Google Maps has been updated with mapping data for Australia and New Zealand cities. A move that is likely to continue to spur a frenzy of mapping mash-up activity.
While the Google Earth application has captured the imagination of the world with its 3D satellite images, Google Maps offers businesses a means of overlaying their own data or statistics over detailed street maps on their web site.
An obvious application is in real estate where available properties can be plotted onto a map for the benefit of house hunters.
A “mash-up” typically mixes different types of data such as geographic data overlayed on an interactive map. In countries where Google street map data is available, more mash-ups have sprung up each day and range from the quirky to the very practical.
‘Dig to the Centre of Earth’ will tell you where you would end up if you dug right through to the other side of the planet and the Da Vinci Tour tracks all the landmarks from the Dan Brown novel.
On the less frivolous side is the Dublin Commuter Map which provides links into realtime GPS data linked to trains to give accurate timetable information.
Talk to us about utilising Google Maps in your next project.
