How to Create Indoor Shopping Mall Maps

Google I/O App for Android
For the Google I/O conference this year Google created a pretty cool Android App that included a number of features, including a schedule, details about the sessions, buzz about I/O via a real-time search stream and a conference map.

Google has now open-sourced the code for the app. If you want to create a similar app for a conference you can download the code and adapt it to suit your needs.


One of my favourite presentations from Google I/O this year was Map Your Business Inside Out by Brendan Kenny and Chris Broadfoot of Google. Essentially in the presentation Brendan and Chris demonstrated how the Google Maps API can be used to create indoor maps for large conference centers or shopping malls.

You can view the presentation in full in this video:



In the presentation Brendan and Chris explain how you can attach floor-plan overlays to a Google Map, how you can label the floor-plan and how you can develop custom Street Views for your map.

If you are interested in creating your own indoor map then you might find these resources useful:

• Maps API V3 Documentation: Adding Overlays
• Introducing the Google Maps Label Library
• Google Maps Label Library reference documents and the source code
• Maps API V3 Documentation: Custom Street View

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The Sophisticutted Guide to Punning Cuts

I Won't Cut My Hair

There is an unwritten law that says if you open a new hair salon then you have to give it a silly name, preferably using some kind of pun.

In an effort to prove that this is a universal unwritten law microformats.dk has created this worldwide map of hairdressers and hair salons. The map includes many fine examples of punning titles, such as Hairway to Heaven, Clip Joint, Sophisticuts, Hair Today and Streaks Ahead.

There is a serious point to the map as it provides an example of how you can use the OpenStreetMap API to provide data for a Google Map application. For this map of hair salons microformats.dk has selected 500 of the over 20,000 hairdressers in the Open Street Map database.

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Real-Time Shopping on Google Maps

Net-a-Porter Live

Online fashion shop Net-a-Porter has created a real-time Google Map showing the location of every purchase that is being made on the website live.

Every time someone on Net-a-Porter adds an item to their shopping bag or shares it with a friend the item is shown on a Google Map at the location of the customer. The item is also displayed in the map sidebar with a brief description and its price. If you like the look of the purchased item you can of course select the 'shop and share' button to buy it yourself.

Zappos Map

Zappos, the online shoes retailer, created the first real-time shopping map, where orders placed on a website are mapped to the location the order is being shipped to, in real-time.

Zappos uses photographs of the product being brought as the map marker. If you click on the photograph then you are taken to the web page for that product (and Zappos presumably hope you will be tempted to buy the product yourself).

ThisNext Google Map

ThisNext is another online retailer showing geo-tagged real-time purchases live on a Google Map.

The map animates between the latest purchases made through the ThisNext site. Each information window displayed shows the location of the shopper and a picture of the product purchased. The window, of course, also displays a link to that product's web page, so if you see anything you like you can buy the product yourself.

The Book Depository Live

If you are interested in what books people are buying at this very moment then this map is for you. The Book Depository Live map shows the latest purchases made from the online book store.

The map shows the latest orders placed with the store in real-time. The location of the purchaser is shown with a map marker that also displays a thumbnail of the purchased book. If you like the look of any of the displayed books click on the thumbnail or link and purchase it from The Book Depository.

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French Shopping Deals on Google Maps

This year there has been a spurt of English language websites using Google Maps to show you nearby shops and restaurants offering daily deals and coupons. Coupon sites are also proving very popular in France.

Ohmydeal

Ohmydeals is a French website for daily deals and coupons. Ohmydeals uses Google Map to allow users to find their nearest deals.

It is possible to search the map by location and by category of deal. The categories include 'restaurants and bars', health and beauty', 'sport' and 'travel'. As well as searching for deals by Google Map it is possible to receive deals via Twitter, Facebook and mobile phone.

Plyce

Plyce is another French website that delivers daily deals and coupons. Again Plyce lets you search for the latest deals by location and by category.

If you share your location with Plyce you can then search for the nearest deals in a number of categories, including 'restaurants', 'technology', 'fashion' and many more. Once you select your location and category the deals are displayed in list form. When you select a deal Plyce shows you the location of the selected shop / restaurant on a Google Map.

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The Rising Cost of Gas Google Map

The Take Away Gas Price Map

The Take Away want to know how rising gas prices have changed your behaviour.

Are you walking and cycling more? Have you changed your summer vacation plans? If so you can share how record gas prices have affected your life with this Google Map.

By completing a short form you can add how gas prices have affected your habits to the map. You can also add the price of gas in your area. Browsing the submitted reports on the map will also give you some handy hints on how you can cut down on your gas usage.

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Locally Produced Food on Google Maps

LoveFre.sh

LoveFre.sh is a location based service to help you connect with locally produced food, wherever you are. Users of the LoveFre.sh iPhone app can find fresh local food and share their local food experiences with comments, a picture or an audiobite.

The LoveFre.sh website features a Google Map feturing the latest check-ins made with the app and provides a great way to find local food markets and outlets selling locally produced food.

The mapped check-ins include user photos, audio comments and tags. If you click through on a listed food outlet you can read more comments on a dedicated page.

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Brazilian Gas Prices on Google Maps

Meu Combustivel

This Google Map shows you the price of gas at Brazilian gas stations using data from the Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis (ANP). It is possible to search the map by location and by type of fuel.

The map markers automatically display the current price at each gas station and indicate the company that owns the station.

Preco dos Combustiveis

This Google Map shows the current (updated weekly) gas prices at gas stations in Brazil.

Gas Stations are displayed on the Google Map and are listed in the map sidebar in order of gas price. If you click on a gas station in the map sidebar it will be highlighted on the map. If you click on the map marker the current gas prices for the station will be displayed.

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How to Calculate the Cost of a Car Journey

MyPetrolPlace.com

This new Google Maps based application allows you to work out the cost for your car or motorbike journey in India based on the current cost of petrol in your city.

To use MyPetrolPlace.com enter a starting point and a destination. Then add the number of kilometres per kilogram your vehicle normally achieves. The application then calculates your daily and monthly fuel expenditure.

Your journey is also displayed on a Google Map. You can change the displayed route by dragging the markers. All the metro cities and state capitals in India are supported by the application.

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Milk Prices on Google Maps

The Brian Lehrer Show: Are You Being Gouged?

The Brian Lehrer Show has created three Google Maps to help you check the price of the three essential grocery items of beer, lettuce and milk (OK I added the 'essential' but beer, lettuce and milk just happen to be the only things that ever make it to my grocery list).

Looking at the comments on the show's website it looks like the prices are probably a couple of years out-of-date. However in these hard up days of record deficits it strikes me as a brilliant idea for an enterprising map developer to exploit.

The maps crowd-source the cost of the three items as priced in local grocery stores in and around NYC. Each of the maps use color-coded map markers so that you can tell at a glance where the cheapest and least expensive stores are located. The names of the most expensive and cheapest stores for the items are also listed above the map. If you click on any of the map markers you can find out the exact price for the grocery item at that store.

It could be time to start working on that grocery store price comparison smartphone app.

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A Google Maps Fence Planning Tool

Zareba Fence Planner

Zareba, a manufacturer of electric fencing and animal containment systems, has released a Fence Planner tool to help customers configure and purchase electric fences. The planner uses Google Maps satellite view to allow customers to design and measure the amount of fencing that they need.

Using the tool it is possible to draw the outline of a planned fence directly onto Google Maps. Zareba claim that because users do not need to physically go outdoors and measure, the tool decreases errors in needed wire lengths, connectors and other related components.

Once the required fence has been drawn on Google Maps customers then view and decide on various fencing options before receiving a quote for their fencing requirements.

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How to Create a Real-Time Google Map

Best Buy - Live Mobile Scan Map

Best Buy place QR codes on all their products. When a customer uses the Best Buy app, or any other QR code scanner, they are shown the product details for the product they have scanned. The Best Buy - Live Mobile Scan Map uses Google Maps to show the latest real-time scans of products in stores across the US.

The map uses the recently launched App Engine Channel API to update the map in real-time. The Google App Engine Blog has a good guest post by the developer explaining how the app was created. You can also play with a working demo on the channel-map-demo project on GitHub.

The map itself animates between the latest scans in Best Buy stores and makes good use of the Google Maps API styled maps functions to create a distinctive look for the app.
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Finding Coupons on Google Maps

RadarFrog - Local Deals Map

RadarFrog offers local and national deals and coupons nationwide across the USA. To help you find local deals RadarFrog uses Google Maps to show you all the deals currently available in your area.

You can search the map by address and by category. The resulting deals and coupons are then displayed on the map. If you click on any of the map markers you can view the details of the deal and click through to find out more and print any coupons offered.

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Black Friday Deals on Google Maps

Dealmap

If you are looking for the best Black Friday bargains then Dealmap can help. Dealmap is using Google Maps to show the location of over 165,000 Black Friday deals at 52,000 stores in the USA.

Dealmap uses Google Maps to display all the best local deals, coupons and special offers. For this week only Dealmap has added a new category 'Black Friday' so you can find the best of this week's offers.

Dealmap is also available as an app for the iPhone and Android smart phones.

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Amsterdam Coffee Shops on Google Maps

WeedMaps

WeedMaps is a community website allowing medical marijuana patients to connect with other patients in their geographic region.

The site contains a number of Google Maps showing the location of medical marijuana dispensaries in various US cities. WeedMap also includes a Google Map of Coffee Shops in Amsterdam.

Each mapped listing includes user ratings and reviews. If you click through on the map you can view the full details of each listing including the address and opening hours.

The Price of Weed

Some enterprising supporters of the free market have developed this Google Map to track the retail price index of marijuana. In order to gauge the true street value of this globally traded product the Price of Weed has decided to crowdsource the cost of marijuana and post the results on a handy Google Map.

Currently the map only shows marijuana prices in the USA and Canada. Other countries will be added to the map once the data begins to flow in. If you click on a map marker you can view the average prices for weed in that location. You can also view the latest submission below the map.

Warning: Please remember the value of your investment in this market could go up in smoke.

Also See

Potlocator - medical marijuana dispensaries
Medical Marijuana Shopping - more medical marijuana dispensaries

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Win Win with Google Maps

Go Uniqlo

Clothing Store Uniqlo are giving Malaysians three chances a day to win an item of clothing with this imaginative Google Maps game.

To play the game you need to create a clothing trail. To do this you simply need to enter a location. A trail will then be created from your location to Kuala Lumpur. The trail consists of a number of photographs of worldwide destinations and items from the Uniqlo range.

If you click on any of the items of clothing you can read details about the clothes and, if you are lucky, you might also find that you have won the selected item. Unfortunately for the rest of the world the game is only open to Malaysian citizens.

This isn't the first time Uniqlo have used Google Maps to promote its brand. Last year Uniqlo created a stunning video and Google Maps synchronisation. Unfortunately the map seems to have taken a dive into the dead-pool, but you can still watch this video of the map in action:



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The Marijuna Futures Market Mapped

The Price of Weed

Some enterprising supporters of the free market have developed this Google Map to track the retail price index of marijuana. In order to gauge the true street value of this globally traded product the Price of Weed has decided to crowdsource the cost of marijuana and post the results on a handy Google Map.

Currently the map only shows marijuana prices in the USA and Canada. Other countries will be added to the map once the data begins to flow in. If you click on a map marker you can view the average prices for weed in that location. You can also view the latest submission below the map.

Warning: Please remember the value of your investment in this market could go up in smoke.

Also See

Potlocator - medical marijuana dispensaries
Medical Marijuana Shopping - more medical marijuana dispensaries

Hat-tip: Street View Funny

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Google Maps Means Business

Google today announced the release of sponsored map icons in the United States. It is an extension of a pilot project that started in Australia earlier this year. Currently business icons appear in grey on Google Maps. Now business owners can add their own icons to Google Maps, replacing the grey icons with their company logos.



Google says that sponsored map icons are being offered as "a limited beta to companies in the U.S. with multiple locations and a well-known brand. Google also point out that participation in this beta does not affect visibility on the map. The new feature is only available to businesses that already appear on the map, and whose default icons can be swapped out for their logo."

The icons will also be visible on Google Maps for Mobile starting sometime later this week.

Via: Google LatLong

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Rent an iTowel with the help of Google Maps

SnapGoods

Soon there will be two kinds of people: those who use towels, and those who use iTowels. However forking out $299 on the latest GPS & Wi-Fi enabled iTowel may not be the life-changing moisture absorbing experience that it promises to be.

If like me you are always suckered in to buying the latest gadgets only to mostly end up disappointed and suffering from consumer fatigue then you should give SnapGoods a try. SnapGoods lets you borrow gadgets and gear from other SnapGoods members. It is a great way to try out a product for a small price before forking out half your annual salary on something that a few days later is consigned to the cupboard of broken promises and dreams.

SnapGoods is a website that facilitates the sharing and renting of stuff from SnapGoods members and local businesses. At the moment the site seems to be only operating in New York but has plans to take over the world expand to other areas.

SnapGoods uses Google Maps to show the location of stuff that is available to borrow. The map does all it needs to do; it displays goods for rent and it allows you to search for stuff by location. If you like the look of something on the map you can click through to get further details and to arrange a transaction.


Note: The iTowel and the 'Cupboard of Broken Promises and Dreams' are both trademarks of Google Maps Mania.

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World Wide Store Locator on Google Maps

Vitra

The Swiss furniture manufacturer Vitra has a global dealer network so it is important that customers around the world can quickly find the dealer that is best for them. Vitra has therefore used Google Maps to create a store locator service to enable customers to find their local Vitra dealer.

It is possible to search the map for a Vitra dealer by entering a street, city or zip code. It is also possible to refine the results displayed on the map by type of Vitra dealer. If you click on a dealer's map marker you can get the dealer's full address, a breakdown of Vitra products offered and driving directions.

The Vitra Google Map was developed with the WEISSWO Pinpoint location finder.

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Hunch - A Local Recommendation Engine

Hunch - Local Search

Hunch is a personal recommendations website. Answer 10 questions and Hunch believes it can offer you great recommendations on thousands of topics. Hunch's recommendations are based on the collective answers of the entire Hunch community. The site claims that every time Hunch is used the hunches get better.

Hunch has now launched Hunch - Local, a Google Maps based suggestion tool to help you find restaurants, stores, museums, hotels and nightlife. After you share your location with Hunch Local you will be shown local recommendations in your vicinity. You can choose which category of recommendations you want to view from a drop down menu.

It is also possible to refine the places shown on the map with a 'popular' slider control. This allows you to view the most popular venues or the most unique (the least popular?). Each suggestion comes with a link to read more about the venue on Yelp, foursquare or on Hunch itself.

Via: Mashable

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