Trend for MapQuest: Down

Overall, this looks like a good update for MapQuest, but these updates are only minor and won't be enough to win back users who have abandoned the service. Our friends at Experian Hitwise were kind enough to provide us with fresh traffic data for Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps and Yahoo Maps. While MapQuest managed to edge out a slight lead in February, Google Maps now owns 45% of the market, while MapQuest's market share has fallen to 35%. Yahoo Maps is now at 6.6% (down from 10.2% in February) and Bing Maps owns 4.3% of the market (up from 3.6%).

For many Internet users, MapQuest is still synonymous with online mapping, but this group is shrinking and Google's relentless pace of releasing updates and new features isn't likely to let up anytime soon.

If you look at the new maps today, the most obvious changes are better data for park boundaries and the trails and paths that now appear prominently on the maps. In addition, if you see a mistake on a map (a bike trail that is marked as a road, for example), you can simply right-click on the road and the drop-down menu will now include the option to report a problem (there is also a link at the bottom of the map). Sadly, this feature doesn't allow users to redraw maps themselves. Instead, you can only leave a short text comment. Other mapping projects like OpenStreetMap allow users to quickly redraw the lines themselves, though at the cost of increased complexity and a high learning curve. For now, Google promises to resolve each edit within a month.

All of this additional data also adds a new layer of clutter to the maps, though. For now, it is not possible to turn the information about trails and paths on or off, for example. If you are planning a route to drive with your car, you probably won't care much about the bike trails. At the same time, if you are planning a bike trip, it would be nice if you could just highlight all the biking trails in a given area.

Focus on Better Maps Instead of More Satellite Images

The competition between online map providers has mostly been around adding new and higher-resolution satellite images lately. The Bing Maps July update, for example, came in at over 41TB of new satellite imagery and aerial photography. Now, it looks like Google is going back to pushing the envelope by focusing back on the straightforward mapping features that make up the core of every good mapping service.

Currently, as far as we can tell, the only market where Google already offers these ads is Japan, where logos for companies like 7-Eleven and McDonald's appear on the maps. Kit Eaton from Fast Company wonders if the new ads will be contextual and generated based on user input. Judging from the ads that appear on the maps in Japan, these logos will appear on the map, no matter what the user is looking for. At least on the maps in Japan, these logos are very small and don't get in the user's way - though they definitely add more clutter.

Microsoft's Bing Maps already offers a slightly more sophisticated advertising package where certain sponsored listings are highlighted with a business' logo when a user performs a relevant search.

Just yesterday, Google also launched a new layout for the Place Pages on Google Maps that shows details about a business such as opening hours, images, and reviews.

What's most interesting about Waze is how it uses the power of the crowd to build its map database. Just by driving along with the application open, users are contributing data to Waze. Although this does make the service somewhat dependent on building critical mass in order to be successful, the company is confident they can do so. That's because Waze originally launched in Israel and in less than a year's time, they already have 91% of the country mapped. Here in the U.S., that process will obviously take longer, but Waze believes they'll have at least one metropolitan area completed in the next three months - the San Francisco Bay area, of course.

Since the application is designed to provide traffic alerts, one of its features allows users to contribute additional information like whether that's a speed trap ahead or just a fender bender slowing things down. Users can upload photos, too, so other Waze drivers can actually see what's causing the problem. This feature is a little disconcerting, though, since it does require the driver to interact with the phone while behind the wheel. However, Waze encourages the use of these features only when stopped, or even better, by having a passenger enter this info instead. (At least they disabled typing while the car is in motion. Whew!)

Also new to Waze is turn-by-turn directions, now available for free within the application. That feature alone should encourage more users to give it a shot, especially those who haven't purchased their own standalone GPS-based navigation device yet.

Early adopters can download the free mobile application from the company's homepage here. Just remember: this service only arrived in the U.S. this May so at this point, it may be more about helping build the map data than it is about using what's already there.

Today, MapQuest released its first iPhone app, MapQuest 4 Mobile (iTunes link), and after testing it for a while, it quickly became clear that MapQuest's app is a worthy challenger for the iPhone's built-in mapping application, which is based on Google Maps.

Directions and Local Businesses

Just like the MapQuest web site, the iPhone app focuses on finding local businesses and directions. One of the nicest features of the app is that you can save your maps and routes on the MapQuest.com web site and then retrieve them on your phone. Finding local businesses is also very easy thanks to a carousel with different types of businesses that sits at the bottom of the map. You can just click on the gas station icon, for example, and the map will highlight all the local service stations in the area.

With regards to giving directions, MapQuest 4 Mobile offers a number of very useful features, including the ability to add multiple stops. You can also easily email links to maps and directions directly from the phone. Of course, the app is not a full-blown GPS application like the forthcoming Tom Tom for iPhone, but when you hold the phone in landscape mode, the app will bring up a nice oversized display with the next turn that is very easy to read (though you should probably let your passengers handle the app while you're driving anyway).

Plans for iPhone 3.0?

It will be interesting to see how and if MapQuest will make use of the new features in the upcoming iPhone 3.0 release. After all, these will include push notifications and the ability to provide turn-by-turn directions (MapQuest's BlackBerry app already offers this as a subscription service through AT&T). We have already heard from some companies that plan to use push notifications to send out alerts based on a user's location, and apps like MapQuest 4 Mobile and its competitors could definitely benefit from these new features in iPhone 3.0.

Perhaps the secret to AccuTerra is that Intermap's key business is not iPhone applications at all, but rather, aerial mapping. In the past, Magellan GPS and the US government have partnered with the company to utilize their 3D map data. And mapping in this world is no easy feat. To collect more than 3 million square miles of high-resolution 3D map data, the company didn't ping a satellite. Their work involved developing new mapping technology and deploying more than 2,530 aircraft over U.S. airspace for more than 10,000 hours of airtime. Imagine that paperwork. Still, the company believes your safety is well worth the effort.

Even in a storm far from a wireless connection, hikers can use AccuTerra to see their distance from warming huts and roads, routes around river beds, and most importantly, the terrain. While the app's ability to create and share annotated hiking tours with geo-tagged photos is interesting, it's the offline maps that make this application a solid survival tool. AccuTerra plans to sell state park maps at $1.99 each and national park maps at $2.99 each in the app store; however, for WWDC attendees, Intermap released free maps of Yosemite National Park and the SF Bay Area including Muir Woods and Mt. Tamalpais. If you're in the Bay, download the maps and geocache us some beer.

Features

As you would expect, the app allows you to search for restaurants, nightlife, shopping, and even services like nail salons and barbers, but what makes it stand out is the extremely smooth 3D view of the city. The app uses the standard iPhone gestures for zooming and tilting the 3D map. The best way to get a good feel for the app without paying $2.99 is to watch this video.

Sadly, though, the city looks a bit bleak and could use a bit more color once you zoom in. This doesn't take away from the functionality of the app, though.

In addition to aggregating data about the city, UpNext also crowdsources its reviews and images from businesses. Users can also easily rate businesses and write their own reviews on the phone.

Smooth Scroller

UpNext, of course, has the advantage of only covering a small area, and most of the data is cached on the phone, so unlike Google Earth, UpNext doesn't have to load its map tiles from the Internet.

(tip of the hat to CultofMac for pointing us to this app)

What is Photosynth?

Photosynth was launched last August and allows users to automatically stitch multiple photos to create an immersive 3D experience. The service made its most prominent appearance in the mainstream media in January, when it was used by CNN to crowdsource a massive 3D view of Barack Obama's inauguration.

Thanks to Silverlight, Photosynth is Now Available for All (even Mac users)

A few weeks ago, Microsoft switched the Photosynth viewer from a browser plugin to a Silverlight application, which removed a major hurdle for the widespread use of Photosynth. This also finally opened up Photosynth for Mac users as well. Sadly, though, the Photosynth desktop client, which is needed to actually create new synths, is not available for OSX yet.

New Features: Highlights and Privacy Controls

In addition to the new player, Microsoft also recently introduced a number of other interesting features. You can now, for example, highlight key images in your synths, and Microsoft also finally introduced privacy controls, so that your synth is not always available to the public by default.

Synths on a Map

While regular end-users won't get the same benefits as Microsoft's commerical partners, Microsoft already allowed users to browse geotagged synths directly on a Virtual Earth map and Microsoft already highlights some synths in its Live Maps application.

Canpages.ca, the Canadian business directory listing service similar to the Yellow Pages in the U.S., is home to the new mapping service where it's accessed by performing a search on their homepage. After your search results appear, they are accompanied by a traditional map of the business location. At the top of the map, you'll see an option to select "Street View" from the menu bar when it's available. You can also click on any of the blue highlighted streets to delve directly into Street View at that particular spot. As with Google's Street View, you can click on arrows to move forward and backward and there's even a small cartoon figure that appears on the map for reference.

Although the CanPages' Street View maps offer many similarities to Google's, what's most notable about this launch are the many differences between the two services. For example, all of the CanPages maps have been created using high resolution photography. Google, on the other hand, has only used high-res imagery in a select handful of international cities including San Francisco, Paris, and Seattle.

CanPages's maps also offer a fullscreen view which you can use to fully immerse yourself into the city scene. However, don't try to tilt the camera up to the sky - that's one feature the CanPages maps don't have - they're limited when it comes to panning vertically.

Another feature of the new Street View maps is a configuration menu which allows you to customize settings like image sharpness, brightness, quality, and projection or the curved effect. You can also choose to turn on or off additional visual aids, the blue navigation dots, or the grid.

Perhaps the nicest feature, though, is the pedestrian maps. Captured by a team of photographers who traveled on foot with shoulder-mounted cameras, the CanPages maps let you explore parts of cities where cars can't go. For now, this allows you to travel down pedestrian walkways, but the company hopes to use their unique camera set up in the future to film hotel lobbies, retail stores, shopping malls, and parks.

CanPages also made privacy a priority from the start. When Google launched their service, faces and license plates were plainly visible. Only recently have they responded to people's concerns and began to blur these images. On the CanPages maps, however, not only are these items blurred, there's also a link at the bottom-right corner of the map that lets anyone submit concerns about that particular image.

A Better Street View

Considering that Google's Street View technology has still not made its way to Canada, the CanPages maps provide a good alternative - actually, given the features offered, we could even say they provide a better one. For now, CanPages Street View maps encompass the cities of Vancouver, Whistler, and Squamish (all in British Columbia). The company plans to expand to Toronto and Montreal next, followed then by as much of Canada as possible.

Image credits: krisabel.ctv.ca

There are obviously numerous potential applications for such a technology. On the MOBVIS homepage, they offer up some scenarios for how their application could be used, including the following:

Tourism/Augmented City Maps: The MOBVIS technology could be used to inform visitors about the objects in an area be them buildings or landmarks. The images could also be annotated with additional information like history, event information, or information about nearby shops.

Visual Localization: For phones without GPS technology, triangulation could be combined with the computer vision technology to locate a user's position and orientation in a manner that would be comparable to GPS and just as accurate.

Motion Estimation: Also comparable to GPS, MOBVIS could enable continuous position updates to determine the location of objects in motion as well as their speed.

Incremental Map Updates: MOBVIS supports incremental updating of maps which would allow for the automated authoring of the urban infrastructure. No longer would Google need to send their vans around taking pictures of streets - the data could be uploaded from users' phones as they took their photos.

Picture-Driven Search Engine: Because the mobile phone could now "see" the surrounding landscape, the world - reality - becomes the backdrop for a sort of picture-driven search engine in which the objects in the world are all hyperlinked and annotated like a real-life semantic web.

How It Works

The MOBVIS system begins with a pre-populated database of geo-referenced panoramas (such as Google's Street View, perhaps). The objects in the images are then manually annotated with information. Once that's complete, the system is ready for search queries from mobile users. After a user takes a picture, MOBVIS compares the photo to the photos in its database and returns the relevant links.

The challenge here is getting a mobile phone picture to match up with the more pristine photos found in the database. The database photos would likely be clear, crisp, and detailed, but a user's photo could be grainy, taken on a dark and cloudy day, or taken from an odd angle.

The MOBVIS system's main strength comes from its feature-matching algorithm developed by the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, one of the partners of the project. This algorithm can very accurately detect minute differences between similar objects. In real-world tests, it's reported that this system was highly accurate, detecting the right building 80 percent of the time.

Aleš Leonardis, head of the Ljubljana team, believes that number can be improved, too. He also notes that that the system, though not always right, was never wrong. "It was remarkable that there were no false positives," he says. "Sometimes the system couldn't identify a building, but it never put the incorrect link on a building."

You can read more about the research here on the MOBVIS project's homepage.

At I Feel London, I Feel NYC, and IFeelToronto, you can find activities, nightlife, shops, dining, bars, and more based on how you feel: energetic, chilled, manly, sophisticated, romantic, naughty, manly, and even broke. After clicking on your current feeling, the different types of activities appear on the Google map with customized pushpins that match the feeling. For example, "girly" pushpins are a set of smoochy lips, "hungover" pushpins are really dark shades.

The maps are hardly comprehensive guides to the cities, but that's OK since they're open for collaboration. You can help fill in their gaps by requesting an invite to the various Google maps being created. Although only three maps are live now, there are nine maps in total being worked on at this time.

You might think the maps are just someone's nifty side project, but to Andy, they represent much more than that. He notes, "Although it's tempting to focus on how technology can enable new behavior, I'm more interested in how it can remove barriers to behaving in ways we are programmed to do. Mood - or state of mind - seems to me to be the most fundamental trigger for human action."

In addition to the benefits provided by standardization, IT departments also have to take into account the investment in their current infrastructure technology. To date, that investment often includes BES, or Blackberry Enterprise Server, which supports the needs of email-on-the-go for millions of corporate users.

Now, BES admins can deploy Google Maps for Mobile to those millions of users with ease, thanks to Google's new packages designed specifically for this server technology.

• Download the ALX package for BlackBerry Enterprise Server to give employees Google Maps for mobile.
• Download the JAD/COD package if you would like to host the files internally and have your employees individually install Google Maps.
• If you use access control policies to restrict installation of applications on corporate BlackBerry phones, download the workaround ALX package for BlackBerry Enterprise Server versions prior to 4.1.5 MR1. (More information is available in our discussion group.)

ALX packages for Google Web Search and GOOG-411 are also available. 

Still, for all the beauty of Google's directions, "street view," and "search nearby," the top-down views of our world have always been a bit fuzzy and squint-inducing. Until now. Thanks to Google hitching a ride on GeoEye-1, that's all about to change. And today, we saw the first example of what's to come.

Wired has posted the first photo from GeoEye, and it's amazingly crisp.

Here's a comparison between the new satellite image and the current resolution (GeoEye-1 image, top):

Looking for more resolution than that? You're going to need to get security clearance. The US Federal Government restricts distribution of higher-resolution imagery, even though the image the satellite is capturing has a more detailed resolution (43 cm).

Currently, there is no specific date for when the imagery will be added to Google Maps and Google Earth.

One thing is for sure: When this new high-resolution imagery becomes available, Google Maps sightseeing will get a great deal more interesting.

For iPhone users, a new app called Say Where from Dial Directions can help you get directions and other location-based content just by speaking to your phone.

With Say Where, you can say an address, intersection, business name or category, or point-of-interest and the app will show you results from their various content partners. Those partners, which include Google Maps, MapQuest, Ask.com, CitySearch, Yelp, and others, will provide both directions and location-based info like user reviews.

It should be noted that this app isn't entirely hands-free - you still have to touch it at times. Of course, to launch the app you have to touch it, but you also have to touch and hold your finger on the screen when speaking. The video below gives you an idea of how this works:

Even though the app requires some interaction, using it is a lot easier than having to use the iPhone's keyboard to type in information while also trying to keep your eyes on the road. For anyone who relies on their iPhone to get them from Point A to Point B, Say Where looks like a handy app to add to your homescreen.

For this year's Tour de France, Google already mapped and photographed the complete route in France and Google's cars have been spotted in various other countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and Spain, as well as Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.

In the U.S., Google is currently slowly expanding the service outside of the major metropolitan areas and has started photographing a lot of rural roads as well.

While there will always be some privacy concerns around taking such an enormous amounts of photographs and publishing them online, Google's technology has proven that it can blur out faces and license plates very effectively.

Image of Street View car by Flickr user byrion.