Google Continues to Improve and Streamline Maps In New Update
The same day Marissa Mayer, Google's VP of Location and Local services, announced that Google Maps on mobile devices will surpass the use on computers; Google also released an update to its Android app. Google Maps 5.5 integrates some of the more advanced features into the main interface. You can now check in to a place when you find it on the map, and if you are looking for information about transit, you can now find a page for each station that includes the next departure time and the lines to which the station is connected. It's another move to incorporate all the location services under one banner.
After launching and merging Google Hotpot into Google Places, which itself has been built-in to Google Maps, it was a logical next step to include the ability to rate places and check-in to them directly from the Places page. So, if you search for a business on Google Maps, you land on their business listing. These listings are what Google refers to as Places pages. On a Places page, you will find contact information, have the ability to get directions, and even place a call. Now, alongside seeing reviews, you can rate and review the place directly from their page. And, you can check in to these places on the same page too. This check-in feature is an extension of Google's Latitude service which is a great way to keep track of the people you care about, with the privacy controls that stops it from being creepy.
Recently, Google partnered with businesses to test a feature that rewarded loyal customers for checking in to the places they frequent. Think of it as a virtual loyalty rewards card. I imagine that this new update to make check-ins easier is an effort to expand the user base of Latitude Offers.
As a bonus for those who use Google Latitude (and if you don't already, you really should give it at try,) there is an update to the location history feature. You can now manualy set your home and work locations which can give you a more accurate measure of what you do with your time. It's completely private and gives you a really fun look at how you've spent your time.
On the transit side, Google has been a pioneer in making transit directions the equal of driving directions (it was originally an infamous 20% project.) And, while transit stations aren't businesses, they have all been given their own equivalent of a Places page. Instead of contact information and reviews, you can find out the next few departure times from each platform and discover which lines connect to each station. It's an incredibly easy way to find out information when you're taking public transit. It is lacking the ability to see a map of the transit routes and you can't use this service unless your city's transit authority has made the data available in the open-source GTFS format. But, if you're in North America, chances are your city is covered.
You will probably receive an update from the Market shortly, but if you can't wait, you can download version 5.5 of Google Maps here.
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