eTaxi.lv
eTaxi.lv is a great Google Maps based taxi fare calculator for Latvia.
To use the taxi fare calculator just enter your starting address and your destination. eTaxi.lv will then display the optimum route for your journey on Google Maps and display predicted fares of all the Latvian taxi companies based on their normal charges.
eTaxi.ly even gives you the phone numbers for each of the listed taxi companies.
At Google we are obsessed with speed. Our mantra is faster = better. This is true for our Google Voice mobile apps as well. When you want to make a call, your phone should connect you as quickly as possible, whether you’re calling via Google Voice or not.
Today we are launching an enhancement to the Google Voice mobile app on Android and Blackberry phones, which makes placing calls much faster. We call this feature “direct access numbers.” Here’s how it works:
Until today, the Google Voice app had to make a request to the Google Voice server every time you wanted to make a call to send us the phone number you wanted to dial. Then the call would be connected via a Google Voice access number. With direct access numbers, we assign a unique phone number to every person you call. This means that we no longer need to use your data network to access the server each time you make a call, so calls will be placed much faster.
The updated Android app is available from Android Market starting today. For Blackberry users, you can download the app by visiting http://m.google.com/voice from your mobile device. You will need a valid Google Voice account to use the app, and at this time, Google Voice is available in the US only.
Schmaps Pro Accounts
Schmap.it is a platform to share events and places easily on Twitter. For example, if you are holding a conference, you can create a Schmap.it page that will show the location of the conference, via a Google Map, and also display all the latest tweets about the conference.
Schmap.it have now released a PRO version of this popular app, with an enhanced feature set. What's more to mark the release of Schmap PRO, between now and July 31 Schmap.it are giving away 10,000 two-year PRO accounts:
One of my favorite truisms is, “no matter where you go, there you are.” Call me sappy, but it’s a nice way to remember that every place on Earth has meaning, history and identity. But let’s face it: when you’re on an airplane, traveling over unknown lands at triple-digit speeds, it’s hard to get a sense of where you really are.
That’s why I’m happy to announce that as a part of our continued partnership with Virgin America, we’ve completely updated the Google Maps data on the touchscreens of every airplane seat. As before, the map shows you almost exactly where you are, and you can zoom and pan to explore. Now, with our beautiful terrain view and fresh Google data, the maps are not only prettier, but also highlight mountains, elevation and other natural features. In other words, it more closely matches what you’d actually see if you had cloud-penetrating eyesight and looked out the window from 35,000 feet.
Virgin America also announced this morning that it will soon show up in more places on the map. With an order of 60 aircraft, the airline will triple its fleet size and expand to many new destinations. So whether you’re flying one of those planes from San Francisco to Seattle, or New York to Los Angeles, we hope the new Google Maps can help answer questions like, “Is that Mt. Hood or Mt. St. Helens on the right?” and “What’s that huge canyon over there?” Or, if you want to explore Street View or satellite images of where you’re headed, Google Maps also works great on the in-flight WiFi Internet!
In an effort to help residents with emergency planning assistance, the state of Louisiana has launched "Louisiana Earth".
As explained in the Google Lat Long Blog, the program is designed to help with the following:
Louisiana Earth was released as part of the state's "Get a Game Plan" campaign, to assist citizens in creating evacuation plans by providing access to all of the states evacuation routes, sheltering points historical hazard data and other information that is essential during an evacuation such as locations of and available occupancy of hotels, gas stations, pharmacies, grocery stores, veterinary clinics and banks.
More info about Louisiana Earth can be found in this short video:
As Brant Mitchell, Louisiana's Deputy Director of Homeland Security, mentions in the video, this is based somewhat off of Virtual Alabama which was released a few years back. Both programs are essentially a large new group of default layers to help provide a large amount of data to the end user -- evacuation routes, oil spill updates, and even festivals and events occurring across the state.
It seems to be an excellent tool, and could be of great value to the residents of Louisiana.
Alert & Respond is a tracking application aimed at the police and military. The application allows for the real-time tracking of the location of officers and other people and resources.
The effectiveness of the tracking function of Alert & Respond was proved during a demonstration of the product in San Francisco. An unsuspecting thief decided to snatch an Alert & Respond activated phone from one of the company's employees whilst she was demonstrating its real-time GPS tracking program.
The employee reported the phone's theft to the police and they were able to follow the criminal's location live with the help of Alert & Respond and Google Maps. The thief was subsequently captured and booked for grand theft and possession of stolen property.
Landshare Map
Landshare is a UK website that aims to bring together people who have a passion for home-grown food. The site is designed to connect people with a bit of spare land with those who want to grow food but don't have anywhere to do it.
Landshare uses Google Maps to show the locations of plots of land that people are prepared to share and the locations of those who are looking for some land to grow their own vegetables. It is possible to search the map by address or postcode. It is also possible to refine the results to just show those looking for land or those who have land to share.
If you are a map developer and you think you can produce something as good as Landshare then you should enter the latest GeoVation Challenge. Enter the GeoVation Challenge "How can Britain feed itself - sustainably?" and you could win yourself a slice of £25,000 to help implement your idea.
For all those interested in outer space (come on, who isn’t at least a tad bit curious?), we want to let you know about an exciting project just getting underway. As part of Google’s ongoing relationship with NASA, Googler Tiffany Montague is on her way to the high arctic to participate as a crew member in some remote NASA field tests.
Haughton Crater, located in the Canadian arctic, is an extreme environment that simulates Martian conditions – otherwise known as a planetary analog. Tiffany just happens to have both extreme expedition and near-space suit experience, so she’ll be spending a week at a remote research station operated by the Mars Institute and sponsored by SETI and NASA.
Among the cool things she’ll be doing while in the field are landscape documentation, prototype space suit testing, simulating pressurized rover traverse missions, surveying new aircraft landing sites, and characterizing the geology of the Moon, Mars and NEO-like terrain. Many of these activities are even being planned using Google Earth!
Tiffany will be blogging about her adventures as Internet connectivity in the station permits. Check out her first post and follow her blog, Voices from Space, to keep up to date, and we’ll also ask her to share a full report complete with favorite stories and photos when she returns.
Skyhook Wireless have created a Google Map of San Francisco to show where people congregate during different times of the day. The map has been created for this Sunday's San Francisco marathon.
By creating s heat-map of where mobile phone users are located (based on the wifi signals within range) Skyhook are able to give a pretty accurate overview of current hotspots in the city. The map includes a slider that allows you to select different times during the last couple of weeks (up to about two hours before the current time).
Skyhook Wireless have another example from this year's Boston Marathon. The example highlights location lookups along the Boston Marathon route on a Google Map. These lookups are displayed alongside a Google Map showing the previous Monday's activity, demonstrating the increase in human activity in the area due to the marathon.
