Google have today added 3D buildings to Google Maps in more cities around the world. The new cities include London, Paris, Barcelona, Stockholm, Singapore, Lisbon, Boulder, and 11 major cities in South Africa.
In Google Maps the 3D buildings look pretty cool but they really only come to life on Google Maps for mobile. On Google Maps for mobile you can rotate, tilt, and zoom in and out on the buildings.
My guess is that at some point soon Google will look to implement the rotate and tilt views in Google Maps for the desktop.
The rotating buildings obviously make more sense on mobile maps where the orientation of the map can rotate to reflect your view. However this would be a great feature to be able to access via the Google Maps API. I could see this being a popular tool with many map developers.
Via: Google LatLong
Like many big cities Boston has very fluid neighborhood boundaries. Two people living next door to each other can often have very different ideas of which district they live in.
To try and clear up some of the confusion around Boston's boundaries Boston.com has created a Google Map that shows the different boundaries used by the Boston Redevelopment Authority, by the police, by the city and those determined by zip code.
Using the map you can drag the map pin around to view the different district boundaries at different locations.
Exploring Boston's Tangled Boundaries
Cooler Planet: Solar Energy Installation Map
Cooler Planet has created an animated time-line with Google Maps to show the progress of solar installations in California from 1999 through to 2011.
Using data from Go Solar California Statistics the map lets you view time-lines of 'total installs', 'total watts', 'watts per install' and 'total carbon saved'. It is fascinating using the map to view how solar power installations have blossomed in California over the last decade.
Google Maps now lets you search with 'descriptive terms'. Google describes 'descriptive terms as "the phrases which are most frequently used to describe ... places".
So, for example, if I want to find a pub that has quiz nights I can just type in 'quiz night' into the search bar on Google Maps. I will then be shown all the places that have 'quiz night' mentioned in reviews and other information gathered about the venue.
Other descriptive terms that I can imagine myself using a lot are 'great coffee', 'free wifi', 'free delivery' and 'live music'.
I'm sure I'll be using this new feature a lot!
Walking the Edit
Walking the Edit is an innovative iPhone app that allows you to create a mapped video. It is a great way to create a guided video walk or a video about your neighborhood.
Using the app you can take a walk through a neighborhood and the iPhone app tracks your progress and stores the location of the videos that you take on your journey. When you have finished your walk the app then creates a Google Map of your route with your synchronised video.
The videos are displayed on your automatically created map by small map markers. The size of the marker represents the duration of the video at that location. When you play the video the map view synchronises to the location of the video.
Sk8loc8
Sk8loc8 provides a searchable Google Map of over 1800 skateparks and skateshops around the world.
You can search the map by location and view nearby Skateparks, Recommended Parks, Skate Shops and Unconfirmed Skateparks. You can also click on the map to load nearby skating locations or to add the location of a missing skatepark.
Longboarding and Skateboarding Map
Here is a great map to help skateboarders find the best places to skate in their neighborhood. Edmonton longboard and skateboard shop Local 124 has created this worldwide Longboarding and Skateboarding Map of crowdsourced skating routes.
Anyone can add a route to this Google Map of skating spots and the map can be searched by location and by category. If you click on a map marker you can read details about the spot, rate it and leave comments.
A map sidebar lists the latest routes added to the map and it is also possible to view the locations of upcoming sessions and races on the map.
Toronto is Trending
Toronto is Trending has one of the coolest welcome screens I've ever seen on a website. When you go to Toronto is Trending you are presented with a full-screen video of Toronto. Twitter speech bubbles then appear above some of the moving pedestrians in the video and follow them down the street.
If you switch to the 'map view' you can then see the latest Tweets and check-ins made in Toronto on a Google Map view of the city. The map also displays a number of hotel, ticket and package deals.
The numbered map markers let you see how many people have checked into particular venues. You can select which category of venue you wish to see displayed on the map using the icons at the top of the map.
Altogether if you want to find the most happening venues in Toronto right now then you need to visit Toronto is Trending.
Toronto’s Most Dangerous Intersections
Global Toronto has mapped out Toronto's most dangerous intersections for pedestrians. By looking at the accident history data for 1337 intersections in the city Global Toronto has been able to identify which pose the most danger to pedestrians.
Global Toronto devised an 'accident ratio' for each intersection by combining two sets of data: accidents by intersection from 2000-09 and the average daily pedestrian head-counts at each intersection.
The Google Map shows in red the intersections that have the highest accident ratio.
Bangkok Traffic
Bangkok Traffic is a driving directions application for the Thai capital that also displays real-time traffic information.
To get driving directions you can drop two map markers on a Google Map or enter your starting point and destination into the search box. Your route is then displayed on the map and listed in the map sidebar.
Also displayed on the map is real-time traffic information, showing current traffic speeds on the city's roads. It is also possible to click on the webcam map markers to view real-time images from the city's traffic cams.
