Wednesday, May 15, 2013

The New Google Maps


Google are beginning to push out the new Google Maps. You can request an invitation here. Google will then e-mail you an invite. The invites will start being sent out from tomorrow morning.

One of the stand-out features of the new Google Maps is the integration with Google Earth (without the need for a plug-in). The photo above is an actual view of the new Google Maps (the poor quality is due to it being taken from the presentation on the huge screens at Google I/O).



The whole look of the new Google Maps is designed to provide an individual map for every individual user. For example, places that you visit often will show up on your map. If you regularly visit a particular restaurant then that restaurant will be a place-mark on your map. You might also see similar restaurants on your map and other restaurants that have been recommended by your friends.

The new map also features some amazing transitions from the map into Street View. The photo tour feature also seems to be improved, with amazingly smooth transitions between user photos taken around the same location.

There are also some great improvements to directions in the new Google Maps. I posted about some of them earlier today but one stand-out feature is the ability to view detailed schedules for individual transit stations.

The new Google Maps looks to be such a radical step forward that I wonder if we might hear news of v4 of the Google Maps API later today.

Learn more here

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