Hasta La Gadget!

Google has expanded its Maps traffic coverage before, but rarely on a grand scale. The search giant isn’t standing on tradition this time: it just flipped on live traffic data for at least the major roads in over 130 cities. Most of the coverage centers around smaller cities in the US, although Google is tipping its hat to Latin America with first-time support for Bogota, San Jose (in Costa Rica) and Panama City. Coverage has also been improved in a dozen other countries worldwide. While the widened reach still won’t ease the burden of anyone already caught in a traffic jam, any democratization of smarter driving directions is good in our book.

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS

Google Maps adds live traffic for over 130 cities, boosts existing coverage originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 18:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Geotagging. It’s not exactly a long, lost art, but it’s certainly not something most folks bother to do after a trip. Avid travelers, hikers and the general outdoorsy crowd have been embracing the feature for years, though, and it’s actually seeping into the mainstream without most individuals even noticing. How so? Smartphones. Given the proliferation of iPhones, Android handsets and Windows Phone devices making their way onto the market — coupled with the explosive use of geo-minded social networks like Path, Instagram and Foursquare — an entire generation is now growing up in a geotagged world. Phone users have it easy; so long as there’s a data connection and an embedded GPS module (commonplace in modern mobile devices), there lies the ability to upload a photo with a patch of metadata embedded. Snap a shot at a national park, upload it, and just like that, viewers and friends from around the world now have an idea as to what a specific place on the Earth looks like.

Solmeta N3 geotagging module review

Columbia’s GPS Pal app for Android and iOS

Casio Exilim EX-H20G (with Hybrid GPS) review

For travel hounds like myself, that’s insanely powerful. I’m the kind of person that’ll spend hours lost in Google Earth, spinning the globe around and discovering all-new (to me, at least) locales thanks to the magic of geotagging. It’s sort of the photographic equivalent to putting a face to a name. By stamping latitude, longitude, altitude and a specific time to any given JPEG, you’re able to not only show the world what you saw, but exactly when and where you saw it. It’s a magical combination, and with GPS modules finding their way into point-and-shoot cameras — not to mention external dongles like Solmeta’s magnificent N3 (our review here) — there’s plenty of opportunity to start adding location data to your photos. For more on the “Why would I want to?” and “How would I best display ’em?” inquiries, let’s meet up after the break.

Continue reading Embracing geotagging: how to journal your trips (and contribute to Google Earth) with snapshots

Filed under: Digital Cameras, GPS

Embracing geotagging: how to journal your trips (and contribute to Google Earth) with snapshots originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 12:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google’s 3D City View is now available on iOS. The Google Earth update adds three-dimensional imagery to major locations including Washington D.C, San Francisco and Boston. It’s arriving alongside Tour Guide; select a notable attraction to go straight to it, with accompanying trivia you can bore your friends with later. Sadly 3D maps requires the processing hardware of the iPhone 4S, iPad 2 or the third-generation iPad, but other iOS (4.2 or higher) device users can still get access to Tour Guide. Unsurprisingly, the update’s available via the App Store — but you shouldn’t need a map to find your way there.

Filed under: GPS, Software

PSA: Google’s 3D City View and Tour Guide arrives for Google Earth on iOS today originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jul 2012 12:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google has already taken us on a trip to the frigid shores of Antarctica before. Now the search giant is back with even more panoramic images, this time from deeper inside the frozen continent. With help from the Polar Geospatial Center at the University of Minnesota and the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust (not to mention a light-weight tripod and a fisheye lens), Street View can now bring to you the wonders of our most southern land mass. This isn’t a short stroll in the footsteps of penguins either — the ceremonial South Pole and Shackleton’s Hut are among the numerous landmarks that get exposed to Google’s image sensors. Enjoy the quick tour above and the video after the break.

Continue reading Street View heads back to the Antarctic, visits historic landmarks (video)

Filed under: Internet

Street View heads back to the Antarctic, visits historic landmarks (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jul 2012 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hasty, no? Merely hours after being announced to the world, Garmin’s GLO Portable GPS and GLONASS receiver have touched down in the FCC’s database. Per usual, that’s a fairly solid indicator that the devices will be available for sale on US shores within a few weeks, and if you’re curious, there’s even a draft user guide tucked in the source link below. Truth be told, there’s not a ton here that wasn’t already made public — it’s obviously “Made for iPod / iPhone / iPad,” and Garmin asserts that the included battery will take three hours to charge but 12 hours to deplete. The manual also asserts that Android users “may need to use an application to allow the sensor to properly communication over Bluetooth,” and just in case you’re thinking of getting wet and wild, the outer casing is said to be “rugged, but not water-resistant.” For shame — we were totally looking forward to geotagging our next romp down the Gauley.

Filed under: GPS

Garmin GLO Portable GPS and GLONASS receiver hit the FCC, get torn down for good measure originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Jul 2012 07:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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