With today's release of iOS 6, Slashdot discusses a story named Major Backlash Looms For Apple's New Maps App.

Their summary: "Michael DeGusta writes that Apple's new Maps app is the very first item on their list of major new features in iOS 6, but for many iPhone and iPad users around the world Apple's new maps are going to be a major disappointment as the Transit function will be lost in 51 countries, the Traffic function will be lost in 24 countries, and the Street View function will be lost in 41 countries. 'In total, 63 countries with a combined population of 4.5 billion people will be without one or more of these features they previously had in iOS,' writes DeGusta. 'Apple is risking upsetting 65% of the world's population, seemingly without much greater purpose than speeding the removal of their rival Google from iOS. Few consumers care about such battles though, nor should they have to.' The biggest losers will be Brazil, India, Taiwan, and Thailand (population: 1.5 billion) which overnight will go from being countries with every maps feature (transit, traffic, and street view) to countries with none of those features, nor any of the new features, flyover and turn-by-turn directions. Apple's maps are clearly behind in some key areas, but they will presumably continue to improve over time. Google has committed to making their maps available everywhere, so it seems likely Google will release their own iOS maps app soon, as they did with YouTube, which has similarly been removed from iOS 6."

Here's the recent Google-related geonews.

From official sources:

• My iPad 2 invited me to update iOS's Google Earth to version 7: "With today’s release of Google Earth for iOS you can literally fly through breathtaking 3D city landscapes and images and follow virtual tours of places you’ve never been [...] The growing list of 3D cities include Boulder, Boston, Charlotte, Lawrence (Kan.), Long Beach (Ca.), Los Angeles, Portland (Ore.), San Diego, Santa Cruz, Tampa, Tucson, and the San Francisco Bay Area (including the Peninsula and East Bay) as well as Rome, Italy. [...] Also new in this release is a “tour guide” to show you interesting places to explore." This topic is discussed at Slashdot in a story named Google Outs 3D Maps For iOS Ahead of Apple.
• Google also announced more detailed maps in parts of Europe, Africa and Asia: "And today, we’re launching updated maps of Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lesotho, Macau, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore and Vatican City to do just that."

• As part of the 40th anniversary  of the Landsat satellite program, Google now includes more Landsat imagery: "We’re working with the USGS and Carnegie Mellon University, to make parts of this enormous collection of imagery available to the public in timelapse videos of the Earth's surface. With them you can travel through time, to see the transformation of our planet."
• There's new additional panoramic imagery of historic Antarctic locations
• Google also shared an entry named Maps for good: Google Earth Outreach Developer Grants

From other sources:

• The GEB shares an entry on exploring the London Olympics in Google Earth
• The same source mentions 'Google Earth Studio', a tool for the media, in an entry on Google Earth's relevance for news
• The GEB also shares an entry on exploring fake deserts of the world in Google Earth

• Slashdot ran a discussion named Ox Bow Lake Formation, As Seen By the Google Earth Time Machine
• Tens of sources mentioned that Marissa Mayer, Google's former vice president of Local, Maps & Location Services was appointed CEO of Yahoo

Here's recent Google-related geonews, with some pretty interesting.

• While there's a new uninformative official entry on Project Glass, their augmented reality glasses we mentioned in April, Slashdot provides more information in this entry named More Details On Google Glass, including: "As we mentioned earlier, the developers at I/O have the option to buy the 'Explorer Edition' of Google Glass for $1,500. In addition to the (functional, but unfinished) device itself, they also get access to Google's engineers and to keep up with the devices development. Worry not: when the consumer version of the device is finalized, it will be cheaper, but of course they aren't ready to talk about actual prices yet. As for availability: "Less than a year after we get these Explorer Editions out.""

From official sources:

• A new Google Earth for Android version is out, with new 3D cities imagery, yes, that's the new great city imagery similar to what Apple Maps will provide with iOS 6, and Google will soon provide a new  iOS version of Google Earth too. The other major feature is the 'Tour guide': "We’ve put together short tours of thousands of famous places and historical sites across the globe so it’s easier than ever to discover amazing places." Here's which cities have the new 3D imagery: "Boulder, Boston, Charlotte, Lawrence, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Portland, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Tampa in the United States, along with Rome, Italy."
• The Dev blog announced that Public transit routing and layer now are now available in the Google Maps API

• It was announced and it's now reality, you can now Go offline with Google Maps for Android

• And because we need to seriously take care of our home, Planet Earth, Google shares Geo in Rio: Cool Tools for a Warming Planet, and another related official entry is about Crowdsourcing Forest Monitoring
• The official Dev blog shares an entry on symbols and heatmaps for the Google Maps API

24 hours ago Apple announced  the new 'Maps' app for iOS 6, which includes turn-by-turn navigation, real-time traffic and 3D maps: "Designed by Apple from the ground up, Maps gives you turn-by-turn spoken directions, interactive 3D views, and the stunning Flyover feature. All of which may just make this app the most beautiful, powerful mapping service ever."

Here's the reactions on the geoblogs and other sources:

• Let's start with MacRumors which were amongst the first to let us know about it
• Spatially Adjusted links to the Apple attribution page for the Maps app, and it's TomTom data for navigation amongst other sources, and not surprisingly, there's still OpenStreetMap data in there like for the latest Photo app

• Spatially Adjusted also shares an interesting entry named Will Apple Maps Impact Web Mapping? "Thus in the short term, it becomes one more API we must learn if we are deploying to Apple devices. [...] Second, it might not be useful for GIS applications. [...] Third, if you are already using Google or Mapbox, do you really need to switch?"
• Peter Batty also shares an interesting reaction: "Another interesting development is that a good number of major car manufacturers have committed to adding a button on their steering wheel within the next 12 months that will activate Siri on your iOS device, which will make iOS devices even more attractive as in car devices. [...] The most obvious thing missing from Apple Maps that Google Maps has is Street View. They also didn't mention anything about an offline mode, which Google announced last week. [...]  Another thing missing, which I use a lot on Google Maps on my iPhone, is routing using public transit."
• Adena at APB is collecting 'facts' about Apple's new Maps app

• The Map Room links to Cult of Mac's 4-minutes hands-on demonstration of the Apple Maps app
• You can read more on The Verge, Gizmodo, and several other generic sources 
• If you want to see the 10-minutes video announcement and demo of the Maps app, fast forward to about 98 minutes into the talk

I expect more Apple Maps information and analysis in the coming weeks, and by the time it becomes available as part of iOS 6 "next Fall".

Before tomorrow's event, here's the recent Google-related geonews.

From official sources:

• Google launched Google+ Local, "a simple way to discover and share local information featuring Zagat scores and recommendations from people you trust in Google+"

• There's New 45° imagery available for 26 cities:
  • US: Albany, GA (outskirts); Atascocita, TX; Clarksville, TN; Columbia, MO; Corpus Christi, TX; Fayetteville, NC; Fort Collins, CO; Fort Smith, AR; Greensboro, NC; Jackson, TN; Lafayette, LA; Plaquemine, LA; Pueblo, CO; Santa Fe, NM; Texarkana, AR; Tyler, TX
  • International: Bern, Switzerland; Cracow, Poland; Dublin, Ireland; Gdansk, Poland; Lugo, Spain; Ourense, Spain; Poznan, Poland; Warsaw, Poland; Wroclaw, Poland; Zurich, Switzerland
• You can now Explore historic sites with the World Wonders Project
• There's now Street View data over the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• And if you're in Europe instead, Explore the football stadiums of Poland and Ukraine as they prepare to host the European Championships
• If you're a fan of bridges in the U.S., check out this entry named Band of Bridges: Celebrating the Golden Gate Anniversary

From other sources:

• Here's tonight's Transit of Venus in Google Earth
• Nate Irwin shares an entry named Google imposing more restrictions on Google Maps API, and since he mentions "For example, you are not permitted to: (i) use or provide any part of the Service or Content (such as map imagery, geocoding, directions, places, or terrain data) in an API that you offer to others", I wonder what it means for OpenLayers and other similar tools?
• Here's a SearchEngineLand article named Google Places Is Over, Company Makes Google+ The Center Of Gravity For Local Search
• You will see mostly talk and no actual demo, but here's Sergey Brin Demos Google Glasses Prototype
• The GEB shares an entry named How Google Earth is being used by the Philippine National Police
• Another rumors going in the same direction, Apple Replacing Google Maps On iOS With Its Own Solution Later This Year
• The GEB shares the incredible 3D buildings of Istanbul, Turkey

• And of course, there was new imagery too

At last week's 3D GeoInfo conference, I learned about the open source Glob3 3D GIS and Glob3 Mobile 3D virtual globe.

There isn't much on the sourceforge website: "glob3 is an open source 3D GIS multiplatform framework written in java with a very non restrictive license and advanced features." 

​But you'll get more on this page for Glob3 Mobile: "Glob3 Mobile is an open source 3D multiplattform virtual globe engine, running in mobile devices (Android and Apple) and in HTML5 web browsers. In this first version, it allows to connect to any OGC WMS public layer, and show it on the globe. Glob3 Mobile is also a framework for virtual globe development. It allows to write plugins directly in Javascript, and these plugins can run in the three plattforms (Android / Apple / web browsers). The project is currently in development, but first plugin examples can be tested in this site."

The apps for iOS and Android are free.

Leading publisher of printed map products expands into digital world through PDF Maps app

TORONTO, (May 22) – Avenza Systems Inc., the leading developer of cartographic software --such as MAPublisher® for Adobe® Illustrator® and Geographic Imager® geospatial tools for Adobe Photoshop®-- has partnered with Mapmobility, Canada’s most prominent producer of printed urban mapping products to announce the largest offering of Canadian digital maps for consumer use on the iOS platform. Avenza will host Mapmobility’s highly detailed maps in the PDF Maps app and digital map store providing a new way for mobile device users to access a rich resource of content that was previously only available in print. The PDF Maps app allows users to explore and navigate Canada without having to worry about losing reception due to cell tower proximity or high data roaming charges typical of other “streaming” map services, making it the ideal travel accessory.

Mapmobility holds the largest Canadian market share of printed map products with hundreds of atlas and folded map titles making the relationship with Avenza mutually beneficial for both companies and the consumer. The partnership enhances Avenza’s digital map database by adding more than 30 years-worth of Canadian cartographic content, while Mapmobility benefits from Avenza’s foothold in a digital marketplace to reach a new mobile map consumer with the PDF Maps app and Avenza Map store. Mapmobility has selected Avenza as its exclusive channel for selling and distributing digital versions of its maps making the Avenza PDF Maps app and store the only place to find the vast array of Mapmobility Canadian maps.

“Given the shift in how our audience has received their information in the last ten years, we wanted to focus on a hi-tech solution that allowed consumers to be more interactive with our detailed maps,” said Carl Nanders, Director of Business Strategy at Mapmobility. “What Avenza provided is a way into a digital retail space without having to recreate the wheel ourselves. Avenza’s Map store within the PDF Maps app provides a more meaningful way to reach an audience that has gone mobile which is extremely appealing to publishers who once relied solely on the paper product.”

Avenza’s PDF Maps app is an all-encompassing solution for the use, distribution and sale of digital versions of paper maps to mobile devices. It includes both an app for consumers to use, discover and purchase maps directly from their devices as well as an in-app store to facilitate the transaction and delivery of maps. The in-app marketplace provides a new mobile e-commerce venue that allows those in the industry to have access to more than 200 million Apple iOS users seeking information about specific maps.

“For years we’ve worked with publishers providing cartographic software to help create maps, but as consumers continue to change how they access and consume content, we’re delighted to be the conduit for the more than 130 map publishers, including Mapmobility, to deliver such detailed maps in a more interactive manner,” said Ted Florence, President of Avenza Systems Inc. “As we continue to strengthen our community of vendors, many companies are beginning to see how useful the PDF Maps app can be in introducing content to consumers and we’re excited to be a part of how the industry evolves in a digital age.”

The PDF Maps app takes advantage of geospatial technology that allows travelers to view and measure real world locations and attributes. Paired together with mobile devices that utilize GPS, such as an iPhone or iPad, the PDF Maps app provides constant access to geographic locations and even points of interest without the risk of losing reception due to cell tower proximity – making it the ultimate traveling accessory for those that are enthusiastic about travel or anywhere internet bandwidth is not available or is cost-prohibitive when roaming internationally.

PDF Maps is available now on the iTunes App Store free of charge for personal use. For more information about the app, visit the Avenza website/pdf-maps. Pricing of each map is set by the publisher and free maps remain free to users through the PDF Maps in-app map store.

More about Avenza Systems Inc.

Avenza Systems Inc. is an award-winning, privately held corporation that provides cartographers and GIS professionals with powerful software tools for making better maps. In addition to software offerings for Mac and Windows users, Avenza offers value-added data sets, product training and consulting services.

MacRumors shares a long entry named Apple Moving to In-House Mapping Service with 3D Views in iOS 6?

From the 9TO5Mac report: "Apple will drop the Google Maps program running on iOS since in favor for a new Maps app with an Apple backend. [..] The most important aspect of the new Maps application is a powerful new 3D mode. The 3D mode does not come enabled by default, but users simply need to click a 3D button that is conveniently and visibly stored in the app. Perhaps under the fold like the current traffic, pin, and map view buttons. This 3D mode is said to essentially be technology straight from C3 Technologies: beautiful, realistic graphics based on de-classified missile target algorithms."

We mentioned in the past that Apple Acquired Web Mapping Firm Poly9 and Apple's C3 Technologies 3D Maps Also Offer Street Views and Interior Views.

Related, Apple's iPhoto maps now show attribution to OpenStreetMap, we mentioned Apple using OpenStreetMap data in March.

Developer of the award-winning PDF Maps app accepts honour at global conference focusing on the Geospatial Industry & World Economy

TORONTO, (April 25) - Avenza Systems Inc., producers of MAPublisher® cartographic software for Adobe® Illustrator® and Geographic Imager® geospatial tools for Adobe Photoshop®, celebrates its recognition as a mobile mapping leader at this year’s Geospatial World Forum in Amsterdam, Netherlands by winning the conference’s Geospatial World Innovation award for Mobile Mapping with its PDF Maps app and digital map store solution for the iOS platform. PDF Maps is an all-encompassing solution for the use, distribution, and sale of digital versions of paper maps to mobile devices. It includes both an app for consumers to use, discover, and purchase maps directly from and to their devices as well as a backend store to facilitate the transaction and delivery of the maps. Paired together with mobile devices that utilize GPS, such as an iPhone, the PDF Maps app provides constant access to geographic locations and points of interest without the risk of losing reception due to cell tower proximity.

Attended by more than 2,000 professionals representing government agencies, private industries, research, and academic institutions as well as developmental agencies from around the world, the Geospatial World Forum raises the awareness level of the increasing relevance of geospatial technology in everyday life. Its goal is to open the lines of communication amongst the end-users, geospatial technology experts, and policy makers in an effort to utilize spatial technologies productively in areas such as infrastructure, utilities, energy, land management, business enterprise, mining, and governance.

“Given the visibility of such a global conference, Avenza takes great honour in accepting the mobile mapping award for the technology utilized in our PDF Maps app,” said Ted Florence, president, Avenza. “Our history and expertise in developing tools for the cartographic industry along with the advances in navigation satellite systems and mobile devices have allowed us to realize our strengths and provide a navigation platform that can be used by consumers as well as private and public sectors in ways that have never been done before. We are ecstatic to be acknowledged by our peers and look forward to being part of the discussion of how geospatial technology can be further utilized in a meaningful manner.”

Competing against seven other notable products in its category from around the world, Avenza’s PDF Maps app secured the award for its revolutionary ability to acquire, display, and interact with digital maps on mobile devices and tablets. The innovative tool supports a growing database of maps featuring tens of thousands of maps authored, distributed or sold by individual cartographers, established map publishers, and government agencies. The PDF Maps app and Avenza Map Store offer a medium by which map content can be easily repurposed providing a valid revenue stream for map publishers in an era when the industry is losing its market to digital products with GPS functionality.

“Geospatial Media and Communications is dedicated to promoting application and use of geospatial technologies worldwide. In order to encourage innovative applications of geospatial technologies, the company through its publication division – Geospatial World, awards organisations from different parts of the world with the Geospatial World Excellence Awards on applications, technologies and policies,” said Sanjay Kumar of Geospatial Media. “This year, we are pleased to felicitate Avenza Systems Inc. for their innovative solution, ‘PDF Maps,’ an iOS application in the Mobile Mapping category. This innovative product is a promising solution bringing maps into mobile phones and tablet devices, and will result in better and easier usage of maps by every day users.”

To win its category, the PDF Maps app was judged on its innovativeness, practicality, social relevance of the tool in today’s world as well as the quality of documentation and availability.

Currently, Avenza’s vast PDF Maps app library covering maps for domestic and international travel and reference includes more than 55,000 USGS (United States Geological Survey) topographic maps organized by state and area. Some of the capabilities offered by the PDF Maps app:

• Quickly view, zoom, pan, and read geospatial PDF, GeoTIFF, and GeoPDF® maps
• Browse, preview, purchase and download professionally created maps from the Avenza Map Store from over 125 publishers and government agencies worldwide
• Access and load maps through iTunes File Sharing or over a Wi-Fi or cellular network. Saved maps can be used without the need for a live network connection (offline).
• View your location on the map using the built-in GPS or via Wi-Fi triangulation
• Find coordinates of any location in the map, including the ability to type in a coordinate to search
• Display coordinates as Lat/Long (WGS84), Lat/Long (Map Default), Northing/Easting, or Military Grid Reference System (MGRS/United States National Grid (USNG)
• Add waypoints and collect/record information about locations, including photos
• Export, import and share waypoints and associated data, including photos using iTunes, e-mail or Dropbox
• Overlay Google search results
• Measure distances and areas
• Change pin colors, position, and label names

PDF Maps is available now on the iTunes App Store free of charge for personal use. For more information about the app, visit the Avenza website/pdf-maps. Pricing of each map is set by the publisher and free maps can be downloaded at no cost through the PDF Maps in-app map store.

More about Avenza Systems Inc.

Avenza Systems Inc. is an award-winning, privately held corporation that provides cartographers and GIS professionals with powerful software tools for making better maps. In addition to software offerings for Mac and Windows users, Avenza offers value-added data sets, product training, and consulting services.

Here's the recent geonews in batch mode. Again an unusually long edition.

From the open source and open data front:

• Here's two entries on PostGIS 2.0 new features; Typmod and 3D/4D indexing
• You might be interested in learning about GDAL virtual formats if you don't use them already, related to GDAL, here's how to correctly compute the average aspect of a DEM using gdaldem
• There's a Natural Earth Quick Start Kit that includes a QGIS project file, and another entry on adding custom global projections to QGIS
• There's new 2.5 meters imagery of Australia available for OpenStreetMap
• O'Reilly shares a story of another company, StreetEasy, switching to OpenStreetMap data
• In Russia too, with Yandex, they are using crowdsourced maps now
• If you plan to use MapServer as a WFS 1.1.0 client, read this, since apparently it's support is not optimal just yet

From the Esri front:

• Via James, the File Geodatabase API 1.2 has been released and MacOS X is now supported
• About two weeks ago, the ArcGIS 10 Service Pack 4 became available for download

From the Google front:

• Google just introduced more detailed 3D landmarks on Google Maps, take a quick look at the screenshots included
• Google Map Maker is now available in France and Monaco
• You can now get Traffic Conditions in Norway, New Zealand, and Hong Kong
• Ogle Earth offers a detailed entry on conspiracy, Google Earth and the latest war in Sri Lanka
• There's a whole new website for Google Maps API Developers
• The GEB offers an entry on Integrating Street View with the Google Earth Diorama
• Oh, and there's new imagery

From the Microsoft front:

• Bing Maps offers a new look for Pushpins, Popups, and Transit
• And Microsoft announced Bing Maps for Metro Style Apps
• There's new official Bing Maps forums too

In the miscellaneous category:

• APB shares an entry named Facebook Outlines Vision for Location APIs
• O'Reilly shares a story about the impacts of languages on place and location aware tools
• James informs us that iOS is now telling us when an app is using a geofence
• Slashdot discussed a story named Stolen iPad's Reported Location Not Enough To Warrant Search, Say Dutch Police
• Another story on the same site is entitled Pentagon Wants Disposable War Satellites
• Still from Slashdot, a story named Satellites Expose 8,000 Years of Civilization
• And a last one from the same source is named DIY Augmented Reality Heads-Up Display
• Yes, it's been already 10 years of Envisat
• Here's a Q&A on OGC's CityGML standard
• Nokia Drive 2.0 offers interesting features such as offline directions, for Lumia Windows Phones

In the maps category:

• SS shared an entry named New Mapping Tool Shows Potential Radiation Impacts in the United States
• For the astronomers amongst us, TMR shares a Geologic Map of Io and an Atlas of the Galilean Satellites