Google Geo Developers Blog

A fresh new look for the Maps API, for all one million sites

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Hoetmer) — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:16:00 +0000

For nearly eight years, developers around the world have used the Google Maps APIs to build beautiful, powerful, and impactful apps. From the early mashups to today’s on-location mobile apps, these developers have continuously re-imagined the map. In fact, you’ve created more than one million active sites and apps, which now reach one billion unique visitors every week. One billion! That’s nearly half the Internet.

As we celebrate your maps, we’re also introducing the largest visible change in our eight year history: a fresh new look and feel for the JavaScript and Static Maps APIs, in line with the launch of the new Google Maps. The new look is available for opt-in today, and is a simple one line code change: google.maps.visualRefresh=true;.

We’ve carefully designed the change to work seamlessly with all existing sites, and as such all third party customizations such as custom markers, overlays, map types, and the like will continue to function as they did before. Four major changes are involved in the refresh:

new base map tiles
new default marker
new info window style
style refresh of the controls

Static Maps API base maps and markers have also been refreshed, and can be enabled by adding &visual_refresh=true as a URL parameter.

This new look will become default in our experimental branch (used by most standard Maps API developers) with the next scheduled release on August 15, 2013, and default in the release branch (used by most Maps for Business customers) three months later in November. The Static Maps API will follow the same schedule in both cases.

A complete list of specific changes is available in the documentation, where they’re discussed with examples and in more detail. In the meantime, here’s to the one million that reimagined the map. Enjoy!

Posted by Ken Hoetmer, Product Manager, Google Maps API

P.S. We migrated our Webby-Award-winning morethanamap.com showcase site to the new look. Check it out!

We’re going live from Google I/O

noreply@blogger.com (Mano Marks) — Thu, 09 May 2013 22:39:00 +0000

[Reposted from the Google Developers Blog]

By Mike Winton, Director of Developer Relations

At Google I/O 2013, we will share the future of our platforms with you. Developers from all over the world are the key innovators of powerful, breakthrough technologies, and that’s why we challenged ourselves to make the Google I/O experience available to every developer, everywhere.

Watch Google I/O live

From the comfort of your own home, office, secret lair, or anywhere you have a reliable Internet connection, you can stream Google I/O May 15-16 live. Brought to you by Google Developers Live (GDL), the Google I/O homepage will become the GDL at I/O live streaming hub starting on May 15th at 9 AM PT (16:00 UTC). From this page, you can:

Stream 4 channels of technical content on your computer, tablet, or phone. You’ll feel like you’re right there in the keynote and session rooms, listening to product announcements straight from the source. Live streaming will run on developers.google.com/io from 9:00 AM PT (16:00 UTC) to 7 PM PT (2:00 UTC) on May 15 and 16.

Watch exclusive interviews with the Googlers behind the latest product announcements. This year, GDL will be on site, broadcasting one-on-one product deep dives, executive interviews, and Sandbox walkthroughs from the GDL stage.

Get the latest news in real-time. We’ll be posting official announcements during I/O. You’ll be able to see the feed on the Google I/O homepage, in the I/O mobile app (coming soon), and on +Google Developers.

Never miss a session. All Google I/O technical sessions will be recorded and posted to GDL and the Google Developers YouTube channel. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for archived session updates.

Live blog the keynote

Grab our live blogging gadget to add the keynote live stream to your own site or blog. Customize the gadget with your site or blog name, live blog alongside real-time Google announcements, and share a dynamic Google I/O experience with your readers. Have questions? For more info, check out our live blogging gadget FAQ.

Get together locally

Experience Google I/O with your local developer community by hosting or attending an I/O Extended event. If you’re hosting, register here and learn how to hold a totally epic event with our handy Organizer Guide. Otherwise, with over 400 sites in 90+ countries, chances are good that there is an I/O Extended event near you. Find an event now!

And before I/O, tune in to Google Developers Live programming to connect with Google engineers, prep for this year’s event, and browse our archived content. For official conference updates, add +Google Developers to your Circles, follow #io13 for big announcements, join the Google I/O community, and keep an eye on the Google I/O site.

Mike Winton founded and leads Google's global Developer Relations organization. He also enjoys spending time with his family and DJing electronic music.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Map of the Week: Flattest Route

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Livni) — Thu, 09 May 2013 16:02:00 +0000

Map of the Week: Flattest Route

Why we like it: It’s Bike To Work Month, and this new site provides a nice, clean interface that highlights elevation changes along your commute.

After you select your start and end points, Flattest Route makes use of the Elevation Service to get back detailed elevations along a draggable path (which in this case is the result of a Bicycling directions request).

The path is color coded according to slope, and the map itself has the default UI controls disabled, adding to the clean design (you can still zoom using your scrollwheel).

A really useful feature is a set of simple but effective set of charts that highlight the hills.

The slope chart, created using the Google Visualization API is especially useful here. After viewing your bike commute, be sure to drag around the route and see how the elevations change.

Posted by Josh Livni Maps Developer Relations Team.

Behind the Map at Google I/O

noreply@blogger.com (Monica Trean) — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:30:00 +0000

It’s hard to believe that it’s been seven years since our first Geo Developer Day, which has since grown into a little event we now know as Google I/O. This year, we plan on bringing the best of Google Maps to every screen, including demos from the dashboard of a Mercedes-Benz to all seven screens of our latest Liquid Galaxy installation. Read on for a behind-the-map preview of the sessions, sandbox partners and events you won’t want to miss at Google I/O 2013.

Sessions
Join us for Google Maps: Into the Future, where our Product Managers and Developer Advocates will take at look at the present and future of Google Maps on our three platforms, the JavaScript Maps API, Android API, and the iOS SDK. Don’t forget to check out the Maps session schedule for more live I/O Live sessions and mark your favorites. And remember, all sessions will be available on YouTube after Google I/O.

Developer Sandbox
The Developer Sandbox at Google I/O gives you a chance to check out demos from developers who have built applications based on Google technologies and products--here are our favorites from Google Maps.

The developers behind Mercedes-Benz’s Digital DriveStyle will be on hand to walk you through their latest integration of the Places API, using the Google Maps SDK for iOS. Did we mention that the demo takes place from behind the wheel of a 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL550?

You can also take a look behind the lens of the Street View Trekker and SVII cameras, which have made their way from the peaks of Everest and the coral reefs of the Great Barrier Reef, to join us at Google I/O--you can even take the Trekker backpack on a hike through the Grand Canyon. Navigate different areas using the Wii Street U™ powered by Google available on Nintendo’s Wii U™ console.

Our other two partners will let you get hands-on, quite literally, with our Geo APIs. Try flying through Google Earth with a Leap Motion controller. And get an early demo of Map Diving on Google Developers Live this Thursday, where Instrument’s developers will walk you through how they built it using multiple instances of Chrome mashed up with the Google Maps Javascript API v3, Web GL, 3D CSS, web sockets and node.js.

Office Hours
As always, the Google Maps engineering and developer relations teams will be on hand to meet with you for office hours at our Developer Sandbox on the second floor of Moscone West. Stop by on any one of the three days and chat with one of the members of the team on a variety of topics, including new APIs and features, questions about our APIs in your apps, or simply to learn more about how our technology works.

GeoMeetup
On Thursday, May 16, our friends at GeoMeetup and O'Reilly are hosting an event in San Francisco. While the GeoMeetup is fully booked, we're stil taking applications for speakers at the Ignite sesssions.

I/O Live
For those of you joining us online, we’ll be bringing you highlights from the event on I/O Live. Look for the camera icon on the session schedule and follow us at +Google Maps API, where we’ll let you know when to tune in for a tour of the Maps Sandbox. In the meantime, we’ll look forward to seeing you on Google Developers Live this Thursday for a demo of Map Diving!

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Fab Friday is Directed

noreply@blogger.com (Mano Marks) — Fri, 03 May 2013 19:16:00 +0000

It’s Friday again. Of course for those of us on Maps Developer Relations, our weekends are filling up with thoughts of Google I/O. OK code demos and slide prep for I/O. More on that soon :-)

I’ve got another video for you. This week I did another Shortcuts episode, Directions and the Google Maps iOS SDK. The title sorta says it all doesn’t it? Showing you how to do an async call to the Google Directions API.

I posted the code on my personal github account.

We’ll have another Maps Developers Live event next week, details TBD, so watch +GoogleMapsAPI for more details.

I’m looking forward to seeing some of you at I/O, and hope the rest of you can catch us on I/O Extended.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

An update on the JavaScript Maps API v2 deprecation

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Hoetmer) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:22:00 +0000

In May 2009, we released JavaScript Maps API v3, rebuilding the Maps API from the ground up with a deliberate focus on reduced latency and increased performance. A year later, on May 19, 2010, v3 graduated from Labs to become the default JavaScript Maps API. JavaScript Maps API v2 was subsequently deprecated and scheduled for shutdown on May 19, 2013.

Over the past 3 years we’ve added numerous additional features to v3, such as elevation, cycling and transit directions, and symbols, and we’ve seen fantastic adoption, but we also recognize that a number of long-standing sites have not yet migrated their applications to v3.

Therefore, we’re extending the deprecation timeline for JavaScript Maps API v2 by six months, to November 19, 2013. On that date, we will attempt to automagically turn remaining v2 maps into v3 maps, by way of a JavaScript wrapper we will deploy. We expect this wrapper to work for most simple maps, but to avoid any last minute surprises we strongly encourage sites to complete their migration to v3 ahead of this date. We have prepared an upgrade guide to help make the migration process as painless as possible.

If you have questions about these changes, Google and the broader Google Maps developer community can help. Please refer to our forum for ways that you can seek support, including the JavaScript Maps API v3 mailing list for non-code related questions or Stack Overflow for code-related questions.

Posted by Ken Hoetmer, Product Manager, Google Maps API

Fab Friday is Geotemporal

noreply@blogger.com (Mano Marks) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 18:53:00 +0000

Well we’ve made it to Friday and you know what that means, another edition of Fab Friday from Google Maps! Plus, you know, a weekend, rest, relaxation, etc. Not that we’re getting that on the Maps team. No, we’re working hard on preparing for

Google I/O. But in the meantime, we’re keeping Google Developers Live going with some great content.

For instance, check out the latest Shortcuts episode by Chris Broadfoot, Large Data Geotemporal Visualizations with WebGL.

Next week, I’ll be doing a Shortcut on adding driving directions to the Google Maps SDK for iOS using the Google Directions API.

That’s all for this week, see you next time. And happy mapping!

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Map of the Week: Isuzu Trail View

noreply@blogger.com (Mano Marks) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000

Map of the Week: Isuzu Trail View

Why we like it: Isuzu Trail View is a great use of Custom Street View Panoramas to create an immersive experience.

Built to showcase the capabilities of the Isuzu KB in the South African market, the site creates an off-road Street View experience through one of four trails mapped by driving a KB.

Users can visit the trails using the custom Street View images collected by Isuzu, or through a Google Map in Satellite mode.

This is a powerful demonstration of the use of custom panoramas in conjunction with Maps.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Building Better Maps in Southeast Asia

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Hoetmer) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 08:59:00 +0000

(Cross-posted from Google Lat/Long blog. These updated maps are available immediately in all Google Maps APIs.)

Have you ever found yourself standing on the western bank of the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok, looking for a way to get across to the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha? Or perhaps you’ve spent time scouring a map of Jakarta to find Indonesia’s famous National Monument. In order to make it easier for locals and visitors alike to find what they need and get to where they want to go, today we are publishing more comprehensive and accurate maps for Thailand and Indonesia.

View Larger Map

These updated maps are part of a project called Ground Truth that began in 2008 as part of our ongoing quest to provide people everywhere with the most comprehensive and accurate maps. Through this project, we use high-quality map data from authoritative sources around the world and then apply a mix of advanced algorithms, supplemental data (including satellite, aerial and Street View imagery), and human input to help create a map that mirrors the real world as closely as possible.

For example, the updated map for Thailand now provides more comprehensive information about the Bangkok city center shown below. So next time you happen to find yourself needing to cross the Chao Phraya River, you’ll be able to see that many ferry routes across the river are now mapped in greater detail, with route names shown and piers clearly marked. You can also pinpoint nearby points of interest, such as the Grand Palace and other sites like Wat Pho (the Temple of the Reclining Buddha).

View Larger Map

We’ve also added many other kinds of new information to the map, including improved local-language labels and detailed coverage for prominent places like universities and hospitals. For example, the new map shows building outlines, department labels, and colored highlighting for campus grounds at the Gadjah Mada University, one of Indonesia’s largest universities.

View Larger Map

Today’s update also makes our maps more comprehensive by bringing more of Thailand and Indonesia’s natural geography online for everyone to see. The country of Indonesia spans more than 17,000 islands; with today’s update, many of these islands — including Komodo Island, home to some world-famous dragons — are appearing on Google Maps for the first time.

View Larger Map

Of course, the world is always changing, and we want Google Maps to change with it. If you happen to notice something on the map that needs updating, you can let us know by clicking the “Report a problem” link, which is visible today in the lower right corner of your screen when you’re browsing the map of Thailand or Indonesia. We’ll review your comments and make the appropriate changes to the map; you’ll often see the updates take effect within just a few minutes or hours of the time we verify your feedback!

Today’s updated maps are just another milestone on our never-ending journey to bring you the most accurate and comprehensive maps of the entire world. We hope Google Maps will help you explore your way through Bangkok, Bali, Bandung, and more!

Posted by Brian McClendon, VP Google Maps and Google Earth

Fab Friday is Geolocated

noreply@blogger.com (Mano Marks) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000

Happy Friday everyone! This week, we have another video for you, and some updates!

This week, I did another Shortcuts episode, Geocoding and the Google Maps iOS SDK .

I showed you how to do a call to our Google Geocoding API web service and place it on a map in iOS. The code is available on my Github account.

Speaking of iOS, this week we launched the latest version of the Google Maps SDK for iOS, version 1.2. Check out our +GoogleMapsAPI post for more details.

This week we also updated our JavaScript samples pages. When you click on a sample, it shows you the code right there. And by the way, our team has put in has created more than 100 samples to show off various aspects of the API.

That should make the samples easier to get up and running.

That’s it for this week, have a good weekend and happy mapping.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Map of the Week: Genève transit simulator

noreply@blogger.com (Mano Marks) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000

Map of the Week: Genève transit simulator

Why we like it: The Genève transit simulator uses Google Maps to simulate the movement of the various transit networks run by TPG in Genève (Geneva).

The map uses Symbols on Polylines to display the predicted motion of the tram or bus. It uses a ‘mouseover’ event on each of the markers to open an div element displaying more information.

The map also lets you view the map with the Stamen Watercolor map tiles using an ImageMapType.

This map was produced during the Urban Data Challenge by Robert Ille. It’s a nice demonstration of the power of our Symbols on Polylines and the power of public data in conjunction with maps.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Fab Friday is Located

noreply@blogger.com (Mano Marks) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 18:55:00 +0000

It’s Friday everyone, and in California it’s turning into spring. Warm, longer days make for fun outdoor adventures during the day, and cozy nights making maps. OK, seriously, get out there and have some fun.

Here’s a video to warm up your nights. In this Shortcut, Paul Saxman shows you how to quickly take data from Google Drive and load it onto your Android app that uses Google Maps Android API V2. He also put the code up on github so you can quickly get started.

Next week, I’m going to be doing a Shortcut on incorporating the Google Geocoding API into an iOS app that uses the Google Maps SDK for iOS. Please join me on Tuesday.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Posted by Mano Marks, Google Maps Developer Relations Team

Map of the Week: Zomato

noreply@blogger.com (Mano Marks) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 21:26:00 +0000

Map of the Week: Zomato

Why we like it: Zomato has a nice new App that uses the Google Maps SDK for iOS.

The Zomato Restaurant Finder app “gives you restaurant recommendations around you and lets you look at menus, pictures and maps for 90,000 restaurants in India, United Kingdom, UAE, Philippines, South Africa, Qatar and Sri Lanka.” Its simple interface gives you a map built in to each restaurant page, and also opens up a more detailed full map as necessary.

The interface uses a custom icon on the marker to represent the restaurant instead of the default marker. And for Directions, it uses the Google Maps URL Scheme to open the Google Maps app if it is installed, or maps.google.com if it isn’t.

Zomato also has nice web and Android apps as well.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Map of the Week: OpenSignal

noreply@blogger.com (Mano Marks) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:46:00 +0000

Map of the Week: OpenSignal Web and Android apps.

Why we like it: OpenSignal collects stats on cell and wifi networks around the world through it’s Android App. Users of the Android app pass anonymous reports to OpenSignal on the signal strength that they detect. That data is then compiled into heatmaps which are overlayed on top of a Google Map using an ImageMapType.

On Android, OpenSignal uses the Google Maps Android API V2. Heatmaps are overlaid on the Map with a TileOverlay.

Users can also see their local cell tower or wifi routers.

This is a innovative use of Google Maps to show useful information to the user.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Pirates, treasure, and more, with the Google Maps API

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Hoetmer) — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 23:25:00 +0000

Shiver me timbers! The Google Maps Street View team has stumbled on an amazing find: a long lost treasure map belonging to the infamous pirate, William “Captain” Kidd! The map was found during a recent expedition in the Indian Ocean, as part of a deep-water dive to expand our underwater Street View collection. We’ve digitized the map and enlisted the world’s help to decipher the encrypted symbols and lead us to the hidden treasure.

We of course anticipate a mad rush as pirates and noble seafarers alike race to uncover and claim Captain Kidd’s bounty. The high seas are about to become dangerous. Arrr!

But don’t worry! Brendan, our head of pirate security, has placed GPS trackers on all pirate ships known to be after this treasure and has created a map tracking their locations in real time.

Now, obviously you’ll need more than just a pirate tracking map to find Captain Kidd’s treasure, and so we’ve made building your own app with Captain Kidd’s treasure map simple: just add treasureMode: 'aye' to the map options when creating a map using JavaScript Maps API v3.

Happy hunting!

Posted by Enoch Lau, Buccaneer, Google Maps API

Fab Friday Says Hello

noreply@blogger.com (Mano Marks) — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 22:07:00 +0000

It’s Friday, and the week, and month, are almost over. Time for the weekend celebrations, and some map coding, to begin!

This week, I have a couple of videos for you. First up, we have the latest Google Maps Garage episode, Raster Data For Your Mobile Maps. Josh Livni and Paul Saxman explore adding map tiles from a WMS service to your Android app using the Google Maps Android API V2.

This week, I also did a Google Maps Shortcuts episode, Build Your First Google Maps iOS App. In it, I show you how to get quickly up and running using the hellomap-ios project on github.

Have a good weekend and happy mapping!

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Map of the Week: Cambridge Cluster Map

noreply@blogger.com (Mano Marks) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 17:48:00 +0000

Map of the Week: Cambridge Cluster Map

Why we like it: The Cambridge Cluster Map is a simple, visually appealing map that shows off the power of using a map to make a meaningful data visualization. According to their site, “The Map is designed to open the Cambridge technology cluster to the world. Through visualisations, reports and directories the Map paints a vivid picture of the business community that’s grown up over forty years.“

The map uses Circles, custom icons, InfoWindows, and Styled Maps to show data in various data sets, including fast growing companies, billion dollar companies, spinouts from Cambridge University, and much more.

One interesting feature is the use of circles, which the map places under a marker to show the amount of revenue generated in that location. The bigger the circle, the bigger the revenue.

The custom icons serve double purpose, showing both the number of employes and the kind of building, with multiple companies or a single one.

All in all a beautiful map which also manages to convey a lot of information.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Kick-start Your Fab Friday!

noreply@blogger.com (Mano Marks) — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 19:29:00 +0000

Another great week, another great Friday.

First in news from yesterday, the first imagery from the latest NASA LDCM satellite, known as Landsat 8, started coming in. I’m really excited since I got to watch the launch. I can’t wait for the imagery to start showing up in Google Earth and Maps.

This week, we have another great Google Maps Shortcut video and some code from Chris Broadfoot, Kick-start Google Maps Android API v2 Development. Chris walks you through how to quickly get started with developing an app using the Google Maps Android API.

And his hellomap code can be found on github.

Next week, we have Paul Saxman and Josh Livni presenting the latest Google Maps Garage, Raster Data For Your Mobile Maps.

A few weeks ago, I told you about Luke Mahe’s Mercator Puzzle. Well, Vasile Cotovanu has ported it for Swiss cantons puzzle. And he has posted his code on github.

Nice work Vasile!

I hope you have a great weekend. See you next week!

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Map of the Week: #FindTheEggs by Tesco

noreply@blogger.com (Mano Marks) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 18:37:00 +0000

Map of the Week: #FindTheEggs

Why we like it: #FindTheEggs is a fun use of the Google Maps API Street View Service.

Users search around their neighborhood to find eggs, which are created using Markers.

There’s a nicely styled inset map to help you find them, called Eggdar:

When you click an egg, you get an animation of it opening:

If you get all three eggs, you get a prize which you can redeem in store or online. Provided you’re a UK resident :-).

All in all a fun game that makes a nice promotion for Tesco.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Fab Friday is Quaking

noreply@blogger.com (Mano Marks) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 19:21:00 +0000

It’s time to finish another great week with Fab Friday!

On Wednesday, the Google Earth Outreach announced the Outreach Developer Grants. It’s a great opportunity to do good for the world, so check it out.

On Tuesday, I recorded another Google Maps Developers Shortcut, Earthquakes on the Move, where I talked about parsing GeoJSON from the US Geological Survey to display earthquakes on the Google Maps SDK for iOS.

Next week Chris Broadfoot will show you how to kick-start Google Maps Android API v2 Development. If you’re an Android developer who wants to work with the new Google Maps API, or a Maps developer who wants to make the move to Android, this is the GDL for you.

Have a great weekend, and see you next week!

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

Make a map that will change the world with Google Earth Outreach Developer Grants

noreply@blogger.com (Mano Marks) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 17:44:00 +0000

Cross posted from the Google Maps Blog

For the third year, I’m excited to announce the call for 2013 Google Earth Outreach Developer Grants applications is now open. Google Earth Outreach Developer Grants provide funding to nonprofit organizations ranging between $10,000 and $20,000 on average to build a map that will help them accomplish their mission, be it around environmental issues, humanitarian causes, disaster relief prevention, or health issues. If your nonprofit has a great idea for a map that can change the world, apply for a 2013 Google Earth Outreach Developer Grant today.

This year, we checked in with our 2011 Developer Grantees to learn about the impact their maps had on each nonprofit’s overall mission one year after the launch of the map. We were proud of the many achievements of the nonprofits’ work. Here are some of my favorite examples:

WWF & Eyes on the Forest mapped deforestation rates and wildlife habitat in Sumatra.

WWF & Eyes on the Forest created a map to showcase deforestation in Sumatra. With the Google Maps Engine map as part of their “Don’t Flush Tiger Forests” campaign, they convinced 17 out of 20 US retailers to stop buying toilet paper from companies cutting down intact hardwood rainforests and critical tiger habitat in Sumatra.

The HALO Trust mapped their minefield clearance work in a Google Earth Tour

The HALO Trust clears minefields in previously war-torn regions around the world, including Angola, Afghanistan and Cambodia. Upon the launch of their Google Earth tours designed to raise awareness about their work, they saw the most traffic to their website over the entire calendar year.

iNaturalist taps into citizen scientists who submit research-grade species observations to a global map using Android devices and iPhones

iNaturalist.org’s Android app, designed to collect species observations from around the world from citizen scientists, has been installed on over 2000 Android devices. The number of scientific-grade research observations has more than quadrupled.

We look forward to hearing about the impacts of our 2012 Developer Grantees’ maps as they are launched in coming months. Good luck to nonprofits who apply to our 2013 Google Earth Outreach Developer Grants, and if you are a nonprofit with a great idea for a map, apply for a grant!

Posted by Tanya Birch, Google Earth Outreach

An update on the Geocoding API V2 deprecation

noreply@blogger.com (Mano Marks) — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:00:00 +0000

In March 2010, we released the Geocoding API V3 web service, adding features such as a correctness measure and recommended viewports, to give developers more tools for creating amazing mapping applications. At that time, we also announced our intention to shut down V2 of the API in March 2013.

We’re hearing from many developers that they need more time for the transition to the Geocoding API V3. So, we’re extending the deprecation timeline for V2 by six months. This means the Geocoding API V2 will continue to work until September 8, 2013 and we will shut the API off on that date. If you’re a developer and have questions about migrating existing applications to Geocoding API V3, please see our handy upgrade guide for help.

Today we’re also reducing the limit on Geocoding API V2 from 15,000 requests per day to 2,500 requests per day, which is equivalent to the daily limit on the Geocoding API V3. If you are affected by this limit reduction and require more geocoding quota, please contact our sales team.

If you have questions about these changes, Google and the broader Google Maps developer community can help. Please tag your question with the “google-geocoding-api” tag on Stack Overflow.

Maps for Business customers will be unaffected by this change and will continue to be subject to their purchased limits.

Posted by Ken Hoetmer, Product Manager, Google Maps API

Fab Friday is the Story

noreply@blogger.com (Mano Marks) — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:00:00 +0000

It’s Friday again, and I’m really ready for the weekend, let me tell you! It’ll give me some time to develop some mapping ideas I have, mostly involving earthquake feeds.

Speaking of which, I’ll be doing another Google Maps Developer Shortcuts next Tuesday on loading JSON feeds into an iOS map using the Google Maps SDK for iOS. Join me at 10am Pacific.

On Tuesday I did a Shortcut on using Storyboards with the Google Maps SDK for iOS. Check it out:

Lastly, I spoke this week at GDG Silicon Valley on Google Maps Mobile APIs. Here are my slides from the event.

Have a great weekend!

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations team

Map of the Week: DTS Campus Map

noreply@blogger.com (Mano Marks) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 20:00:00 +0000

Map of the Week: Dallas Theological Seminary Campus Map

Why we like it: The DTS campus map takes advantage of the Google Maps API 45° imagery to display the campus in a unique way. The map creates extruded shapes for the buildings, making a polygon for each wall of the building and of the roof. And by using polygons, it was easy for the developer to add in infowindows as well.

Even more impressive, when you rotate the image, the map redraws the buildings so they stay in the correct orientation.

This map is an excellent example of simply making the Google Maps experience even better.

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations team

Fab Friday is Taking a Shortcut

noreply@blogger.com (Mano Marks) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 23:21:00 +0000

Fab Friday is back, and raring to go. I have a couple of videos for you today, but first a couple of announcements.

On Tuesday, Android Play Services launched an update, which included new features in the Google Maps Android API v2. Circles, new Polygon features, an OnMyLocationChangeListener, and more than 20 bug fixes top the list of changes.

Remember the Mercator Puzzle my colleague Luke Mahe wrote a few weeks ago? Well, he updated it, added more countries and randomized which ones show up in the puzzle. Now it’s on More than a Map, and looking good!

Yesterday, for the premiere episode of Google Maps Developer Shortcuts, Paul Saxman shared some tips and techniques for getting data in a Google Drive Spreadsheet onto a Google Map, using a little bit of Apps Script and touch of Javascript. Here’s the video:

Finally, last week Paul and I did a Maps Developers Live session on the latest version of the Google Maps API SDK for iOS. It’s gotten a lot of views, hopefully you’ll like it too:

Have a great weekend and see you next week!

Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations