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A couple of days ago, Google added some handy new features to its Google Maps apps for Android and iPhone, including Street View support (Android) and weather information (iPhone). But the company is looking to add a bunch of other tricks to Google Maps that should further improve your commuting experience. Whether you’re driving to work or using public transportation, these new features will undoubtedly come in handy. We’re looking at support for more Waze-like incident reports, as well as the ability to save preferred public transit options for quick access.
Waze’s incident reporting tool is what makes the Google-owned navigation app so popular with drivers, and Google is well aware of that. The company has been adopting some of those features in Google Maps, including crash and speed trap reporting, and it’s about to roll out support for additional types of incidents.
Read full story at BGR…
first published week of: 09/09/2019
Apple Maps keeps getting better and can be quite helpful if you know all its secrets.
Maybe you don’t think Apple Maps is as good as Google Maps. Honestly, it’s probably not. But it’s already on your iPhone, it gets better with every update, and it does a better job of protecting your privacy. As the new Apple Maps data starts rolling out across the country, it’s going to be worth getting to know.
With these tips, you may find using Apple Maps more palatable, even enjoyable.
If you use your iPhone for directions while driving (or have it hooked to a CarPlay compatible car), you should tweak the way it operates. Open the Settings app, then tap Maps, then tap on Driving & Navigation.
You’ll see options to avoid toll roads, avoid highways (if you prefer the scenic route), and show a compass or speed limit signs during driving navigation.
Perhaps the most useful settings here is the ability to control the voice navigation volume. If you can never hear it over your music (or kids), this is the place to raise it. I prefer to never get any voice prompts, since I glance at the map frequently.
Read full story at MacWorld…
first published week of: 06/10/2019
It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you know that we’re a bunch of geography nerds here at Spatial Networks.
So every year around this time we like to put together a list of gifts for people who love geography to help you with your holiday shopping! (Or to help your loved ones shop for you, whichever the case may be.)
Here are our picks for this year. Fulcrum…
first published week of: 11/25/2019
Targeting application users by location is a sure-fire way to improve user experience and engagement.
There are Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) available for integrating location services into applications of all kinds, including adding intelligence for businesses, pinpointing geocoordinates by IP address, time zones, activity tracking, retrieving postal and country codes, arranging meetups, plus providing shipping intelligence, traffic updates, tax rates, mapping, retail deals, micro-weather reports and even indoor GPS coordinates.
Developers looking to create location-aware applications can check out the ProgrammableWeb directory for the best APIs to fit their needs. Here we list the most popular APIs for from our Location category based on ProgrammableWeb website traffic.
Read full story at ProgrammableWeb…
first published week of: 07/08/2019
This year’s recipient of the annual award is the Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data community for support of the 2017 hurricane season. Leveraging the GeoPlatform shared service, the HIFLD community collaboratively delivered geospatial data and services to communities and first responders to help minimize and recover from hurricane impacts.
The HIFLD open data portal, established through the GeoPlatform shared service, provides national foundation-level geospatial data within the public domain that can be used to support community preparedness, resiliency, research and more. The HIFLD open-data portal also enables the dissemination of more than 300 publicly accessible Homeland Security Infrastructure Program data products and web services. Since its inception in February 2016, this HIFLD open-data portal has been used by more than 35,472 users with more than 31,695 data downloads.
In response to hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, HIFLD members worked collaboratively to provide a centralized site, using GeoPlatform.gov, to host unclassified, publicly available geospatial data, applications, tools and web services. HIFLD4Irma, which was also used to support Hurricane Maria, and HIFLD4Harvey served as authoritative sources of geospatial data and services to 12,850 users with more than 2,920 downloads in a little over 30 days of being established.
These portals became an authoritative source of relevant data for use by local, state, federal, tribal, private-sector and community partners. They served as a hub to aggregate and disseminate open data to support the mapping activities for hurricane response and recovery. This first-of-its-kind type of operational response by HIFLD has been met with great enthusiasm and direct positive feedback from the Executive Office of the White House, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and boots-on-the-ground first responders.
first published week of: 08/05/2019
At the 2019 Esri Developer Summit in Palm Springs, CA, presentations and workshops focused on new capabilities for speed, science, and flexibility. Esri president Jack Dangermond opened the conference by recognizing the more than 2,100 developers in attendance for their tireless efforts to build location intelligence apps that make a difference in our world. Whether they’re building lightweight apps, designing heavy-duty enterprise tools, implementing machine learning, or developing analytic programs, there was something for every geospatial developer at the conference.
Here are some highlights:
ArcGIS for Developers offers a full suite of developer tools and development resources to build mapping and analytics solutions to support business needs, enabling developers to use ArcGIS APIs to create location-based web and native applications for desktop and mobile devices.
New enhancements and changes now give developers greater freedom to build, manage, and deploy apps as quickly as possible by allowing them to use the specific tools they need, when they need them, priced to fit their individual needs. A commercial app deployment license is included in all paid developer subscription plans (Builder plan and higher) and the price of routing services has been reduced from $4.00 to $0.50 per 1,000 routes.
Read full story at Esri…
first published week of: 03/18/2019