Mapping services provide street, topographic and satellite maps online for free. Desktop applications like Microsoft Map Point allow data import and GPS devices use mapping software for location and route display. Mobile phones can also access mapping services. Google Maps offers an API for building map-based applications and street level view for some cities. The future of these applications is uncertain.
A mapping service allows users to view street maps, topographic maps and, with some, the view from space. Many mapping services are online and are browser-based, allowing anyone with internet access to use their services for free. Some of the popular online mapping services include Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, Mapquest.com.
There are also desktop applications, such as Microsoft Map Point®, which get map data from a web service operated by Microsoft®. Desktop mapping applications allow you to import data from an Excel spreadsheet and place it on a map. This feature can be very useful in conjunction with customer-based software for creating route maps for sales trips and other purposes. Since these applications also use a web-based mapping service for their updates, road construction and other changes to the map data will be fed into the software.
Recently, global positioning systems (GPS) have become extremely popular. A GPS unit uses satellite signals to determine the location of the receiver. Then the internal mapping software is used to display the current position and route for the user. These devices also get updates from mapping services, but the updates are usually not free to the user after the first update. Some popular GPS devices may accept maps and/or routes prepared by an online mapping service. This allows the user to create the route he needs on a PC and send the map to the GPS device.
Mapping services are also becoming available for use on web-enabled mobile phones. This will allow a phone user to access a map service to get directions or locate an address. Some wireless providers include their own mapping application to handle these requests, while others use existing mapping services directly through the phone’s browser or through a downloadable application that connects to a particular mapping service via the web.
Google® took their mapping service to another level by creating an application programming interface (API), which allows users to build their own map-based applications based on Google’s mapping service. Many applications, from real estate websites to event maps, are built on top of the Google maps application. Another feature that has been added to their mapping service is the street level view for some cities. This allows a map user to look at a photo of the street that he has entered into the application. The street view service is only available in some markets.
The capabilities of online mapping services have come a long way since they were introduced. How far the web giants take these extremely useful applications remains to be seen.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
