Google Gives Search a Refresh
March 15, 2012AdWords Contextual Engine Gets Biggest Upgrade Ever
March 24, 2012It’s finally time for Google Maps API to move out of the folks’ house
By Drew Bowling
Since 2005, Google Maps API has resided within the general developers corner of Google at code.google.com. Today, via the Lat Long Blog, Google Maps announced that they’ve created a new home for Google Maps API creations that will better showcase the innovative uses that developers have made. From the blog:
In addition to having all the same developer content that was previously available on code.google.com, the site is designed to highlight and illustrate new features of the Google Maps API through fun and interactive demos. Our goal with developers.google.com/maps is to inspire the next wave of innovation on the Google Maps API, and to connect developers and decision makers with the tools and services that can make their products better.
The new developer site will be curated by the Google Maps API team and comes equipped with a tagging feature to filter searches by theme (like Art or Crime) and/or the Google Maps API used. Although there are only 139 maps currently available in the showcase, many are related to campus maps and vacation-planner maps. To highlight some of the more eccentric maps you’ll find at the new Google Maps API, here are some of the more captivating offerings from developers.
Maps Without Maps, which as you can see, depicts a world without borders. Aside from it’s intensely minimalist design, the map was built to as a challenge to ourselves to “rethink how we interact with maps” by turning the task “finding a location into a foreign task.”
The Guardian’s Mapping the Riots With Poverty shows the outbreak of riots last year in the UK. The map creates a comparison between location of the riots and areas stricken with low income.
A fascinating map sure to resonate with history buffs is Time Shutter. This map depicts how cities have changed over time by overlaying historical maps over modern Google Maps. Additionally, users can submit historic photographs to help reconstruct the cities as they once were.
And while this map isn’t currently included in the developers showcase of Google Maps people have built, it’s still one of my favorites: NUKEMAP. Drop a nuclear bomb on any place in the world to see the yield and destruction on what such an event would have on an area.
About Drew Bowling
Drew Bowling is a staff writer for WebProNews. He never met an all-you-can-eat buffet he didn’t like. Twitter: @bentfortherent Google: +Drew Bowling