Visit the Google Mobile Ads blog to read more about how a new hyperlocal ad feature provides distance information to help you know a business is nearby and helps businesses better connect with mobile users on the go.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
New hyperlocal ad feature helps you find nearby businesses
Imagine driving to work and your Check Engine light comes on. After pulling over and calling a tow truck, you realize you’ll need another car to get to work while yours is getting repaired. You pull out your phone and search for “car rental,” hoping that you can find one nearby. From a Google search ad result you discover there’s an Enterprise Rent-A-Car location just half-a-mile away! You click on the phone number listed in the ad and are instantly connected with the car rental service. Soon, an Enterprise representative is on his way to pick you up.
Visit the Google Mobile Ads blog to read more about how a new hyperlocal ad feature provides distance information to help you know a business is nearby and helps businesses better connect with mobile users on the go.
Visit the Google Mobile Ads blog to read more about how a new hyperlocal ad feature provides distance information to help you know a business is nearby and helps businesses better connect with mobile users on the go.
Explore seven continents with Street View on your phone
Head over to the Official Google Blog to read more about Street View on seven continents.
Two years ago, we added Street View to Google Maps for mobile so you could explore the world at street level right from your phone. Today, we’re happy to announce that you can see Street View imagery on all seven continents, with the addition of Brazil, Ireland and Antarctica – specifically, an area called Half Moon Island. Now, you can really explore the world from the palm of your hand.
We encourage you to go ahead and check out the beaches of Brazil, visit the moors of Ireland or see penguins in Antarctica for yourself.
Two years ago, we added Street View to Google Maps for mobile so you could explore the world at street level right from your phone. Today, we’re happy to announce that you can see Street View imagery on all seven continents, with the addition of Brazil, Ireland and Antarctica – specifically, an area called Half Moon Island. Now, you can really explore the world from the palm of your hand.
We encourage you to go ahead and check out the beaches of Brazil, visit the moors of Ireland or see penguins in Antarctica for yourself.
Driving through the Emerald Isle
Today's release of Street View in the Republic of Ireland contains some great imagery. I've started playing with Directions Map to create some virtual tours.
Here is a little scenic tour from Narran to Drumboghill in the north east of Ireland. Press 'play' to start the tour.
Here is a little scenic tour from Narran to Drumboghill in the north east of Ireland. Press 'play' to start the tour.
Street View for Ireland & Brazil Launched
Google today added Street View imagery to the Republic of Ireland, Brazil and a tiny bit of Antartica. The coverage in Ireland seems to be pretty comprehensive. In Brazil the imagery seems to be concentrated in Rio de Janerio, Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte.
Here are some of the sights you can view in the new imagery:
The GPO, Dublin
Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin
St Finbarre's Cathedral, Cork
Kylemore Abbey
Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói
São Paulo Cathedral
Antarctic
Penguins!
These websites have collections of interesting sights found on Street View. You can bet that they will all be busy adding Irish and Brazilian finds to their collections today:
Street View Funny
Google Sightseeing
Google Earth Hacks
One Developer has also been very quick to produce three websites dedicated to collecting interesting Street Views from Brazil:
http://www.sampaview.com (São Paulo)
http://www.riostreetview.com (Rio de Janeiro)
http://www.bhnomapa.com (the rest of Brazil)
Here are some of the sights you can view in the new imagery:
The GPO, Dublin
Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin
St Finbarre's Cathedral, Cork
Kylemore Abbey
Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói
São Paulo Cathedral
Antarctic
Penguins!
These websites have collections of interesting sights found on Street View. You can bet that they will all be busy adding Irish and Brazilian finds to their collections today:
Street View Funny
Google Sightseeing
Google Earth Hacks
One Developer has also been very quick to produce three websites dedicated to collecting interesting Street Views from Brazil:
http://www.sampaview.com (São Paulo)
http://www.riostreetview.com (Rio de Janeiro)
http://www.bhnomapa.com (the rest of Brazil)
The New Foursquare Challenger
Geomium
Launched only yesterday Geomium has quickly gathered a lot of favourable press. Geomium is a new location based service for the iPhone that uses data from Yelp, Qype and Eventful to show you where your friends are located and events that are in your current vicinity.
Using Geomium you can view location information and reviews displayed on a Google Map and also see where your friends are right now. Geomium shows you where people are, you can view the location of your friends and you can also view the locations of other Geomium users.
Geomium also shows you the places that are near by. Using the application you can find the best bars, restaurants, and cafes around your current location. You can mark your favourite places and you can also check-in to places, and see who else has checked in.
Geomium lists all kinds of events, including theatre shows, festivals, concerts, and parties. You can browse through all of the events, or filter by type and date. You can use Geomium to let your friends know you'll be attending an event, and see who else will be going.
The application also offers localised deals, including discounts at bars and restaurants. Currently Geomium is only available for the iPhone but support for other mobile platforms is in the pipeline.
Launched only yesterday Geomium has quickly gathered a lot of favourable press. Geomium is a new location based service for the iPhone that uses data from Yelp, Qype and Eventful to show you where your friends are located and events that are in your current vicinity.
Using Geomium you can view location information and reviews displayed on a Google Map and also see where your friends are right now. Geomium shows you where people are, you can view the location of your friends and you can also view the locations of other Geomium users.
Geomium also shows you the places that are near by. Using the application you can find the best bars, restaurants, and cafes around your current location. You can mark your favourite places and you can also check-in to places, and see who else has checked in.
Geomium lists all kinds of events, including theatre shows, festivals, concerts, and parties. You can browse through all of the events, or filter by type and date. You can use Geomium to let your friends know you'll be attending an event, and see who else will be going.
The application also offers localised deals, including discounts at bars and restaurants. Currently Geomium is only available for the iPhone but support for other mobile platforms is in the pipeline.
Google launches Street View in Ireland, Brazil, Antarctica
UPDATE: The new imagery is now live in Ireland, Brazil and Antarctica.
Also additional imagery in Hawaii (thanks 'Munden')
The Google Lat Long Blog has details.
Also additional imagery in Hawaii (thanks 'Munden')
The Google Lat Long Blog has details.
According to the Irish Times, the imagery will cover more then 80,000km of road in the country including cities such as Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford.
While Ireland is the only confirmed country so far, there are rumors that Brazil, Poland and perhaps others will finally get Street View coverage with this update. We'll know for sure once it goes live later today.
If you're not familiar with using Street View in Google Earth, check out this great tutorial that Frank created last year.
Route Planning with Google Maps
NSW RTA Live Traffic
Arek of All Things Spatial has written a great review of a route planning application for NSW, Australia. Here is a slightly truncated version on Arek's review. You can read the review in full on Arek's blog.
The Road Traffic Authority (RTA) in NSW has started publishing up to the minute information about traffic conditions in Sydney as well as in the greater NSW regional area. The site uses Google Maps to provide an excellent route finder that highlights any road works or hazards on a journey and allows the user to reroute to avoid any potential delays.
The live traffic conditions displayed on the map are refreshed automatically and the update time is clearly marked. Auto update can be turned off if required and users can customise the list of information displayed on the map.
Live updates include information on accidents, scheduled road works, major events, fires, floods and Alpine conditions. There is an option to add a traffic flow overlay for Sydney as well as the locations of live traffic cameras and temporary message signs.
The map also comes with a comprehensive list of points of interests that are very handy for planning a trip. These include: bike parking areas, heavy vehicles checking stations and rest areas, locations of Safe-T-Cams, general rest areas and RTA Motor Registries. Travel routes can be filtered to avoid incidents or road works on specific dates and can be saved for future reference.
Overall, this is quite a comprehensive information source, with an attractive multi tab design and extensive range of features.
Arek of All Things Spatial has written a great review of a route planning application for NSW, Australia. Here is a slightly truncated version on Arek's review. You can read the review in full on Arek's blog.
The Road Traffic Authority (RTA) in NSW has started publishing up to the minute information about traffic conditions in Sydney as well as in the greater NSW regional area. The site uses Google Maps to provide an excellent route finder that highlights any road works or hazards on a journey and allows the user to reroute to avoid any potential delays.
The live traffic conditions displayed on the map are refreshed automatically and the update time is clearly marked. Auto update can be turned off if required and users can customise the list of information displayed on the map.
Live updates include information on accidents, scheduled road works, major events, fires, floods and Alpine conditions. There is an option to add a traffic flow overlay for Sydney as well as the locations of live traffic cameras and temporary message signs.
The map also comes with a comprehensive list of points of interests that are very handy for planning a trip. These include: bike parking areas, heavy vehicles checking stations and rest areas, locations of Safe-T-Cams, general rest areas and RTA Motor Registries. Travel routes can be filtered to avoid incidents or road works on specific dates and can be saved for future reference.
Overall, this is quite a comprehensive information source, with an attractive multi tab design and extensive range of features.
Introducing the Google Phone Gallery
Here at Google, we’re thrilled with the global adoption of Android and with the high quality of devices that are coming to market around the world. Since there are so many great phones, we wanted to make the selection process a little easier for people who are in the market for a new one. Today we’re rolling out the Google Phone Gallery -- a showcase of Android-powered devices that deliver the best Google experience today. Check it out athttp://www.google.com/phone.
All the phones in the gallery include Android Market, Google Search, and other Google Mobile services such as Gmail, Maps, and YouTube. There are tools that make it easy to compare phones side by side: you can filter phones by country, manufacturer, and carrier; view and compare technical specifications and features; and find where each phone is available for sale.
We’ll continue adding phones and countries over time, both to round out the gallery and as new phones come to market.
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