Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Google Earth and map combined on a browser and Map data updates for Canada

With the latest update from Google, Canada is also going to see the changes on how incorrect geocoding of addresses and postal codes will be handled in future. According to a recent update, "Report a problem" link will allow Canadians to report the incorrect addresses or the postal codes which will be later incorporated to enhance the geocoding by Google. Although there might not be a lot of mash ups published in Canada using Javascript (Map) APIs v2 or 3, those applications already in effect will not have any impact as the API will update the updated information automatically. However, the caches of geocoded locations might need to be updated. Check the Google Geo Developers Blog: Map data updates for Canada for more detail.

In addition to that, Google recently brought the most popular location-aware data viewing software Google Earth to the browser. Well, bringing the Google Earth to the browser is not very new, it was possible couple of months ago with the Google Earth API, but now it is available in an easier way combined with the Google Map. Majority of the people have used Google Map at some point, now with one more click, you can view the 3D Google Earth on their browsers. Although you have to install a plug-in for the Google Earth, as well as not all layers from the stand-alone desktop Google Earth versions are available on the browser, it is still a very viable option for the quick exploration of the location of interest on the browser.