My Google Map Blog

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This Street View image was taken on the US Atoll Midway Island in the North Pacific Ocean. It’s a National Wildlife refuge.

One small step for Google crew…

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A few weeks ago, we showed you how you could be a part of the voting for DigitalGlobe's "Top Image of the Year". The results are in, and the winner is... Burning Man!

It was a very close vote, with this stunning photo of Mt. Fuji coming in second:

You can read all of the details in this post on their blog.

Did you vote in the contest? What was your favorite image of the year?

This tiny road ends in Botswana for Google Maps Street View. On the other side of the river is Namibia.

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A little more than two years ago we introduced you to the excellent Cycling the Alps website. They feature hundreds of Google Earth tours of various cycing routes in the Alps, and they've added many new features since then.

After reading our article about how great Google Earth looks on the Nexus 10, they decided to create an Android app for it. They built it using the Android Maps v2 API and the result is quite impressive!

The app is free and can be found here in the Google Play store. It's compatible with most Android devices, so head out there and give it a shot.

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Without Michael Jones, this blog wouldn't exist. We've mentioned him on here numerous times in the past, as he was a co-founder of Keyhole (which later became Google Earth) and is now the Chief Technology Advocate at Google.

James Fallows of The Atlantic has posted a lengthy interview with Michael discussing how maps have changed over the years and how they're becoming more personal.

Michael has many great insights in the article, even touching on how maps and wearable computers (such as Google Glass) will change things in the near future:

For instance, right now people walk around looking at directions on phones. In the future, the phone will signal you--go left or straight ahead--in words or sounds in your ear, or visually through your glasses, so you can just look where you're going and walk. It'll be like you're a local everywhere you go. You'll know your way through the back alleys and hutongs of Beijing, you'll know your way all around Paris even if you've never been before. Signs will seem to translate themselves for you. This kind of extra-smartness is coming to people.

It's a great read and I encourage you to visit their site and read the full article.