Google Maps Brings New Markers

Google Maps Japan was quietly improved by the parent company, receiving some new graphical signs that offer quick identification of certain locations. Because the features are currently available only in the Japanese version of Google Maps and the Mountain View company didn't make any official announcement, the new functions are not quite clear. InsideGoogle sustained that "Google Maps in Japan has something the other versions don't have: little icons, seemingly for various common businesses and eateries. I definitely see McDonalds and 7Eleven, and I assume all the other icons are for similar things. This would be real useful in the U.S., and I'm sure we'd all love to have that feature here."

Now, the two products, Google Earth and Google Maps were recently improved with a lot of new functions but the search giant avoided to announce them officially, preferring to release them silently. For example, Google Earth 4.1 Beta was introduced last week although the company didn't schedule the new version. However, the beta version contains a lot of new functions, most of them offering an improved functionality of the application. Besides the tips displayed at the start of the program, Google Earth now has interoperability with Google Maps allowing the users to view a certain location straight in a browser window.

Google Maps was also recently updated, the online solution receiving several improvements for the imagery provided through the web-based interface. For example, the product received a brand new pack of street photos offering some new detailed images for multiple countries all over the world. This time, the company introduced them officially and added that a user is now able to find a street by typing the address in the search box. Google Maps is also one of the most used services for mash-up, numerous developers using the solution to create their own projects.