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Tuesday, November 16, 2010

New design for directions on Google Maps

We just launched a major upgrade to directions on Google Maps! It’s now simpler than ever to switch transport modes, change the time/date of your trip, get a high-level overview comparing different routes, and view details of a single trip at-a-glance.

More details and examples are in the blog post that I wrote for the Google Lat Long blog.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Style upgrade for Google Maps in Japan

We've just launched a significant upgrade to the styling of our map and hybrid views for Japan in Google Maps!

This was a complex task, as Japan offers many unique challenges. Unlike western countries, most Japanese roads do not have names; instead, the cities are organized with a hierarchical block system. This makes the placement of landmarks critical to wayfinding. Another challenge is the huge density of map information in big cities such as Tokyo, which have complex subway and train systems, compact high-rise buildings, and extensive underground subway and shopping areas.

Find out a high-level summary of what we did in the Google Lat Long blog post, or more details in the Google Japan blog post...

Improvements to Google Maps in 10 countries

We've just launched vastly improved data in 10 new countries on Google Maps. Taking Sydney as an example, you can immediately notice some nice new features on the map tiles:

- Traffic lights now visible on the map, great for wayfinding
- Much better walking path, building and park data
- Nicer tunnel positioning (William St is finally visible!)

Enjoy!



More details are in the official Google Lat Long blog post.

Japan 2010

Photos from my recent trip to Japan:


View the complete set...