Google Maps Archives

Google Maps remembers where you parked even if you don’t
By Staff Reporter on 26 April, 2017
There are two problems with parking in any city (especially Cape Town). One, finding a parking, and two, remembering where it is you parked. Google Map's latest feature update ensures the latter comes a bit more easily. "Now, Google Maps for Android and iOS will not only help you get where you’re going, but it’ll help you remember where you parked once you’ve arrived," Google Map's project manager Jeff Albertson announces in a blog. For users who engage with Maps regularly, simply tapping the blue location dot with bring up a menu with "save your parking" an a new option. "You’ll see a...

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Google Maps for Android has just become a lot more useful
By Staff Reporter on 7 February, 2017
Google Maps' latest Android update is introducing a little context and information tab at the bottom of the app's screen. The app, which still displays what its name suggests, now also serves users context-rich information. Thanks to the update, Google Maps will now display a number of places you can possibly visit, from restaurants to petrol stations. Frequent tasks and locations are now just a tap away. Your destination? As close to a tap away as we can get you. https://t.co/pHtEJGXq3b pic.twitter.com/2lUxATZwAo — Google Maps (@googlemaps) February 6, 2017 Google will also prompt users with the traffic conditions and calculated travel time to...
Google Maps now features ‘Areas Of Interest’ with cleaner aesthetic
By Myolisi Sikupela: Staff Reporter on 26 July, 2016
Google Maps' latest update now allows users to get a more up to date sense of what's happening in their surrounding areas. It also brings a few UI improvements. To achieve a cleaner look, the company has gone for a more subtle and balanced colour scheme and removed unwanted elements like road outlines. The new look, according to the company, allows users to see helpful and actionable information like traffic and transit a lot clearer. "We’ve improved the typography of street names, points of interest, transit stations, and more to make them more distinguishable from other things on the map, helping...
Google uses 700 trillion pixels to update Maps, Earth
By Hadlee Simons on 28 June, 2016
We often take Google Maps and Google Earth for granted, but the Mountain View company has updated its cloud-free mosaic with some wonderfully sharp images this week. Yep, the company has taken advantage of new processing techniques and the Landsat 8 satellite to deliver an updated global mosaic - and the results are rather impressive. Google said it sifted through over a petabyte of data to deliver this new mosaic, coming three years after its original Earth mosaic. It added that the petabyte of information was made up of 700 trillion individual pixels. "To put that in perspective, 700 trillion pixels is 7000 times more pixels than the...
Google brings more specific traffic alerts to SA
By Hadlee Simons on 14 April, 2016
Checking your smartphone for commute times has become the norm for millions of people around the world. Google pioneered this function with Google Now, but Apple and Microsoft were quick to copy the feature for their respective platforms. The Mountain View company stepped its game up in November last year, moving beyond generic "25 minutes to work" alerts. Instead, the company delivered specific traffic notifications in Google Maps, offering spoken alerts and notifications about traffic conditions. Now, South Africans, Nigerians and Kenyans can get in on the action too, the company announced. "Just in time for you to hit the road, we're updating Google Maps with new traffic alerts to...
How to unlock 3 awesome hidden tricks in Google Maps [Video]
By Staff Reporter on 15 April, 2014
Welcome to the second episode of our new YouTube show MemeTV -- a weekly show where we'll share social media, online marketing and tech tips, how-to's and anything that we think will bring value to you, our readers. Google has a knack for hidden tricks, and in this video we'll show you three really cool ones that you'll find buried in Google Maps. If you're bored at home (or work) try out these out to brighten your day. MemeTV is a show for you, so if you've got any requests -- such as how to set up your social media profiles...
10 pieces of consumer tech that have transformed PR over the past decade
By Judith Middleton on 27 February, 2014
While we may not yet have the hover boards, flying cars and self-lacing shoes promised in 80s cult movie Back To The Future, the past 10 years have seen the introduction of an unprecedented number of cool, useful tech products and services that have made the life of the modern PR so much easier. Some among us may remember a time before mobile phones, when we had no way of keeping in touch with important calls after hours. Or even worse, who remembers a time when press releases were printed and hand-delivered (in a personalised manila envelope no less)? Since our...
MTN’s $50 Steppa smartphone changes (almost) everything
By Hilton Tarrant: Columnist on 5 February, 2014
It’s been astonishing to see how quickly mobile operator MTN’s Steppa smartphone has been written off, when the devices have hardly made it to retail stores. This is a sub-$50 smartphone. A phone that retails for R499. By comparison, the BlackBerry Curve, a phone that South Africa was (and still is) addicted to, sells for closer to four times as much. The newer 9320 (which has 3G) sells for a little more, while the original 8520 – the most popular phone in South Africa at one stage – sold for a little bit less. By comparison, Nokia’s entry-level Asha 210 device retails...

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Apple’s map woes continue… and can possibly kill you
By Stephan Lourens on 10 December, 2012
According to a report on ABC News, Australian police in the state of Victoria have rescued six people in the last two months after they were misdirected by Apple's map app into potentially dangerous and life threatening situations. As the information given by the app is incorrect, directions for the small town of Mildura take you about 70km away to the Murray-Sunset National Park Inspector Simon Clemence of the Victoria police said: "It's...
Google Maps: Now with real-time traffic overlay
By Dewaldt Huysamen on 20 June, 2012
We recently reported on the massive changes Google was making to its Maps offering. Today a few more of those updates roll out to the general public. As of today Google Maps traffic overlay is fully functional in seven new countries, including South Africa with cities like Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town covered. Now when plotting a route from one point to another, Google maps will give you a few options with live traffic info and real-life time estimations for your trip. This is really amazing and the best part is, it's available for mobile devices as well. Recently I...
13 more of the coolest hidden Google tricks
By Lauren Granger on 24 May, 2012
Ok, I’ll admit it. I made a mistake. I tried to pack all the awesome hidden Google easter eggs into one article... and, really, there are way more than 17 ‘tricks’ built into Google products or entertaining sites to be found by clicking “I’m feeling lucky”. So, if you’re finished evading the ghosts in Google’s version of Pacman and you’re looking for some more awesomeness, read on. 1. Askew: If you run a Google search for the word “askew”, you may think you’ve somehow broken your monitor or telepathically adjusted your display settings. But really, Google has just shifted a few...

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April Fools’ roundup: Google’s got big dreams
By Mich Atagana on 2 April, 2012
The jokes are over for another year. April Fool’s Day has passed and you can go back to enjoying your favourite news sources in peace (that is, unless they get taken in by another hoax). Some big names took part in this year's April Fools' party and even though we didn't (or maybe we did and you didn't notice because it was that good), we found quite a few of the hoaxes quite fun. So here is our round-up of our favourite April Fools' hoaxes. Leading the pack is Google who seems to have crafted a prank for every one...

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17 of the coolest hidden Google tricks
By Lauren Granger on 27 March, 2012
Google is awesome. Yes, there have been questions raised about its new privacy policy and creepy Safari tracking and frankly, it just knows way too much about everyone who has ever created a Google account. But let’s put that aside for a moment and focus on all its cool quirks, shall we? They’re built into practically every Google product -- if you look hard enough, you’ll find that entering the right search term or typing a code can make Google collapse, spin or create fictional characters. Here are 15 easter eggs (hidden, entertaining things developers build into a website or...

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The quest for inner space — Google’s Floor Plan
By Graeme Lipschitz: Columnist on 2 December, 2011
Google launched its controversial product, Floor Plan, this week on the Android mobile platform to much cheering from those who are easily lost in big, labyrinth type places. A few sceptics of the product have already jumped on the “Streetview is an end to our privacy” bandwagon but most of the PR around the launch of the product has centred around convenience with Search Engine Land going on to ask “How did I live without this?" A few of the big names in the US retail game like Ikea, Macy’s, Bloomingdales and Home Depot have put their faith in the...

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Google launches new flight search service
By Staff Reporter on 14 September, 2011
Internet giant Google has launched a flight search tool in a potential challenge to online travel services. Flight Search is the first travel product from Google since its US$700 million acquisition of ITA Software earlier this year. "Since then, our engineering teams have been working closely together to build new travel tools that provide faster, more flexible, and more useful results to online travel searches," Google said in a blog post. A "Flights" link will...