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NEWS ABOUT: Google Maps

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Google Maps Advises Against Mordor Visits

Try searching for walking directions from the Shire

(Newser) - With The Hobbit trailer out , some among us may feel inspired to risk the trek to Mordor. But if you look for walking directions to it from the Shire on Google Maps, you'll be greeted with a warning: "Use caution—One does not simply walk into Mordor."... More »

Cops: Google Maps Helped Burglar Case Homes

Samuel A. Watson confessed his process to police

(Newser) - So you want to rob some houses, but you’re not sure where to start? Well, Samuel A. Watson came up with the idea to use Google Maps, he admits to Chicago police. Watson, suspected of breaking into as many as nine homes since March, “said he Googled ‘... More »

Track Hurricane Irene With Google's Help

Map produced by the Google Crisis Response Team

(Newser) - Worried about how Hurricane Irene will affect you? Google to the rescue. The Google Crisis Response team has produced a map that tracks Irene's path and provides other valuable info. Search for your address at crisislanding.appspot.com and see how close your home is to the thick of... More »

Weather Forecasts Come to Google Maps

Critics not impressed by 'weather layer'

(Newser) - Google Maps has got a treat for weather nerds: The service has added a "weather layer" showing weather conditions and cloud cover around the world, using data provided by the Weather Channel's weather.com and the US Naval Research Laboratory, reports PC World . "To add the weather... More »

Google Maps Sends Travelers to My House: NJ Woman

State park seekers directed to private driveway

(Newser) - Get driving directions to a New Jersey state park on Google Maps, and you just may end up in a private driveway. The mapping error has been the source of endless frustration for resident Laurie Gneiding and her husband, she tells the Star-Ledger . “It started with one or two... More »

Android Is Tracking You, Too

And sending your location back to Google a few times each hour

(Newser) - Apple isn’t the only one tracking its users’ every move . Google’s Android OS does something very similar, a security analyst has found. The HTC Android phone he tested collected data on its current location every few seconds, transmitting it to Google several times an hour, the analyst tells... More »

Man's Laptop Pointed to Wife's Body

He looked at satellite images of site before her slaying

(Newser) - When the FBI’s cybercrime squad examined Bradley Cooper’s laptop, they found that he’d been scoping out satellite photos of the dirt road where his wife’s body was found —just hours before she disappeared. The Google map images were viewed at 1:15pm on July 11,... More »

Site Lets You Send a Gift to a Complete Stranger

A way to unload your junk ... or spread a little cheer

(Newser) - Wondering what to do with the really dreadful scarf your non-gift-receipt-savvy grandma gave you? Or just looking to spread a little happiness? Check out Gift a Stranger , a quirky site dreamed up by communications agency Happiness Brussels. Enter your name, city, country, and a description and photo of your gift,... More »

Cops Nab Carjacker in 7 Minutes Via Phone App

Owner had left his Droid inside

(Newser) - These kinds of stories aren't all that unusual anymore, but this one must set a land speed record: Police in New Jersey caught a carjacker in 7 minutes because the owner had left his Droid inside, reports the Consumerist . He also happened to have the Lookout app, which allows users... More »

Google Maps Mistake Triggers Invasion

Nicaragua uses border goof to justify incursion into Costa Rica

(Newser) - Google officials have apologized and promised to fix a flaw in a map that exacerbated a territorial dispute and triggered a Central American invasion. "We determined that there was indeed an error," said a statement from Google after a Nicaraguan commander used the flawed map as justification for... More »

Germans to Google Street View: Nein!

More than a million could opt out as service launches nationwide

(Newser) - When Google Street View launches in Germany at year-end, at least 3% of the homes in the country's 20 biggest cities will look pretty darn fuzzy—intentionally. Some 244,000 of the 8.5 million German households located there have requested that their homes be blurred out before the launch,... More »

Woman Following Google Maps Gets Run Over, Sues

Suggested Utah route was not pedestrian friendly

(Newser) - Google Maps' walking directions told Lauren Rosenberg to walk along a busy Utah highway with no sidewalk, and so she did—and was hit by a car in the process. Now Rosenberg is suing Google for more than $100,000 because it didn't warn her that the route was not... More »

Apple vs. Google: The Next Battles

Microsoft who? These guys are the new rivals

(Newser) - Remember those simple bygone days when Google and Apple were friends, united by their common archrival Microsoft? Yeah, those days are gone. This year the two companies declared war. Google released the Nexus One, and Apple released iAd, each a direct assault on the other company’s core business. And... More »

Google Maps Adds Directions for Bicyclists

New feature takes hills, bike paths, busy streets into account

(Newser) - An eagerly awaited new Google Maps feature plots out directions optimized for bicycle travel. The option doesn’t work for all locations, Wired notes—it covers 150 cities—and for some trips the bike route is identical to the car route. But it does offer alternatives, including steering riders toward... More »

Site Tracks Sex Worldwide

GPS, Google Maps used to track lovemaking

(Newser) - Where's the love? A new website called IJustMadeLove.com will tell you—with precise, digitally-guided detail. The site uses GPS technology and Google Maps to allow anonymous users to chart where, exactly, people are getting it on. Users can also let the world know whether their lovemaking was homo or... More »

Google Street View Reveals Ruins of Pompeii

New photos allow immersive experience of Italian ruins

(Newser) - Google's roaming photographers have found their way to ruins of Pompeii, and you can now tour the Italian archaeological treasure from the comfort of your own home using Street View. The Google Maps app, which creates an immersive 3-D environment from digital photographs, had previously focused on more traditional—and... More »

New Google Controversy: Aborted Fetus Photo

Someone other than Planned Parenthood likely posted disturbing pics

(Newser) - First there was the Michelle Obama chimp picture; now Google has another controversy on its hands with what appears to be a doctored Google Maps “Place Page” for a Planned Parenthood location in New York City. The Bleecker Street Planned Parenthood’s page features two pictures of dead fetuses.... More »

Microsoft's Bing Maps May Beat Google

Innovative integration and photo features make beta worth a test

(Newser) - The beta version of Microsoft’s Bing search engine maps feature could well give Google Maps a run for its money, Jason Kincaid writes for TechCrunch . The new feature challenges Google on every front: Streetside, the answer to Street View, functions similarly but uses 3D modeling to provide a seamless... More »

Google Ditches Mapmakers, Hires ... You?

Google ditches industry giant for user content, and others follow

(Newser) - Online maps that depend on user-generated content are growing at quite a clip, even threatening the more traditional purveyors of digital cartography. The famously canny Google marked the transition last month by dropping map company Tele Atlas from its US maps, opting to rely on free info provided by the... More »

Google Maps Invents UK Town

There is no Argleton, England, despite what you see

(Newser) - A Google Maps error has created a phantom town—“Argleton” in Lancashire, England. The service hosts photos of homes and restaurants in the surrounding area, but it’s all in error—the area is in fact just an empty field. Nonetheless Argleton has become a sensation with British tabloids... More »

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