Google Offers Hybrid Satellite and Map View

That's Unpossible! writes "Google Maps now offers a hybrid view which combines their map view with their satellite view. The Google blog has a notice on the update. It appears to use 8-bit alpha transparent PNGs to make it work."

Comments

Draw my own line?

[wirwzd]

Now they need to make it do I can draw or adjust the line to see the mileage on different routes I want to take.

This could also potentially used be used to collect data to improve the mapping, i.e if the end user plots a better/shorter/faster path between two points if to/from map drawn.

Also could be used to collect correction data (i.e directed down one way street.

A button for optional feedback on change reasoncouldbe used to collect why the change was made, etc.

Re:As good as this looks...

[TopShelf]

Quite the contrary, I could see using the hybrid in preference to just the map. If you print it out for someone, I find it more useful than just the raw map...

I guess "regular" maps can now be officially

[melted]

I guess "regular" maps can now be officially declared dead. This is right on so many levels, and implementation appears to be flawless.

Re:I guess "regular" maps can now be officially

[Linus Torvaalds]

I guess "regular" maps can now be officially declared dead. This is right on so many levels, and implementation appears to be flawless.

Regular maps don't need a computer and Internet connection. Those are two pretty big flaws.

Very Impressive

[(eternal_software)]

From a programming standpoint, this is amazing.

The fact you can zoom in, to the highest zoom level, anywhere in the US... and the roads line up with the satellite maps.. is amazing.

I just zoomed in fully to my street on Long Island, NY, and the road names and highways were overlayed perfectly with the actual streets as depicted on the satellite map.

How do they do this? I guess the satellite maps are labelled so precisely that they can overlay lat/lon routes on top of them?

WTF is up with you people?

[exp(pi*sqrt(163))]

They have satellite/aerial photography. They have map data. The map data is often derived from said photography. They've compositied one over the other.

Geez! If they put pictures of fancy roses in corner you'd be creaming yourselves!

Hmm...Knee-capper.

[Anonymous Coward]

"Perhaps a more interesting question would be why they bothered to make it work with IE, rather than requiring IE to work with PNGs. How long is it before Google is strong enough, at least in the web sphere, to dictate terms to Microsoft?"

When Google become's the thing you all claim to hate.

Re:It has to be said.

[Saeed al-Sahaf]

Parsing addresses is not as easy as all that, as not only do people type them all sorts of non-standard ways, but also cities use many different non-standard naming formulas. These things being so, Google does extremely well in figuring out the garbage that people type in.

But it has to be said.

[zerocircle]

Yeah, but all the cool applications and features they keep releasing are impressive as hell.

Re:It has to be said.

[dourk]

But, since Google provides all these neeto features to me and so many others free of charge, who am I to complain?

BUT

[Ark42]

Still NO EXIT NUMBERS! :(
I can't believe I still use Mapquest's tiny and slow interface just to find freeway exit numbers.

Re:It has to be said.

[Naikrovek]

Beta is no longer a technical term for them, it is a marketing term. It is for most people.

and about the address parsing: it isn't sure it can accurately guess what you want, so it prompts you. would you rather it guess incorrectly or prompt? I'll pick prompt, thanks.

nothing has to be said.

Re:It has to be said.

[mike.newton]

their other projects are a mess

You said it: projects. Not products. Projects that are clearly marked as 'beta.' I totally agree that their address comprehension is pants, but at the same time I don't expect too much, given that it's a beta project, not even linked from their front page.

Re:It has to be said.

[Deliveranc3]

Google isn't a company... Google is an Empire.

They will create services which will survive for YEARS! Slow ad revenue is just a stumbling block towards total domination.

If they can just keep generating 5c a click for 50 years they'll generate billions!

Plus they have froogle which promises to be the biggest cash cow the internet has ever seen.

Re:Hmm...

[jeremyds]

What exactly would Google gain have by making their applications not work properly in IE? The general public does not want to bother installing a different browser just so they can use a Google app. In fact, it may have the unintended effect of turning people off to Google. It gives the perception that they have lazy developers and/or just doesn't care. I'd like to believe that Google develops applications for the end-user, not just Firefox zealots.

Re:It has to be said.

[krunk4ever]

so how's this going to be different to you? imagine google did remove the beta word from their google maps software. would you know the difference? would it matter if it was exactly the same product that it was during beta form?

in my opinion, beta is just a term google likes to fool the public with. if something is truly beta, you have 'beta' testers which usually are a select group to test out the product before releasing to the general public. this is usually a process to find bugs and etc. google has made the ENTIRE WORLD their beta testers, which i don't really mind, but final question that i want to ask you is how is sticking the word 'beta' or removing it from their products going to be any difference to you.

i can see why you'd complain if it wasn't release to the general public, while beta users reaped all the usefulness. sorta like how people felt when only a select few got 1gb gmail accounts. gmail was in beta, and people were fighting to get accounts paying over $50 for 1 account. i could see why you'd want to see gmail go outta beta just for that reason. but google maps doesn't require subscription fees, no one has exclusive access, and it works beautifully.

in fact, as someone else mention, google beta products are AD free!

Virtual Earth

[alienfluid]

Virtual Earth had it first. This time Microsoft beat Google on their own turf. By the way, the MS interface is way better and the clarity of the aerial photographs is better too.

Re:As good as this looks...

[gstoddart]

I personally won't use it much. I like to be looking at either a map or a satellite, but not some combination.

Not to be contrarian, but I actually think the hybrid will be useful.

Several times I've found myself flipping back and forth between the two as I'm trying to visualize where something is and I need to see the street names to know exactly where something is, and the map to reconcile with the geography.

Like all shiney google things, you may not need all of the features, but someone will find 'em useful.

Cheers

Zoom support

[cmason]

I would really like to see the ability to zoom in by dragging a rectangle on the map. You might toggle between zoom and pan with a toolbar, or use keyboard shortcuts.