Google to unveil 'the next dimension' of its Maps ahead of WWDC

12346»

Comments

  • Reply 101 of 112
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    gtr wrote: »
    I recently downloaded the video podcast versions and will be checking them out shortly.

    I also found Mossberg to be quite fair. He clearly has a lot of respect and fondness for Jobs and Apple but he still wasn't afraid to bring up failed products or state things he thinks aren't good, mostly when it comes to pricing. I have found a new respect for him
  • Reply 102 of 112
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    I also found Mossberg to be quite fair. He clearly has a lot of respect and fondness for Jobs and Apple but he still wasn't afraid to bring up failed products or state things he thinks aren't good, mostly when it comes to pricing. I have found a new respect for him


     


    Agreed.


     


    I've only been watching Walt since the iPad was released (until I get around to those podcasts) but I get the same impression.


     


    I was glad to see him bring up Siri with Tim Cook. And even more glad to hear Tim's reply.


     


    However, I do have a sneaking suspicion that Kara Swisher may actually be a sock-puppet thrown in for comedy effect, although I am an admirer of her ground-breaking, sixties wardrobe.

  • Reply 103 of 112
    macbook promacbook pro Posts: 1,605member


    More interesting information for those interested...


     


     





    Placebase is the developer of Pushpin, the leading platform for the development of professional web applications in mapping, business geographics and location-based services.


     


    Pushpin is hosted software used by customers in real estate, financial services, navigation and fleet tracking and other sectors to deliver deeply customized highly fluid maps and location-related content via the web.


     


    Placebase also builds customer-specific map tile sets via out specialized render farm (Rendermap) for fluidly usable, beautifully legible draggable maps that work without plugins in any browser.


     


    Professional applications require best-of-breed data.  Pushpin Collections has over 12,000 variables and layers on tap, all instantaneously available on maps or reports.  


     


    Included are parcel data, demographic forecasts, consumer expenditures, business locations, POI's and much more, sourced from leading commercial data vendors.


     



     


     


    "… when Google launched Google Maps for free, the whole world was agog with what you could find. One man who wasn’t thrilled: Jaron Waldman, founder of Los Angeles-based startup Placebase. He was contemplating starting a white-label mapping business when Google went and made the value proposition of his idea disappear. After all, it’s hard to compete with free. Or so you would think.


    Waldman thought differently. He decided to compete with Google and other free mapping services by doing two things: One, by offering customizations and tons of features that integrated private and public data sets in many diverse ways. (He knew it would be a while before Google would get around to offering customization). His other twist was to offer a way to layer commercial and other data sets (such as demographics and crime data) onto the maps using an easy-to-use application programming interface (API). The product is called PushPin."


     


    “Google Maps is great for consumer usage, but we are making it easy for large companies to take our Maps API, customize it and then use it,” Waldman said. Users of its Maps API include Cyberhomes and Dash. “We are being used for real estate, fleet tracking and traffic.”


     



     


    The following maps are examples of Placebase geodata overlayed with cross-referenced demographic data.


     


    6a010535c544f3970c01053602422c970b-800wi.png


     


    6a010535c544f3970c01053609f7d6970c-800wi.png


     


     


     



     


     


     


     


    19355v1.gif


     


     


     


     


     


     


    Intuit is announcing on Monday a Flash-based Web service that companies can use to geographically visualize their customer data and business activity.


    Customer Explorer is being unveiled at this week's Adobe Max conference in San Francisco. Customer Explorer, available at the Intuit Workplace, imports QuickBooks data and overlays it on a live map.


    Users can view where their customers are clustering or which regions generate the most revenue. They can also generate time slices of the data, much like a moving weather map, to see how their business has been evolving. And they can overlay regional demographic information, such as median household income.  Customer Explorer previously used Placebase maps for geodata.


     



     


     


    PolicyMap currently offers over 10,000 indicators related to demographics, real estate, city crime rates, health, schools, housing affordability, employment, energy, and public investments.  PolicyMap previously used Placebase for geodata.


     



     


    PolicyMap is an online mapping tool that gives users access to over 10,000 indicators including crime statistics from the FBI. Use PolicyMap to find violent crime statistics nationally, overall city specific crime like crime rates in Los AngelesDallas crime stats or New York City murder rates.


     



     


     


     


    Poly9


     


    Poly9 FreeEarth is a cross-browser, cross-platform 3D globe which does not require any download. It is the lightest, most compatible 3D globe on the Web. The main application weights approximately 300 kilobytes - meaning users don't wait more than 2-3 seconds. Features include: Worldwide coverage with high resolution imagery for U.S. metropolitan areas; Worldwide relief data brings topography to life; Cover certain spans of the globe with custom map covers; Support for Flash video makes integration of multimedia content a breeze; And rotate and tilt the globe using left and right mouse buttons.


    Poly9 FreeEarth exposes all of its features using a simple JavaScript interface. Display points with custom icons, colored lines with varying widths and text labels on the surface of the globe; And support for the standard Web Map Service (WMS) allows immediate integration with existing back-end GIS infrastructure; Encode your data in XML following the GeoRSS specification, and have Poly9 FreeEarth easily display it.


     


     


    The  U.S. patent application 20110196610 entitled "Schematic Maps" filed on February 5, 2010 provides the following information regarding the proposed display of points of interest.


     


    7. The method of claim 1, wherein the schematic map illustrates points of interest nearby the location of the device. 


     


    9. The method of claim 7, wherein the nearby points of interest comprise search results, businesses, and friends of a user. 


     


    10. A handheld device comprising: a communications interface configured to receive map vector data describing map features including landmarks, route segments, and potential points of interest


     


     


    The schematic maps can be useful for providing directions or maps of surrounding areas and maps displaying places of interest and locations of people in the surrounding area.


     


    The overall route can be “distorted” (308) from geographic reality in order to emphasize regions of high interest. Areas of high interest can include turns, areas surrounding a destination, areas surrounding a user's present location, areas surrounding search results, and other points of interest such as gas stations, parks, restaurants, etc. What constitutes an area of high interest can, in some embodiments, be based, in part, on user preferences.


     


     


     


     


    According to his Linkedin profile, Ethan Sorrelgreen is now employed by Apple's Geo Team.  Ethan Sorrelgreen is notable for his influence at Nextbus.


    GIS Project Manager at Nextbus


    Lead GIS Engineer at Nextbus


    GIS Analyst at Nextbus


     


    Because traffic variations, breakdowns, and day-to-day problems faced by transit providers can interrupt service, NextBus was designed to keep your customers on schedule even if their bus isn't.  NextBus uses satellite technology and advanced computer modeling to track vehicles on their routes.  NextBus can estimate vehicle arrivals with a high degree of accuracy. This estimate is updated constantly.


     


     


     


     


    According to his Linkedin profile, Scott Dudgeon is now employed by Apple's Geo Team.  Dudgeon is notable for his experience at Inrix as a GIS Analyst.


     


     


     


    INRIX is the leading-provider of traffic information, directions and driver services, as well as apps and tools all designed to get your traffic-powered solutions to market rapidly. Intelligently combining the best data from the largest traffic network in the world with game-changing technologies, auto manufacturers, mobile developers, transportation agencies, fleet and Internet companies, INRIX helps to set themselves apart. Together we give customers the power to go anywhere.


     


     


    Valerie Yakich is also now employed by Apple as a Senior Engineering Manager following a position as Senior Software Engineer.  Valerie Yakich is notable for her experience at Inrix as a GIS Architect.  Valerie Yakich is also notable as the "most influential" GIS Twitter member "GeoEntelechy."


     


     


    Get seamless fusion of real-time, historical, predictive and incident data to offer routes customers can rely on every day


    Ever taken a detour that ended up taking longer than staying in on your current traffic-choked route? INRIX's 3rd Generation Routing Engine puts an end to this frustration. This groundbreaking service looks ahead in time to determine how traffic is expected to change along the course of travel. And that results in better routes and more accurate travel times for consumers.


    Combined with additional in-car driver services - such as dynamic fuel prices and road and weather conditions - the 3rd Generation Routing Engine helps you arm customers with all the insight they need to save time wherever their travels take them.


     














    INRIX Real-Time Traffic Flow


    Ideal for traffic map display, travel times, alerting and other real-time applications, INRIX Real-Time Traffic Flow provides true real-time coverage across each country's roadway network. We do this by blending real-time road sensor data with billions of real-time data points from GPS-enabled commercial and consumer devices in taxis, service vehicles, airport shuttle services, cars, heavy good vehicles (HGV) and long haul delivery trucks.


    INRIX Predictive Traffic Flow


    INRIX Predictive Traffic Flow accurately predicts the future, anticipating conditions on specific routes for the next few minutes, days, hours or weeks - up to one year ahead. The technology combines input of commonly known traffic-impacting factors such as the current traffic conditions, day of the week, season, holidays and related days, current and forecast weather, accidents and road construction, as well as other events such as school schedules, sports games and concerts. This allows INRIX to make predictions conditioned on dynamic knowledge of current and future conditions, including:



    • Proactive route monitoring throughout the trip, in order to actively re-route drivers to avoid congestion up ahead.


    • Accurate info regarding when congestion is expected to start or clear along a route.


    • More reliable travel time predictions for key routes.


    INRIX Historical Traffic Flow


    Useful for integration in non-connected devices as well as for performance management by transportation agencies, INRIX Historical Traffic Flow features historical average speeds on individual road segments for 24 hours a day, seven days a week.


    Average historical speeds are available for 1+ million miles in North America and 1+ million kilometers across Europe.


     


     

  • Reply 104 of 112
    macbook promacbook pro Posts: 1,605member


    Although the geodata for Apple Maps is derived from MapData (aka Google) there are many components of Apple Maps that aren't affiliated with Google:


     


    From the iPhone 4S Legal Notices:


     


     


     


    Map Data:


     


    Map data © AND.


     


    Property parcel data for USA. © CoreLogic Inc., 2011.


     


     


    Virtually. Nearly. Almost.  


    Our Parcel Data May Take These Words Out of Your Vocabulary


    Understanding actual parcel boundaries significantly improves the accuracy of any GIS or property location data. The most extensive U.S. parcel data available today, ParcelPoint®captures boundary and centroid data for more than 2,290 counties and townships, accounting for more than 131 million parcels nationwide. It assigns latitude and longitude coordinates to each of these parcel boundaries.











    GIS Parcel Data

    The defining elements of ParcelPoint create a

    powerful parcel data set for unparalleled positional accuracy.


    Accuracy Matters


    ParcelPoint is a parcel-level GIS solution that enables you to access the highest level of positional accuracy for when developing location-based or GIS solutions, managing assets, maximizing efficiency and enhancing business analytics. 


    With ParcelPoint, you have access to:



    • 131 million parcels


    • Parcel centroid that is defined by latitude/longitude


    • APN or Tax ID Number


    • Property address or SITUS


    • Ownership information


    Other solutions may require additional software or utilization of a proprietary interface. ParcelPoint is platform independent. 


    We deliver the data in shapefile format, giving you the flexibility to access our parcel data via the platform you prefer.


    Quarterly Updates to our Parcel Data


    Information is only useful if it’s up to date. We update ParcelPoint quarterly with new parcel information and updates to existing parcel data. 


    The Most Extensive U.S. Parcel Coverage


    We offer the nation’s most comprehensive parcel database—with more than 131 million parcels of the estimated 145 million parcels nationwide.


     


    Map data © Getchee, 2011.


     


     



    Market Data


    We maintain one of the largest spatial databases for

    business use in markets throughout Asia.




    What do we do?


    We create value-added demographic and business point data for use in China, India, and Southeast Asia.


    Through proprietary modeling, we create 1KM2 - 500M2 grids that define different demographic segments of a market. This can be compared to, but not the same as, a block group in the United States. We also maintain a brand tracking database that captures location and business attributes associated with that point data.



    How can you benefit?


    Your organization can use this data to drive a new, more effective approach to market planning in Asia.


    Your sales, marketing, and expansion teams can capitalize on better area targeting, effective validation based on potential, and an enhanced understanding of the market environment. This data can be used with your BI tools, we can provide a consulting output, or you can make sense of it through our software Kiwi™.



     







    Demographic Segmentation


    A standardized market segmentation system to understand target consumers and market potential.


    If you’ve used demographic segmentation products like nielsen’s PRIZM or ESRI’s Tapestry, then you are familiar with what you can accomplish in understanding who your customers are, their behavior patterns, and how to locate them. With getchee’s segmentation data, you can accomplish many of the same goals.



    Since government and census data tends to be much less rich in Asia compared to the United States and Europe, getchee relies on methodology to create granular subsets (1KM2 - 500M2 grids) from very generalized published records.


    By doing this we’ve built a standardized market segmentation system across geographies in Asia. With it you can better understand where your target consumers are, identify areas of wealth, and more effectively understand transient populations.



     


     


    Grid Segmentation — Governments typically provide demographic information at sparse intervals, and at very high levels. For example, there was a 10 year gap between China’s 2000 and 2010 censuses, and the most granular unit collected was to a city county level.


    Our core value is our methodology and techniques for creating smaller, more granular units of measurement that can be used by strategic planners more effectively.



    Total population in Taipei, Taiwan


    Total population in Taipei, Taiwan.



    Grid Density — We use a color-coded system to show ranges of demographic density over digital maps. This is useful to quickly understand the distribution of market segments. With this method we can show a distribution of total population, working population, household number, affluent populations, and age.


    In many of our engagements with our clients, we create customized distribution densities based on their business and target customer requirements.



    Working population in Shanghai, China


    Working population in Shanghai, China.




    Basic Layers


    • Gross Regional Product (GRP)


    • Total Population


    • Total Male Population


    • Total Female Population


    Advanced Layers


    • Age & Sex Distribution


    • Total Household Number


    • Total Working Population


    • Wealth Segmentation

    * Data may vary per geography.



     


     


    Wealth Segmentation — Need to know the distribution of wealth across a city, region, or country? We model the distribution of wealth across geographies in Asia. This data gets consumed by retail and banking clients that need to understand how to better adjust their product and brand positioning in these markets. Ask us about the different kinds of wealth and affluent segments we have available in China, India, and Southeast Asia.



    Wealth distribution in Beijing, China


    Wealth distribution in Beijing, China.




    Wealth distribution in Jakarta, Indonesia


    Wealth distribution in Jakarta, Indonesia.




    Retail Use — What product assortment do you feature at your retail locations? How do you develop a pricing strategy that suits the market? By understanding your markets in terms of wealth, you can better conduct sales, marketing, and expansion planning.


    Banking Use — Which bank branches should have premium services? Which branches should cater to the upper, middle, and lower classes? These questions can be better answered through the analysis of a wealth segment.




     



     



    Points of Interest


    We track and maintain thousands of geo-coded point data we call POI. These are critical for the understanding and evaluation of the market environment in terms gross and net market potential.


    Geo-Coded Points — We use different techniques including web scraping, field surveys, 3rd party vendors, and crowd sourcing to collect POIs in different categories. These categories can be broken down into accessibility, business, lifestyle, residential, and tourist point data.


    Need to know where all of the banks and ATM locations are in Bangkok?


    Need to find all the major sports apparel brand retail locations in China?



    Fast food restaurants in Dalian, China


    Fast food restaurants in Dalian, China.



    Location Attributes — In many cases we collect more than just a latitude and longitude for our POI data. We collect critical information needed to conduct intelligent business and strategic analyses including, but not limited to, brand name, address, phone number, format, and size.


    In China, for example, we have nearly every shopping mall in the top 50 cities mapped to a point. For most of these locations we can tell you the size, brand assortment, class definition, and the number of parking lots.



    ATM locations in Bangkok, Thailand


    ATM locations in Bangkok, Thailand.



    Competitor Locations — In most cases we likely have a large majority of your competitor locations mapped to a point with business attributes. Gaining access to this information is easy through raw data, a consulting output, or our web-based tool that allows you to visually see your locations in relation to your competitors.


    Whether you are looking to expand your retail footprint, or better market to your target audience, you need to have a good understanding of where your competitors are in relation to your store network.



    Shopping centers in Shanghai, China


    Shopping centers in Shanghai, China.



     


     

    Brand Tracking — We track business locations and attributes in different categories throughout Asia.


    Besides tracking base map, infrastructure, and government related point data, we follow major brands in the categories seen here. So for example, if you need to know where all of the McDonald‘s, KFC, and Pizza Hut locations are in China, this information would be readily available. Perhaps you need to know where all of the Nike locations are, including inside of shopping centers and malls, this information would also be available.


    Brand Synergies — By analyzing your store locations and performance data in relation to business POI, you can discover synergies that mesh well with your brand.


    Service Area Overlap (Cannibalization) — Through a GIS analysis of your competitor locations, you can better understand how they impact the performance of your stores.


    Contact our team for specifics on what brands we track throughout Asia.






















































    POI Category

    Brands

    Apparel & Clothing

    30

    Coffee Shop

    7

    Donut

    4

    Electric Retailer

    7

    Furniture

    5

    Hotel

    227

    Luxury

    41

    Personal Care

    7

    QSR & Restaurant

    10

    Shopping Mall

    2142

    Supermarket

    34

    China POI brand tracking categories.




     






    Discover market factors that represent key retail drivers for your business.




     


     


     





    Heat Maps


    This is a different way to view data on a map; you can visually see information in relation to geography.


    There are many different kinds of heat maps, but all of them share the same principle in understanding the density of a data set in relation to its geographic environment.


    We produce standardized heat maps for geographies we support in Asia. These are useful for quickly understanding new markets in terms of where people live, work, and shop.



    Accessibility — We use an aggregation of transportation infrastructure such as subway stations, bus stops, and train stations.


    Business — We use an aggregation of business point data such as banks, registered business addresses, and office buildings.


    Lifestyle — We use an aggregation of retailers such as coffee shops, malls, restaurants, and shopping centers.


    Residential — We use an aggregation of common points such as supermarkets, convenience stores, and video rental locations.



     


     


    Competitor Intensity — Using heat maps you can visually see and understand the distribution of your competitors across geographies. You don’t need a complex analysis to understand the output.



    Competitor heat map in Mumbai, India


    Competitor heat map in Mumbai, India.



    Industry Intensity — See how business locations of different industry types are distributed across geographies. How does this relate to your business? Are you in the right locations to capture potential?



    QSR intensity in Shanghai, China


    QSR intensity in Shanghai, China.



    Market Potential — We can customize a market potential heat map for your business based on your target consumers, key competitors, synergistic POI, and other market related factors.



     


     


    ©


     


     


     


     


     


     


     


     


     


     


     


     


     


     


     


     


     


     


     


    INCREMENT P CORP., 2011, http://www.incrementp.co.jp/gc01info/e/legal01.html.


     


     


    City map is the visually excellent and ultimate map database with such localized content as precise footprints.


     


    Detailed building shapes, town blocks including sidewalks enable so much sophisticated research that City Map has valuable feature for various purposes such as not only navigation or GIS use but also internet use and Location Based Services (LBS) which is growing market for wireless.


     


     


     


     


    Business Listing data © Localeze, 2011.


     


     








    How Localeze Works


    BUSINESS LISTING IDENTITY MANAGEMENT AT ITS BEST


     

    Cutting-edge technologies and a proven process for Local Search success set Localeze and our clients apart. Where others stop at basic “business listings submission,” we raise the bar with true Business Listings Identity Management.



    At the center of the Local Search ecosystem, Localeze facilitates authoritative, interactive relationships between local search platforms and local businesses/national brands. We’re the central source for validating, managing, distributing and continuously improving 14 million+ trusted local business listings for Local Search—including the most listings actively managed by local businesses themselves. 


    Anatomy of Local Search

    Local business listings—especially Name, Address and Phone (NAP) information—comprise the anchor identity of a local business online. Localeze enables businesses to review, certify and pervasively distribute consistent NAP information across the largest authorized local search platform network in the industry. Local businesses can also enhance their listings with unique descriptive keywords, links, logos and more to help their listings stand out. 



    Meanwhile, Localeze boosts confidence for local search platforms. Our proprietary data management technologies put all 14 million+ local business listings through a rigorous cross-check validation process—not once, but constantly. 


    Perpetual Motion: The Localeze Difference

    Only Localeze Business Listing Identity Management creates and perpetuates the cycle of business listing validation, quality assurance, consistent, broad local search platform distribution and user feedback—all the components comprising true Business Listings Identity Management for Local Search.

     


     


     


     


     


    Mapping data for Australia and New Zealand. © MapData Sciences Pty Ltd.Inc., 2011, PSMA www.nowwhere.com.au/lic/NowWhereLic.htm


     


    Postal data © DMTI, 2011. This software contains Postal Code OM Data copied by Apple under a sub-license from DMTI Spatial Inc., a party directly licensed by Canada Post Corporation. The Canada Post Corporation file from which this data was copied is dated [insert date].


     


    © TomTom. All rights reserved. This material is proprietary and the subject of copyright protection, database right protection and other intellectual property rights owned by TomTom or its suppliers. The use of this material is subject to the terms of a license agreement. Any unauthorized copying or disclosure of this material will lead to criminal and civil liabilities. // MultiNet® North America, © 2006 – 2011 TomTom. All rights reserved. This material is proprietary and the subject of copyright protection and other intellectual property rights owned or licensed to TomTom. TomTom is an authorized user of selected Statistics Canada computer files and distributor of derived information products under Agreement number 6776. The product is sourced in part from Statistics Canada computer files, including 2009 Road Network File (RNF), 92-500-XWE/XWF and 2006 Census Population and Dwelling Count Highlight Tables, 97-550-XWE2006002. The product includes information copied with permission from Canadian authorities, including © Canada Post Corporation, GeoBase®, and Department of Natural Resources Canada, All rights reserved. The use of this material is subject to the terms of a License Agreement. You will be held liable for any unauthorized copying or disclosure of this material. // MultiNet® South East Asia, Base data © Bakosurtanal. // MultiNet® Europe, Data Source © 2011 TomTom based on: MultiNet® data of Austria © BEV, GZ 1368/2003; MultiNet® data of Denmark © DAV, violation of these copyrights shall cause legal proceedings; MultiNet® data of Northern Ireland Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland; MultiNet® data of Norway © Norwegian Mapping Authority, Public Roads Administration / © Mapsolutions; MultiNet® data of Russia © Roskartographia; MultiNet® data of Switzerland © Swisstopo; MultiNet® data of The Netherlands Topografische onderground Copyright © dienst voor het kadaster en de openbare registers, Apeldoorn 2006; MultiNet® data of France © IGN France.


    Neighborhood data © Urban Mapping, 2011.


     


    Map data © 2011 Waze.

  • Reply 105 of 112
    drdoppiodrdoppio Posts: 1,132member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by MacBook Pro View Post


    TL;DR



     


    Geez, you couldn't find a more obnoxious way to hijack the thread? Have you never heard of hyperlinks? Or are you so full of yourself that you actually believe that anyone wants to read your copypasta?

  • Reply 106 of 112
    rtm135rtm135 Posts: 310member


    All I care about is will Apple's solution be better or worse than the TomTom app that gets me around now.

  • Reply 107 of 112
    timbittimbit Posts: 331member


    3D is nice, but I don't see its usefulness. Maps is mainly used for directions and GPS, so 3D isn't going to make it easier to find your way around a city.


    It does look nice though. Something to play around with (like Google Earth)

  • Reply 108 of 112
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member


    Forget Google Maps. Open Street Maps and Leaflet is all you need.

  • Reply 109 of 112
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Timbit View Post


    3D is nice, but I don't see its usefulness. Maps is mainly used for directions and GPS, so 3D isn't going to make it easier to find your way around a city.


    It does look nice though. Something to play around with (like Google Earth)



     


    We can see the "peak" of Google happening now. They are at a stage when usefulness has started to peak because their sheer ad revenue eclipses anything else they could bother to do.

  • Reply 110 of 112
    libdemlibdem Posts: 36member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by MacBook Pro View Post


    Here is a recount of what we know...


     


    1.  Load Balanced, Redundant Servers hosting the Geodata in Random Access Memory as "Shards" will provide efficient server interrogation (requests).  According to United States Patent Application 20110276692 entitled "Server Load Balancing Using Geodata," Apple Maps will "Be divided among a plurality of servers based on geographical divisions in a process known as sharding.  Sharding divides a collection of data into multiple segments called shards. Thus, each division of the world is a shard of geodata which includes data describing that segment of the world, data describing objects collectively making up that segment of the world, and/or data associated with a coordinate falling within that segment of the world."


     


    "The shards of geodata can be distributed among a plurality of servers. Accordingly, each server is only responsible for a limited portion of the entire data set, which enables faster retrieval of geodata. Additionally, the same shard of data can be stored on more than one server so that multiple servers can share the load of serving many requests. This is especially useful in systems serving a high volume of requests."


     


    "To accommodate the fact that some cells will contain less data than others, cells can be combined into shards made up of a plurality of cells. In such embodiments, a cell can be considered a basic unit of a shard, which can be combined into larger groups of data. FIG. 2 illustrates that a single cell overlapping several Northern California cities (San Jose, San Francisco, Sacramento) contains enough data that the cell itself can be its own shard. Accordingly, shard 214 is shown being stored on a server disk 212. In contrast, the gray cells overlapping Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Western Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and parts of Arizona illustrate a shard 204 made up of several cells. Shard 204 is stored on server disk 202."


     


     


     



     


     


     


     


     


     


     


     


     


    Now they are filing a patent application for sharding?


    Will be interesting to see if it holds up,especially considering the fact that it is a standard practice in programming to use sharding when dealing with large amount of data.


    Of course this being US where people pay a premium on everything including coffee,shoes and cell phone,it would'nt be much of a stretch to make them believe that Apple came out with this first.

  • Reply 111 of 112
    rocroc Posts: 4member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by os2baba View Post


     


    What do you mean by "Navigator's inability to show traffic while in navigation mode"?  If you select Menu.Layers.Traffic View, you see the traffic situation on the route.  In fact, while I typically trust and use the Garmin more than Google Navigation in the US, I use the traffic on the latter more.  I have found it to be surprisingly accurate, much more than my Garmin!  The main reason I use Garmin more than Google Navigation is because the Garmin stand is better than the ones I have found for the Vibrant and my Vibrant's GPS by and large sucks, although it's got substantially better with later ROMs.  Even then, on cloudy days I get a lock on my Garmin a lot faster than on my phone.  But as far as the mapping is concerned, I love Google Maps.



    Well, I have not been able to use "Menu.Layers.Traffic View" AND stay in Navigation mode.   It is either/or on my Dell Streak 5 with Android 2.2 and latest Maps/Navigator available for it.  I can see the traffic on the highlighted route while in Navigator, but it switches out of the 3D "1st person" POV navigation mode to do that.  Maybe a newer version of Android (on your Vibrant) "unlocks" using both features at the same time in Navigator?

  • Reply 112 of 112
    jetzjetz Posts: 1,293member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Timbit View Post


    3D is nice, but I don't see its usefulness. Maps is mainly used for directions and GPS, so 3D isn't going to make it easier to find your way around a city.


    It does look nice though. Something to play around with (like Google Earth)



    +1


     


    This is what people don't get.  You use maps to get information.  3D is exciting for a few seconds.  After that?


     


    The most useful features on Google Maps is POI and directions....and navigation on Android.


     


    For Apple to compete, it's gotta do more than 3D.....

Sign In or Register to comment.