Google Bringing Street View to Mobile Browsers

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Although Apple might be scrambling to get some sort of mapping device on a mobile phone together, Google Maps aren’t faltering. One of the things that mobile users love most, especially the directionally challenged as my mom would say, is the ability to use Google maps. You never have to worry about printing out directions before you leave your house because you have your phone, and now things are about to get even better.

As of October 9 of this year, Google will bring street view to mobile browsers. It’s not the most exciting news in the world, but it’s something that will make a difference in the long run for the mobile user as well as Google itself.

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Google Launches Turn-By-Turn Directions In More Countries

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Google Maps NavigationGoogle Maps navigation for Android devices has been one of the biggest headaches for Garmin, TomTom and various other GPS companies who watched as their stocks tumbled upon the initial release of the software in the United States on October 2009, now Google has announced a more widespread launch of the program.

Under current capabilities voice-based turn-by-turn voice directions are now also available in the U.K and Ireland, most of mainland Europe and all of Canada.

The exact countries now supported according to Mobiflip.de are:  Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium.

The best part? Google Maps is still 100% free for Android users and the program supports voice commands and voice search, along with traffic warnings, millions of POIs (Points Of Interest), step-by-step directions and street view capabilities.

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GMail And Buzz Add Preview Feature For Google Maps

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Google Maps Preview for Gmail and Google Buzz

Google today unveiled a new Google Maps preview feature for their popular Gmail email client and their newly minted Google Buzz service.

The new service allows users to paste a Google Maps link into their messages, at which point a preview of the location on Google Maps is shown.

The feature isn’t enabled on it’s own for Gmail, to turn it on simply log into your Gmail account and navigate to the Gmail Labs sections, then under “Settings” enable the “Google Maps Previews in Mail.” Google Buzz users simply paste the URL into your Google Buzz box and you’ll automatically see the preview.

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Movable Type Monday: Layoffs, Plugins, Screencasts, and More

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Let’s get the bad news out of the way: In an effort to reorganize and cut their expenses, Six Apart is laying off 8% of their employees. Hopefully, those affected will get back on their feet quickly. The thing to watch is whether this slows development of Movable Type and how it impacts community involvement and documentation efforts.

Speaking of our community, let’s see what folks have been up to this week:

Plugins

ToI Planning released several plugins last week. Their descriptions in the Plugins directory are lacking in details, but from ToI Planning’s website and trying the plugins myself, I think I’ve figured them out. [Read more…]

WTF Blog Clutter: Where Are You?

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We talked about whether or not to show the weather on your blog. Now, it’s time to talk maps in our ongong series on WTF Blog Design Clutter.

Maps have come a long with with the advancements of Google Maps and Yahoo! Maps, especially with the integration of satellite maps and introduction of Google Earth where you can actually see where you are going or want to go. Or where you live. Online maps make the world closer and smaller, and they can make your blog more personal.

Is it important to have a map of where you live or work or play on your blog?
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