Top 10 Features in The New Google Maps - Google has reinforced that Maps are all about exploring and discovering, especially on mobile. The experience will only get better, for the developer and end user. We can all expect to enjoy new features and enhanced navigation experiences from gMaps in the near future. I've had a chance to have an early look (See blog post) and have also provided a quick list of Top 10 new features - enjoy!
GISuser Expert Feature - Low-Tech Field? Think Again - When the public thinks about landscaping, high tech doesn’t immediately come to mind. After all, this is work involving dirt, manual labor and plants. Mechanical engineering is represented in the form of a backhoe loader, for example, but that’s about as “technological” as the industry gets. Right?
Canada Post Suing Over the use of Postal Code - An interesting issue is unfolding in Canada and quite frankly its darned amazing! Imagine this, you have a website and offer some kind of product or service. You also use a map so users can search your product by Postal Code... uhoh, now you get a letter from Canada Post stating that they are suing you!
Location, Location! 10 Map Services Your Business MUST Be Listed in - You have a business... perhaps a bar, a coffee shop, or maybe a consulting firm. Regardless of the business type, if you have a brick and mortar presence then you need to get your business listed in some of the popular online, location-based resources and search tools. Even more important is being found via mobile search.
Avenza Announces Return of Annual Map Awards for 2013 - The competition is open to all mapmakers from around the world who use Avenza products in the creation of their maps which were completed or published during 2012 or 2013. The various category awards recognize achievement in the art and science of cartography and promote the advancements and innovation made in mapping.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife Connect With Anglers via Colorado Fishing Atlas - Colorado Parks and Wildlife Connect With Anglers via Colorado Fishing Atlas and Social Media. Some fine civic engagement from the Parks and Wildlife service in Colorado as some new resources designed to connect with Anglers have been released to the public.
AEC Firms Lose an Average 100K a Year - A little financial advice from an industry insider to help in these tough times. June Jewell, a CPA and owner of Acuity Business Solutions consulting, says the architectural, engineering and environmental firms she works for easily lose $100,000 each year through inefficient and ineffective practices
President Obama Issues Executive Order and a new Open Data Policy - Another bold move from the Obama Administration, this time via an executive order and a newly released open data policy. The move aims to arms business and developers with previously hard to find, or even impossible to access data.
Editing OpenStreetMap (OSM) Just Got Easy, Really Easy! I'm sure that many (if not most) of you have often wanted to mess around with OSM and add/edit some features but were a little lazy - I'm guilty! But now we have no excuse thanks to the new OpenStreetMap in-browser map editing tools available from the iD Editor
Creative Cartography Meets Music in The Song Map - Oh yes, I love art. I also love music too, heck, who doesn't right? Well, I know you GeoGeeks and music lovers will really dig this one as we stumble onto yet another amazing cartographic product that quite simply will make you say WOW
Why is Landsat important and the Landsat Missions Timeline - Landsat has the optimal ground resolution and spectral bands to efficiently track land use and to document land change due to climate change, urbanization, drought, wildfire, biomass changes (carbon assessments), and a host of other natural and human-caused changes.
Mobile Market Trends show Apple users most loyal - Results from a recent survey indicate that Mobile Market Trendsreveal Apple users are most loyal, T-Mobile customers most likely to bail - are you still confident that your clients are loyal to your brand?
10 Must Have Gadgets and Technology for the Remote Office - Chances are good that if you happen to work in technology or you're a consultant, that you may be working remotely or from a home-based office at some time soon - or perhaps you already do
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If you happen to be an Android mobile device user then perhaps you noticed that Google recently rolled out an update to the Google Maps mobile app for Android... or perhaps not.
The app boasts a number of updated features including better battery performance but perhaps most noticeably you'll get a real kick out of the new checkin functionality.
The service provides the familiar checkin capabilities that we all love or hate to use, however, it has much more than that. For the gaming experience there's a leader board, you know, who's checked in most etc... Foursquare has this and for me anyway, it's likely the most boring and useless part of foursquare... sorry but I really don't care if I'm leading in checkins, and quite frankly, if I am a leader amongst my contacts then I think I'd be a little concerned that I need to get a life!
Moving on, the app really is quite interesting. Here's how it works. Load up gMaps and locate yourself (make sure GPS is enabled). Then, using the drop-down menu in the top left corner, drop down the options that are available to you. In the middle you'll notice an option to Checkin. Maps will search a POI database nearby (another example of why a business MUST get listed and verify their listing in Google Places) and present a number of options, optionally you can search if your place doesn't appear near the top (handy in congested urban areas). I was interested to notice that when I load the checkin while at home, Google maps geocodes my location and accurately presents my home address as an option, although I don't think I'll checkin from my home! Select a place, I'll pick a nearby cafe as an example, add a comment (the dialog is exactly what you see when you use G+ to make a post from your mobile, and checkin. Note, when checking in you have a number of sharing options that you can set including: share with your G+ circles, share with Latitude friends, or make public... this is cool! And here's something quite cool, you can optionally enable maps to automatically check you in to this venue in the future when you are nearby or remind you to checkin the next time you come here.
Finally, once you checkin you are shown stats of the leaderboard, this is the gaming element to Google Maps checkin, and then you can proceed to the Google Place listing page of the venue. I really like this, particularly as I frequently lookup Google places via this information. From this page you can read reviews, add a review, add a photo, rate the place, link through to their website, view it on a map, or call them... very nice and I'm afraid I have to say that this is much more useful for me as a visitor to a venue than the place information I see when I do a foursquare checkin.
The new look for Google Maps Mobile on Android
Great stuff from Google Maps on Android.
For business owners this is a HUGE reason to make sure you secure ownership of your Place listing on Google maps and make sure your information is relevant and up to date! See http://www.google.com/places/
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Top 10 Features in The New Google Maps
Canada Post Suing Over the use of Postal Code
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This is a section devoted to providing our valued contributors with a corner to do whatever they like with and discuss Geo/Tech topics that are near and dear to them! Be sure to check out ALL of our experts for commentary, editorial, links, and advice! Interested in becoming a contributing expert? 
