice to see them continue to work hard to get caught back up.

Fresh on the heels of launching StreetView in Spain, Google has released StreetView in four major areas in Italy: Florence, Lake Como, Milan and Rome.

Check out some of the cool sights that Keir found on Google Maps Mania, and then submit your own to the GEH StreetView Gallery.

It’s been a big day for Google.  Earlier we had the Google Earth iPhone app come out (and yes, it’s very slick), and now we have StreetView in Spain.

They only added in four cities (Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia and Barcelona), but each seems to have rather extensive coverage.  Google Maps Mania has found a handful of cool places, and we always encourage you to add your other finds to the GEH Streetview database.

As reported by Google Maps Mania, France has just received a bunch more StreetView imagery to go with the Tour de France imagery they already had.

It appears the new cities include:

• Lille
• Lyon
• Marseille
• Nice
• Paris
• Toulouse

A couple of fun toys for today.  I’ve created a mobile version of Google Earth Hacks, allowing you to view about 80% of the files (18,000 or so) on the go.  It works best on the iPhone, taking advantage of the built-in Google Maps, but should work on any recent phone.  Get details here, or simply visit m.gearthhacks.com on your phone.

Also, my wife and I are pretty big fans of The Amazing Race, so I’ve been working on a rather comprehensive mash-up for the show.  You can read about it here, view the full map here, or just play with the embedded version below.

If you’re a fan of the show, it’s a neat way to see all of the amazing places that the contestants get to travel to.

View Larger Map

We know that Google has added some new data for Georgia, but they’ve apparently updated a few other areas as well.

New road maps:

• St Lucia
• Grenada
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Malta
• Mauritius
• Barbados
• Pakistan
• Israel

New city names:

• Georgia
• Solomon Islands
• Faroe Islands
• Guam
• Cyprus

Some other content:

• Madagascar

In just over five days, GeoEye is launching a new satellite and Google will be the exclusive online source for the imagery.  Details of the agreement weren’t disclosed.

The GeoEye-1 satellite will be able to capture imagery at a suberb detail level of 41 centimeters, though Google will have to convert to 50cm quality to comply with US laws.  The satellite will be able to capture imagery equivilent to the size of New Mexico each day, though I don’t know if that will lead to larger or more frequent updates from Google.

As a cool side bonus, the Google logo is on the side of the rocket!  Check out the pics below.

Also, a brief clarification about Google’s affiliation with GeoEye was posted on Wired earlier today:

Google is interested in collecting the highest quality commercial satellite imagery available and as a symbol of this commitment has agreed to put the company logo on the first stage of the GeoEye, Inc. launch vehicle. Google Maps and Google Earth already include imagery from GeoEye. Google does not have any direct or indirect financial interest in the satellite or in GeoEye, and did not pay any fee to place its logo on the launch vehicle.

The Daily Mail has published an article today with a variety of complaints that people have aired against the new StreetView imagery in Australia.

The first one is quite interesting.  A guy lost his best friend in a boating accident, and drunk himself stupid to dull the pain.  When he got home, he collapsed on the grass and fell asleep, where Google snapped his photo.  The image has since been removed, but you can see a screencap of it here.

Others include a woman who saw her recently deceased father in front of his house (which “renews the raw loss”), and another woman that was pleased to find herself in the imagery, working hard in the garden.

StreetView is coming to Britain soon, and they’re already calling it a “gross invasion of privacy”.

Do you agree with that?  Or is it acceptable because it’s all taken from public property?

I thought it was just Australia and Japan, but I was wrong.  According to the Google LatLong blog, a bunch of US cities have been added as well.

The LatLong blog lists a few of them, but the full list seems to be (based on a comment at Google Maps Mania):

• Eureka, CA
• Lancaster / Palmdale, CA
• California Central coast cites
• Victorville, CA
• Colorado Springs, CO
• El Paso, TX
• Odessa / Midland, TX
• Lubbock, TX
• Amarillo, TX
• Abilene, TX
• Waco, TX
• Kileen, TX
• Corpus Christi, TX
• Laredo, TX
• Brownsville, TX
• Wichita, KS
• Shreveport, LA
• New Orleans, LA
• Baton Rouge, LA
• Mobile, AL
• Columbus, GA
• Savannah, GA
• Augusta, GA
• Chattanooga, TN
• Fayetteville, NC
• Billings, MT

Google also says that there is “a special surprise somewhere in our US imagery”.  I have no idea what it is, but be sure to let us know if you find anything remarkable.

Also, I point you again to the GEH StreetView section to submit your interesting finds.  Have fun!

To go along with the Australia release that we mentioned earlier, StreetView is now available in Japan as well.

Still no official word from Google about the releases, but Google Maps Mania covers them both pretty well (list of cities, examples, etc).

Go play!