Hasta La Gadget!

Taking a virtual tour of the Amazon or Antarctica? Totally doable with Street View. But some of America’s finest National Parks? Yeah, those have been a long time coming. Today, Google announced the inclusion of five California-based US National Parks in Street View, and for those who haven’t had the opportunity (of a lifetime) to visit, they’re absolutely worth a look. Starting at the top, Redwoods National Park provides a street level look at some of the world’s most mysterious trees, while those looking for even more Treebeard-type characters can point their browser to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks. Naturally, Yosemite and Joshua Tree (shown above) are included as well, and the 360-degree views Google’s cadre of motorcars managed to capture really do a fairly astounding job at capturing the splendor. The toughest part? Knowing which one to traverse first.

Filed under: GPS

Google brings five California-based US National Parks into Street View originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Jul 2012 09:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve long since been fans of Google’s My Tracks app — perhaps the only issue is the Android exclusivity, at least for those using Windows Phone, iOS or BlackBerry. Of course, Columbia’s GPSPal accomplishes some of the same tasks, but even it will need a major overhaul to compete with the feature set in My Tracks 2.0. Available now for no charge in the Play Store, the new route tracker adds the ability to play back your tours, runs, etc. on Google Earth for Android. Moreover, it now aggregates statistics over time to show trends in performance, and we’re told that the user interface is “simpler and faster.” Those who weren’t so keen on the prior build’s charting system may also dig the newfangled charts / stats tables, which are said to be “easier to read.” So, how’s about that midnight run in Crystal Lake?

Filed under: GPS, Software

Google delivers My Tracks 2.0 for Android, includes playback in Google Earth and aggregation of statistics originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Jul 2012 13:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Maps. Everyone loves ’em. But while plenty of companies are showing off some very fancy map updates, we’re still being left somewhere, staring at tall buildings, waiting for our location to update and lead the way. Garmin reckons it’s solved the problem with its first GPS and GLONASS-compatible receiver, which can connect to both iOS and Android devices. Initial lock-on times are apparently 20 percent faster than typical GPS, while GLONASS’ additional 24 satellites will make faring through canyons and urban sprawls less of a struggle for signal pick-up. Garmin has also upped its position refresh rate to 10 times per second: typical GPS receivers will update just once every second. It connects to devices through Bluetooth and will offer a 12-hour navigation boost on a single charge.

If you’re a pilot, there’s even a GLO for Aviation package, which throws in a mount, power cable and six-month trial for its Pilot navi app. The standard receiver will launch in August, priced at $99, while those with wings can skip the queue and nab their version now for $139.

Continue reading Garmin GLO Portable GPS and GLONASS receiver: location refresh rate 10 times faster than typical GPS

Filed under: GPS

Garmin GLO Portable GPS and GLONASS receiver: location refresh rate 10 times faster than typical GPS originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jul 2012 01:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Getting lost can be half the fun of any leisurely museum excursion, but if you’d prefer to navigate your indoor outing with a level of precision typically reserved for trips across town, you’ll want to bring Google Maps along on your next journey to the Smithsonian. Mountain View just added 20 US museums to its battery of 10,000 indoor schematics, including the de Young Museum in San Francisco, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Cincinnati Museum Center, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, 17 Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo in DC. You can find the plans for any venue by searching or hitting the current location button once you’re on site, and Google plans to continue growing its collection, with SFMOMA, The Phillips Collection, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the National WWII Museum in New Orleans set to join soon. Meanwhile, institutions interested in joining forces with Google can use the company’s Floor Plans tool to get the process started. Full details are at the source link below.

Filed under: GPS, Software

Google Maps adds floor plans and walking directions for 20 US museums originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 16:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s next-level GPS mapping and 3D exploration app has been spotted in the code for the beta launch of iOS 6 with an indicator that it’ll be working with OS X soon. This will mean much more than just a mobile-based threat for Google Maps, as we originally suspected, it’ll be Apple attempting to take full control of the very much Google-dominated maps landscape from all angles. Have a peek at some XML right here and see if you can see what the developer sees.

What you’re seeing below this paragraph is a glimpse of some XML code directly from the source for Apple’s mobile operating system iOS 6 beta. This release has been made available for developers and those wishing to be developers for Apple’s mobile products in the near future, but is not out for public consumption as of yet. What we’re seeing here is references to “older Intel chipsets that are not known to support shading very well” as developer Cody Cooper tells MacRumors this week, each of them deactivated here so as not to make the maps look terrible.

On the other hand, it’s very likely that this code could also mean that Apple is protecting against terrible rendering on computers that are simply testing the iPhone/iPad software out in a simulator environment. In that case, there’s no more evidence that Apple Maps are hitting the desktop than there was before today. Either way, Apple, have a peek at how much interest you’re getting in the possibility of this situation now, and consider it!

Have a peek in our timeline below to see all the rest of our Apple Maps posts in the recent past – and get pumped up for this Autumn when the real deal comes forth!

Apple Maps spotted for OS X desktop use is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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