Archive for November, 2008
Live Search Maps with 3D mode
27 Nov. 2008 | Author: The German-language version of Microsoft’s local search Live Search Maps introduces several new features, matching similar capabilities in the US-edition (see earlier post).
Microsoft Business Manager Toni Pelg explained the new functionality in the Windows Live blog.
Users can now view the maps in 3D mode. The link to this view is found in the upper left menu in Map View. Alongside aerial and bird’s eye views, streets and labels are also available here in either 2D or 3D versions. Before being able to use 3D Mode, one needs to have installed Microsoft’s online globe program Virtual 3D (only available for Windows). If not preinstalled, one is prompted to do so at the first attempt to view in 3D mode. Once installed, the user is able to navigate through the virtual landscape per mouse-click. Particularly impressive is that the current weather conditions are displayed in the virtual landscape, though approximately 15 minutes behind the actual conditions, said Pelg.
Further, aerial view now offer two additional zoom levels. For locations where bird’s eye views are already available, once the maximum zoom level is reached, the angled aerial views are loaded to add detail.
However Microsoft hasn’t merely pepped up the map views, but has also redesigned the navigation setup of its local search service. For example, the Route Planner is now also available at the start via the search entry page, and users who want to switch to other Country/Language editions (previously somewhat clumsy) can simply change this on the right side of the header. New too, is the so-called MSN Search Agent. This appears after a local search, below the search results. Pelg said that this new feature provides an overall view of information at the location, such as maps, links, images, news and weather.
Posted in Local Search per PC, Local Search, News, Local Search Engines, Practical features | 
Tags: 3D, 3D-Modus, Bird's Eye View, dreidimensional, Live Search Maps, lokale Informationen, lokale Suchmaschine, Microsoft, Microsoft Virtual Earth, Toni Pelg, Vogelperspektive, Local Search | 
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Web Services with new iPhone applications
More and more Internet portals offering localized services are releasing new applications for the Apple iPhone. Google now offers a voice search, internet community lokalisten.de recently launched their own iPhone app, and Qype is working on one of their own software…
The new specialty of Google’s new iPhone software, according to a press release, is above all their new search by voice command, which at present is still only available in English; the second special feature being actual-location search. This update uses the localization function of the iPhone, making the search results even more specific (and ‘personal’). So one can search for “pizza” (by typing or speaking) and generate results directly in the user’s immediate vicinity, without having to specify the location via name or zip code.
The local friends community lokalisten.de has also recently released its own iPhone 3G version. In a press release, the operators explained that owners of iPhones with the software installed (always only available from the iTunes App Store) can access special features. For instance, the current standpoint of the user can be requested (via GPS) and directly relayed to the user’s friends on a map. Sending and receiving of news also is possible via iPhone. Lokalistas can thereby always see where their friends are and what they are currently doing.
Local search and rating platform Qype, on the other hand, is working on a new version for the iPhone. Qype CEO Stephan Uhrenbacher, in the company blog drew this to readers’ attention. Qype also uses the location-aware function, where the iPhone can transmit the actual location of the user. A release date for the application could not be made, at the time of the press release.
Posted in Local Search on the go, Local Search per Mobile phone, Local Search, Localization technology, New Search Machine Interest, News, Local Search Engines, Practical features |
Tags: Apple, Google, iPhone, Kulthandy, lokale Informationen, Lokalisten, Lokalisten.de, ortsbezogene Suchdienste, Qype, Spracheingabe |
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pointoo.de integrates more content
The local search platform pointoo.de (see our earlier post) has expanded its online offering. Users now can access many more medical and restaurant ratings.
This new injection of content is the result of cooperation with three new partners. The ratings for the medical branch are supplied by the patient-portal DocInsider; the feedback on hotels, restaurants or bars is delivered by Varta (a German hotel and restaurant guide) and by the lifestyle magazine Prinz.de.
“Through the cooperation with services such as DocInsider, we offer our users practical background information” explains Christian Strasheim, managing director of pointoo GmbH, in a press release. pointoo.de is not really a ratings platform in the standard sense (such as Qype, Dialo.de or KennstDuEinen?. It is rather more like a local search service, where registered users can mark their favorite locations, add comments and recommend to other users. Negative feedback is seldom found on this platform (by the nature of rating favorite locations). In order to enrich the users objective assessment of searched locations or service providers, Strasheim announced that further cooperative relationships are being planned for different areas of interest.
Posted in Web Communities, Local Search per PC, Local Search, News, Practical features |
Tags: Beurteilung, Bewertungsplattform, Community, DocInsider, Georg von Holtzbrinck, Kooperation, Kooperationspartner, location bookmark service, lokale Informationen, Nutzerbewertung, pointoo, Prinz.de, User Generated Content, Varta-Führer, web2.0 |
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Live Search Maps now with 360º views
The US-edition of Live Search Maps is now offering its users panorama and 3D-views, of cities, street views or buildings.
Microsoft has equipped its local search service with the Web2.0 photo tool Photosynth, with which users can assemble three-dimensional views using a collage of ‘normal’ photos. Whoever uploads photos with location-details, will facilitate these images being searchable through Live Search Maps. This recent addition was announced by Microsoft employee Chris Pendleton in his blog.
Find thing the new feature is however like a needle in a haystack – it is found after a search, in the left hand menu, under ‘Explore Collections/Show/Photosynth (per link or icon). Once discovered, a list appears showing all available Photosynth images – the geo-locations of which are displayed on the map. As these images are not embedded in Live Search Maps, users must have the Photosynth software installed on their computers. (Note, at the time of writing, the software was only available for the Windows platform).
Although this application is at present only accessible through the English-language edition of Live Search Maps, one is able to access various locations in other countries, including some in Germany, via this version of LSM.
So this is how a local search engine works
In an unconventional post, using a fun video, the team of local.ch explain the technologies used by the regional Swiss-based search engine. In this way, everyone should be able to understand the subject, including those with no idea about algorithms, syntax or semantics. And one doesn’t need to understand Swiss dialect! [Ed: this obviously is aimed at German speakers!]
The woman has barely started her search online, when an uproar breaks out in the search engine team: the entire team rummages through printed address lists, tearing out fitting extracts, and thrusting them into the hand of an office runner. He dashes with the scraps of paper to a fax machine and sends the data to a PC.
The above scene is a tiny sequence from the online video found in the blog of the local Swiss search engine local.ch. Using much humor and effort, the local.ch team somehow answers the question “how does a local search engine work?”
Lokalesucheblog.de asked local.ch how the fun idea for the project came about. Martin Seiler, responsible for communication at local.ch, kindly fulfilled our curiosity. The video actually began as an April Fool’s joke, with the team wanting to send itself up. Thus developed the storyboard and the characters as seen in the video. The text was penned by Seiler, who admitted that was also responsible for the direction.
Google Maps: new street views
Thanks to Google Maps feature “Street View” (we have already discussed this several times, most recently) users can now wander virtually through even more metropoli in Europe and the USA.
Thick and fast, Google has recently added numerous new street views on its local search, Google Maps. This was recently referred to in, several entries in the Google Lat Long Blog.
Soon after the search engine giant added many French towns such as Lyon, Marseilles and Nice (in mid-October 2008), street views of Spain and Italy followed at the end of October. So users can now ramble through Rome, Milan and Florence, or roam through Madrid, Valencia or Seville, and see the sights by mouse click. However, its not only the major European cities that have been documented – one can even view Lake Como. And punctually timed for the US elections, one can flit through the inner cities of Washington, DC as well as Seattle and Baltimore.
Locations that are available in Street View are marked with Camera icons, after the user selects the Street View button while in Map View. There are not too many in Europe as yet, but this is apparently soon to change. for example, Focus.de published an interview with Google spokesperson Stefan Keuchel, in which he announced that the German Street View debut will feature at least three cities, in early 2009.
This project is however quite disputed in Germany for reasons of data protection (see our article). Regarding this controversy , Stefan Keuchel drew the readers’ attention to an interesting article on the Podcast Portal ‘PR on Air’.
Pepped up: GelbeSeiten.de gets new functions
The online-presence of the online directory GelbeSeiten.de has been overhauled, and presents itself after a relaunch, in a new, fresh ‘look’ and offering new features.
In a press release, the operators describe the relaunch motto as “Less is More”, seen in the concentration on essentials. The start page is dominated by the Search field and the Branch Finder. The former Map Search item, which was previous visually front and center, is now relegated to the edge, along with the ‘Shopping’ item, both being found as tabs above the Search field. This new layout offers the user a better graphical orientation, especially facilitating the Search function, said the operators.
Additionally, several new practical features serve to simplify the Search experience for users, continued the press release. These include the suggestion list on typing in the Search field and the optimized Branch Finder. If search terms are incorrectly spelt, an automatic correction is suggested. Useful is also the improved local area search, and the new filter functions, where one can limit the results by branch, detail and city area. Moreover, the results are all displayed on a single map. And whoever wishes now can save interesting results on an electronic notepad, which can be printed later.
Also new are multimedia content. Advertisers can now present themselves and their offering using photos and video. Results reflecting these are displayed prominently in the results lists and advertiser pages.
Brownbook: joining up is worthwhile
The most websites whose content is derived from its users, build on the users’ good will and willingness to participate. The UK-based Web2.0 web directory Brownbook offers its users also a pecuniary incentive- for new entries or ratings earn financial rewards.
This takes place when signed-up businesses reward user entries or ratings, in response to one or more (paid) ads placed using the portal’s advertising-options. Brownbook pays you a slice of anything it earns make from businesses that ‘claim’ their listings and promotions, as a result of users making contributions to Brownbook.net.
For example, an ad could cost UK £ 5 (or US $10) to a ‘claimed’ business. 20% of the Brownbook fees to that business go to the user who last edited the entry. (See “How much can I earn?“)
The new ‘User Earnings Program’ is discussed in a video in the company blog by Brownbook co-founder and CEO Dave Ingram. The principles are also announced in a press release.
Those who want to earn money with Brownbook must register online, and also need a PayPal account where the payments may be transferred. And one must really be diligent about writing entries and ratings.
Brownbook appeared unofficially in December 2007 and went ‘public’ in february 2008 in the United Kingdom. The operators describe the portal as a free and open Wiki-like online directory, where users can search for local firms, rate and describe these or add new entries. The content which derives substantially for the users, is able to be edited by any other user, at least as long as a company has not claimed control over the content. The platform has been targeted internationally, as of July 2008. A recent figure (October 2008) announced by the operators listed over 27 million entries for 230 countries. The most entries are generated in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia.
Posted in Web Communities, Local Search per PC, Local Search on the go, Local Search per Mobile phone, Local Search, News |
Tags: Beurteilung, Bewertungsplattform, Bewertungsportal, Branchenbuch, Branchenverzeichnis, Brownbook, Community, lokale Informationen, mobile lokale Suche, Nutzerbewertung, Onlinebranchenverzeichnis, PayPal, User Generated Content, Verzeichnisdienst, web2.0 |
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OpenStreetMap: Hamburg almost complete
The Hamburg participants of the collaborative world map OpenStreetMap (OSM) have proved themselves as especially diligent at collecting geo-data.
On the go for about the last four years, this Web2.0 map project aims to establish a free, open database with map data covering the entire globe (see our post). As announced by the Hamburg OSM-Community in a press release, nearly 8,000 streets of their city have been documented, thereby becoming the first large German city to have all of its streets registered in the freely available world-map.
For the purposes of checking the accuracy and completeness of the OSM listing, a comparison has been made with the Hamburg Street and Area Directory of the Hamburg Statistics Division, resulting in a 99,8% overlap in accuracy. Still, there’s a lot still to be achieved by the Hamburg OSM team to cover small foot and cycle paths. And the surroundings are still showing many white patches of undocumented areas.
Townster is sold to highest bidder on eBay
After Townster, a local search and ratings portal with networking capability, was offered for several months for sale on eBay, it was recently finally sold.
As can be seen in the offer page on the online-marketplace, the virtual hammer fell for Euro 37,827.77 for the platform. A real bargain, considering more than Euro 150,000 had been invested in the project. The new owner of the portal is the Ex-OnVista head Michael W. Schwetje, posted Townster co-founder Gleb Tritus in his personal blog.
Townster was launched in summer 2007 (see our article). After an unsuccessful financing round and disputes among the founders in November 2007, the hunt for a buyer was started for this local search presence. According to a post by Gleb Tritus in Townster’s company blog, the sale did not happen at that stage, because the interested parties were only interested in taking on the portal with the full team. The team members had by that stage essentially been dissolved and were committed to other projects. Finally, it was decided to offer the platform via ebay auction. However, even after the successful sale, Townster is still a topic for its previous owners- they are planning to “support Michael & Co. as they hunt for suitable new team members, so that Townster can relaunch on the same track as beforehand.”
