Open your eyes: Google Goggles now available on iPhone in Google Mobile App

Searching with Google on your mobile phone can be an eye-opening experience. Now your phone’s camera can even help to find out more about the world around you.

Back in December we introduced Google Goggles on Android: it lets you search by taking pictures. Today, we’re excited to announce that Goggles is now a feature of Google Mobile App for iPhone. Google Mobile App already lets you speak your queries, and it can also use your phone’s location to give you more relevant search results.

 

In the new version of Google Mobile App just tap on the camera button to search using Goggles. Goggles will analyze the image and highlight the objects it recognizes -- just click on them to find out more

Brazilian Street View Collections

Strit Viu

Strit Viu has been created to collect the best Street View images found in Brazil. The site allows users to submit the funny or memorable images they find in Street View and share them with the world.

You can search the submitted Street Views by location or by rank. Strit Viu also plans to add categories soon, so you will also be able search the images by tag.

Via: Street View Funny

Also See

• http://www.sampaview.com (São Paulo)
• http://www.riostreetview.com (Rio de Janeiro)
• http://www.bhnomapa.com (Belo Horizonte)

Dublin Journey Planner on Google Maps

Hit the Road

Hit the Road is a route planner for Dublin that shows you how to get between any two points in the city by bus, Luas and DART routes.

It is possible to find a route by either dropping map markers on the map to show your start and finish points or by entering addresses in the search boxes. Possible routes are then displayed on the map and the steps on the journey are displayed in the map side panel.

Alternative routes are indicated by numbered icons in the side panel. If you roll over one of these icons the alternate route is automatically displayed on the map. All the suggested routes tell you which number buses to take and give the estimated journey time.

Australian Demographics on Google Maps

NuMaps

NuMap is a Google Maps based application to view and analyse demographic data for any Australian Federal Government Electorate.

Using the map it is possible to view a large number of demographic datasets for any Federal electorate. To start exploring the data you first need to choose an electorate from the myElectorate Panel. Once you have selected an electorate it will be highlighted on the map. You can then open the DemographicDrapes Panel and select the demographic data that you wish to view.

You can use the DemographicDrapes panel to analyse different aspects of your chosen electorate. The datasets include gender, housing, income, birthplace and many more.

Penguins on Street View

Antarctica 360 Street View

Google's new release of Street View last week included some stunning shots of Antarctica - and there are penguins!

I've thrown together this little application to show an automatic 360 pan of just one of the Street View images shown. When you load the page the Street View will rotate automatically. If you want to explore using Street View just press the stop button and navigate using the Street View arrows. 

World Map 12th Century

Description: World map made in 1190 by the German or Burgundian theologian Honorius Augustodunenesis, also known as Honorius of Autun.

Viewing the Big Picture with Google Maps

Big Picture Small World

The Big Picture Small World is a mashup of Boston.com's The Big Picture and Google Maps. The map uses the Yahoo! Query Language to grab the RSS feed of Boston.com's Big Picture series and to map the pictures on Google Maps.

The locations of the pictures are determined by the image captions and not by any geographical metadata in the images. This is pretty accurate in most cases but does lead to some of the images being mapped in the wrong location. 

The picture collections that are mapped include some amazing photographs of the Earth taken from the International Space Station, pictures of India preparing for the Commonwealth Games, photographs from Oktoberfest and many more.

The Yahoo! Query Language is a powerful tool to query and filter data from websites. If you are looking to build a Google Map based on data from websites that don't provide an API but provide reasonable RSS feeds it is well worth having a look at the javascript of this map to see how it works.

Google Map of the Week

Vodafone Hometown GP

Vodafone Hometown GP builds a 3D racetrack based on your personally designed track and then lets you race against the clock on your very own creation. 

The game uses Google Maps to let you build a racetrack anywhere in the world. Just zoom in on a location and you can start building your track by laying it out on the road map of your chosen location. 

When you have laid out your track you can decorate it with signs and roadside buildings. Once you have decorated your track you are ready to burn some rubber. 

The game lets you race against the clock on your 3D racetrack. The game involves downloading a plug-in but it is worth it for some pretty impressive 3D graphics and some pretty impressive game-play. Don't believe me? Then check out this YouTube video:



When you tire of racing on your track you can save it and share it with the world via Twitter and Facebook.

Graffiti on Google Maps

Graff Map

Graff Map uses Google Maps to map graffiti locations around the world.

At the moment the map mainly shows graffiti in Melbourne, Australia. Users can submit their own locations to the map so hopefully the map will have wider coverage soon. Graff Map uses Street View where available to show pictures of the submitted graffiti but users can also submit their own photographs.

The developer of Graff Map has plans to add more functionality to the map soon, including, a top 10 list, voting, comments and tags.

Graffiti Maps From the Archives

• StreetArtLocator - user contributed map of street art.
• South Central LA Graffiti Map - graffiti in South Central, LA.
• Legal Walls - map of legal graffiti walls

Car Home for Android Gets Personal

Car Home for Android turns your Android phone into a better driving companion by providing you with quick access to key applications on the go: GPS navigation, voice-activated commands, contacts, and more. Today, we’re releasing a new version of Car Home for Android which makes it easier to customize Car Home to get the information you need faster.

Now, you can also quickly customize the shortcuts to personalize Car Home with one-touch access to apps and information on your phone. Just select one of the icons marked “Add shortcut” to start creating your own shortcuts. You can also drag-and-drop or remove shortcuts by long pressing any of them.

You can launch Car Home by opening the app directly from your phone or docking your phone in a car dock, and now you can automatically switch to Car Home when your phone pairs with any Bluetooth™ device. Simply select “Settings” from the Car Home screen and select which of your paired Bluetooth™ devices you want to automatically trigger Car Home.

Want to customize Car Home even more? You can now set your own wallpaper for Car Home. Just select “Settings” in Car Home and choose a wallpaper that fits your tastes. You can also customize the color of the shortcut icons to really make the Car Home experience your own.

We’ve also made it simpler for Android developers to modify their existing applications to be compatible with Car Mode. Apps which support Car Mode will show up in a “Car applications” category so they can easily be identified by you and added as a shortcut.

The new version of Car Home for Android is available for Android 2.2. You can get the update from Android Market by searching for “Car Home” in Android Market or tap here on your Android device.

Don’t forget, while your Android-powered companion can assist you while you drive, please keep your eyes on the road and drive safely at all times!

Update 10/1/10 10:28 PST: The new Car Home is available for Nexus One and Motorola Droid. Visit our Help Center to learn more or send us your feedback and questions in ourHelp Forum.