Google Maps

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Google Maps: We're Going to Scrap That Desert Detour

GPS sent cars onto unpaved roads in California desert, and they had to turn back

(Newser) - Google Maps is officially apologizing for sending a caravan of cars on an unpaved detour in the California desert from which they all had to turn around. Everyone got out safely, though at least one car suffered expensive damage, reports the Washington Post . The GPS ordeal happened on Nov. 19,...

He Drove Off Collapsed Bridge. His Family Is Suing Google

Lawsuit says company failed to update Google Maps after it was informed of collapse years earlier

(Newser) - The family of a North Carolina man who died after driving his car off a collapsed bridge while following Google Maps directions is suing the technology giant for negligence, claiming it had been informed of the collapse but failed to update its navigation system. Philip Paxson, a medical device salesman...

Drivers Say Google Maps Failed Them in Snowstorm

They say they were routed down closed or treacherous California mountain roads

(Newser) - Authorities in California say weather events like this month's record-breaking snowfall in the Lake Tahoe area should be a reminder for people not to rely too heavily on their GPS systems. Drivers complained this week that when highways were closed, services like Google Maps and Waze, which is also...

Following Google Maps Up This Mountain Could Kill You

Mountaineers in Scotland are trying to get the problem fixed

(Newser) - Want to get to the top of Ben Nevis, the UK's highest mountain? Don't follow Google Maps' directions. Mountaineers in Scotland, where the mountain is located, say the service directs people to drive to the parking lot that is nearest the summit, then walk from there—but the...

Sardinia to Tourists: Stop Using Google Maps

It's sending travelers to places they really shouldn't be

(Newser) - Sardinia has a message for tourists: Maybe don't blindly follow Google Maps. Authorities in Baunei say that over the past two years there have been 144 emergency calls for cars and hikers requiring rescue in the village, located in the eastern province of Ogliastra on the Italian island in...

Dozens of Drivers Follow Google Maps, End Up Off-Roading

One of the drivers picked up 2 others who were trying to get to airport

(Newser) - Google Maps: useful, but not always the best thing to follow blindly, as dozens of Colorado drivers learned the hard way Sunday. As Connie Monsees explains to ABC News , she was on her way to Denver International Airport to pick up her husband when she ran into a traffic jam....

The Plot Was Marked 'Searched.' Only the Half Without the Body Was

Coroner finds fault in search for Australia's Darrell Simon

(Newser) - For 18 months, family and friends wondered what had happened to Darrell Simon. The 46-year-old Australian had vanished after setting out from his girlfriend's home, 50 miles west of Brisbane, on a bike ride in November 2014, and the delay in locating him led some to suspect he died...

Image Revealed of Military Base Near Area 51

Two guys pushed Google Maps to make an update

(Newser) - Like viewing secretive military bases? Google Maps has long shown the Tonopah Test Range in southwestern Nevada, but didn't update that image for eight years—so two guys bought satellite imagery of the location and questioned Google about the apparent oversight, LiveScience reports. "Why did you allow the...

Told Google Not to Track You? It May Be Doing So Anyway
AP Probe: Google Is Storing
Data You Said Not To
INVESTIGATION

AP Probe: Google Is Storing Data You Said Not To

Specifically, your location data

(Newser) - Google wants to know where you go so badly that it records your movements even when you explicitly tell it not to. An AP investigation found many Google services on Android devices and iPhones store your location data even if you've used privacy settings that say they'll prevent...

Google Maps May Keep Your Car From Being Towed

Users can now receive alerts for parking time limits

(Newser) - Never again will you have to wander a parking lot in search of your vehicle—or so Google hopes. A new feature on Google Maps allows users to record the location of their vehicle by tapping the blue location dot on the map screen and putting a "P" icon...

Google Maps Briefly Tells You How to Get to 'Dump Tower'

President-elect's pad was mysteriously renamed for a few hours

(Newser) - For a few hours on Saturday, Google Maps would obligingly direct users to not only New York City's famed "Dump Tower," but also the "Dump International Hotel & Tower," both of which were inexplicably renamed from their original "Trump Tower" and "Trump International...

Uber 'Doubling Down' on Mapping Effort
 Uber Is Making Its Own Maps 

Uber Is Making Its Own Maps

The company will spend $500 million

(Newser) - In an apparent effort to lessen its reliance on Google Maps, rideshare company Uber will be "doubling down on our investment in mapping." That amounts to pumping $500 million into an "ambitious global mapping project," the Financial Times reports. Uber has already unleashed mapping vehicles in...

Annoyed Rancher to Lots of Hikers: Google Maps Is Wrong

People were led to his property instead of the trail

(Newser) - Canadian rancher Pete Stoner was having a heck of a time getting Google to change its mapping tool to direct people in search of the Fort George Canyon Provincial Park in British Columbia to the trailhead instead of his private property. He says it all started in 2014, when he...

Philly PD Admits Its SUV Was Masked as Google Maps Vehicle

SUV decked out with technology to spy on drivers (and fake Google decal)

(Newser) - The Philly PD has a "mystery" on its hands, and it involves one of its own vehicles. On Wednesday, a University of Pennsylvania professor spotted an SUV near the Philadelphia Convention Center, souped up with two high-tech license-plate readers and a placard linking it to the Pennsylvania State Police—...

Man Missing Since 2006 Found in Pond by Funeral Home

Sunken car could be seen in Google Maps image

(Newser) - A man who disappeared in 2006 was found this week just yards from a funeral home that could have given him a proper burial. A body believed to be that of 72-year-old Davie Lee Niles, who was last seen leaving a bar in Byron Township in central Michigan on Oct....

The Man Who Erased Islands From Our Maps

One ocean surveyor was charged with erasing phantom islands

(Newser) - When ocean surveyor Captain Sir Frederick Evans became the new chief hydrographer to the Royal Navy in the 1870s, he was tasked with charting the Pacific Ocean, which for more than 400 years had been filling up with "phantom islands," reports Intelligent Life magazine. That is, islands that...

White House Pops Up on Google Maps in N-Word Search

Company says it's trying to fix system so it won't be inundated with racial slurs

(Newser) - Just last month Google Maps had to scramble to eliminate an image that showed an Android robot peeing on the Apple logo . Now it's got an even worse problem: remedying an issue that brings up the White House when certain racial slurs are punched in, the Washington Post reports....

Google Fined for Showing Cleavage on Street View

Maria Pia Grillo wins $2K from tech giant

(Newser) - The latest embarrassment for Google Street View: Google has been fined more than $2,000 after its mapping feature showed an image of a woman's cleavage. A Montreal judge found that Maria Pia Grillo's privacy was invaded in having "part of her breast exposed," Gigaom reports,...

Google Maps Car May Have Killed a Dog: PETA

Organization calls on company to donate $1K to neutering group

(Newser) - Animal-rights activists are calling on Google to donate cash to help animals—because, they say, it looks like a Street View car killed a dog. PETA has posted a pair of photos on a blog that show a dog running, then lying, on a street in Chile, the San Francisco ...

Google Street View Maps Florida's Reefs

Images could appear online as soon as this week

(Newser) - You may soon be able to explore the wonders of the Florida Keys from the comfort of your home. Google is taking its Street View mapping technology beneath the waves, using round, SVII cameras to snap images "over an area up to 20 times larger than what's available...

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