I just watched this amazing demonstration of a few Google employees’ 20% project called Google Liquid Galaxy which uses a series of LCD panels and a seemingly seamless combination of Google’s location services like Google Earth and Google Maps to present a fairly immersive virtual experience.
Its worth watching this in 480p and full screen! The Google LatLong blog has some details about how the multi-panel rig was conceived and built for demonstration purposes:
We wanted to try visualizing other cool geo displays, so in July, Dan Barcay, one of the engineers on the Google Earth team, modified a Google Earth client so that it would synchronize views across multiple computers. The effect was pretty stunning: all of a sudden, flying around in Google Earth really felt like flying, and exploring the ocean trenches was like piloting a submarine. When you splashed through the sea surface you cringed slightly, expecting to get wet. You could even command your own lander down to the Moon or Mars. It was amazing to all of us how much more impressive Google Earth felt when we were surrounded by screens and able to turn our heads to look around (and even walk around). It felt more like a ride than a computer program, something between an observation-deck and a glass-walled spaceship. As a result of this totally seamless, immersive experience, we decided to name it the Liquid Galaxy. With the Liquid Galaxy, we could fly through the Grand Canyon, leap into low-Earth orbit, and come back down to perch on the Great Pyramid of Giza without even breaking a sweat.
It doesn’t take a lot to imagine a far more immersive experience with more detailed imagery and a seamless screen setup.
Ok, so you know that Nokia has given away navigation for life for Ovi Maps, right? Nokia also released a new version of Ovi Maps which makes location sharing that much easier.
So what makes Ovi Maps interesting now? Well, the “Share location” icon is your key to more dynamic location-based social activity. Ovi Maps connects to your Facebook account (I’d like to see Nokia connect to a range of services and let users pick which ones to update but for now its all about Facebook) and you can publish status updates coupled with location information on the go (you can also add photos to your postings). I went out for breakfast this morning:
If you click on that link in that post, it takes you to an Ovi Maps application in Facebook:
What means for you is that you can start sharing not only what you are doing but where you are too. There are lots of ways this could be useful. Nokia calls this Lifecasting:
Simon Dingle wrote a bit about some of the other features in Ovi Maps that are really useful for travellers. I think there is a fair amount of potential for local tourism too so if you are curious about what is going on in your own city, take a look at the Events and Lonely Planet guides too!
I’ve mentioned that I’ve had difficulty getting Ovi Maps to lock onto my location in anything under a few minutes (or sometimes at all). It turns out that there is a bug or some technical issue with SIM cards issued by MTN (this doesn’t surprise me) which have 14 digits serial numbers (there is a technical term for the serial number). The bug/issue interferes with A-GPS which is meant to speed up location tracking. I tested out a patch which will find its way into a future firmware update which fixes this issue and Ovi Maps now locks onto my position in seconds. Makes a big difference.
Nokia has dropped a bombshell and will be offering free turn-by-turn navigation on its smartphones. This is according to a Reuters report which I found via Engadget. The report is apparently based on a release of some kind from Nokia which I haven’t been able to locate yetUpdate: This news seems to be part of a broader Ovi Maps announcement. There is some great coverage on GigaOm.
As the Reuters report pointed out, this is bound to have an impact on more traditional GPS device producers like Garmin and TomTom. I’ve been using Ovi Maps on my N97 for navigation and it is excellent, when it works properly. The maps are more appealing, visually, although it can be a little difficult to search for and find places. That being said, Ovi Maps just keeps getting better with each release and I have seen an update that is still being tested internally which will make Ovi Maps an even better navigation option.
Nokia has been promising some pretty interesting location-based stuff using Ovi Maps as the core application for those services. It could make a huge difference to how we use location in our day to day activities so I hope it can pull it off and execute well. Nokia is facing increasing competition from Google and Apple, both companies have arguably more compelling devices based on more dynamic and appealing user experiences. Upcoming Symbian updates could change perceptions about Nokia’s products, though.
I am curious to see what happens next. Ovi Maps look better than Google Maps but I find that I can locate places a lot easier on Google Maps on my N97. Google Maps doesn’t look as good and we don’t have turn by turn navigation here in South Africa just yet but I think that will change. When it does, South Africans will have yet another option. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Google roll out turn-by-turn in time for the World Cup either.
The bank’s response to my suggestion that it load its branches and atms onto Google Maps was basically a link to the page on its site with a link to the branch locator (and other information).
Update 3: It turns out that what I thought was the bank’s response to my comment was not meant to be a response but rather a supplement to the original post on the page. I managed to slip my comment in between the original status posting and this update with the link to the locator page.
I tried out the branch locator and searched for the Woodmead branch and got this result:
Then I searched for (and found) the Woodmead branch on Google Maps (by the way, this map is a dynamic map embedded in this page so play around with it):
Update: I managed to pick a terrible Google Maps example here. It isn’t even in the right suburb! No idea who created the landmark but this is another good reason for Standard Bank (and any other business with an interest in making its physical location/s known) to take control of this sort of information layer.
Not sure about you but I find entries on something like Google Maps much more useful to me. I can save the location, sync it to Ovi Maps and navigate there. When it comes to Standard Bank’s branch locator, I get to print out a page with some data.
Looking at it from a different direction, if I am going to be in an area and want to know where the nearest Standard Bank branch or ATM is, I’d be able to find it pretty easily if that data was on Google or Ovi Maps. And if all that data on the branch locator was added to each Google Maps listing, well, I may not need the branch locator and the bank will have given me a tremendously valuable resource.
Just saying …
Update 2: Angus Robinson from Brandsh, Standard Bank’s agency’s head, called me after I published this post to chat about the post and, during the course of our conversation, pointed out that the mobile site (standardbank.mobi) also includes a branch and ATM locator and a more dynamic one at that. I didn’t even know that the mobile site had this functionality. I tried the mobile site locator out and searched for ATMs in Sandton:
I selected the one at or near the McDonalds and requested directions. Its not clear how it calculated these directions or whether there is some form of cell tower tracking or GPS involved but this is what I got:
I also tried the map and got the following:
This does make it easier to find branches and ATMs on the go, for sure. What would help more is a layer on Google Maps for people who want to search for these branches in a more dynamic and useful format. Max Kaizen pointed out to me that she has found Standard Bank branches/ATMs using Ovi Maps (something else I didn’t research). If you have a Nokia device that runs Ovi Maps, that seems like a better bet, assuming it is more accurate than the “Woodmead” branch I included a map to above. This is actually one time that Ovi Maps seems to have better map data than Google Maps and makes it easier to find stuff.
I was invited to a Google Maps launch event at the Helderfontein Estate. Of course I immediately agreed to attend although I was wondering what I would see at the launch that I haven’t been seeing recently on Google Maps.
It turns out that Google Maps is pretty important to Google with roughly 50% of searches having a geographical component. Google SA’s Stephen Newton started off answering a question I had. Why is there a launch for Google Maps in SA when we’ve had Google Maps for some time now. It turns out that the version of Google Maps we were about to be introduced to is a new release.
Business listings
One of the features of the new Google Maps initiative is free business listings. Another is directions which has been missing from Google Maps until recently (I first noticed it a couple days ago and used it earlier this week to find a meeting location after Nokia Maps took a while to find me and where I wanted to go).
If you use the local maps.google.co.za domain you will find that local content is given precedence. One nice touch is that you can search using popular names in some contexts. For example, you can look for “Joburg” when you are search for stuff about “Johannesburg”. An really handy feature for people wanting to learn more about the locations they are searching for is that you can click on a link “more info” …
… and be presented with a profile page of sorts about that location which aggregates information available on the Web:
For local businesses the business listings parallel the place profile pages. These profiles can contain a variety of rich media about the business, reviews, search results and contact information. It sounds a little like a crowdsourced Yellow Pages with arguably more useful information about these businesses and places. Business listings are free, as in air, and businesses are encouraged to add as much information about their business as they can. Google wants your rich media! This isn’t purely altruistic (although the potential benefit to businesses and consumers alike is substantial). No doubt richer business listings provide more opportunities for Google ad sales but this is something that works out well for all concerned, I think.
For tourists
The addition of a series of information layers adds photos, Wikipedia articles and webcams. This is going to be a pretty handy tool for tourists, especially with the 2010 World Cup coming up next year. I am sure they thought about that … But wait, there is more. There is transit information:
Tourists will find that place and street names have been translated into a number of foreign languages including Japanese, Russian, Hebrew and so on. They can even search for place names in a foreign language using phonetically similar terms.
The travel directions appeal to me and although routes don’t change dynamically on your mobile device as you are driving, you can change the route by dragging points on the route around. In the process you will be presented with information about the trip including distance and travel times.
Mobile
Of course no Google product would be complete without a mobile version. We were treated to a demonstration of the Samsung Galaxy (I think) and Google Maps on Android. Samsung sees Android as a strategically important platform and this really reinforces my thoughts about Android which I rambled about yesterday.
Watching Google Maps being demonstrated on the Samsung Android phone (and similar devices) you can really begin to appreciate how powerful our mobile experience of the Web will be as more and more smart devices rollout and additional features like Street View and other augmented reality apps find their way on to those devices.
