OpenStreetMap Has Momentum, Apparently

January 9, 2012 10 Comments

All joking aside, this is great news for the project.

Nestoria is one of those companies that was told it would have to start paying real money for Google Maps. When Google couldn’t tell it exactly how much, Nestoria kicked Mountain View to the curb and switched to OpenStreetMap, a free, collaborative effort to map the globe.

A couple of thoughts about this article and OSM/Google Maps.

1.  Google has to tell people how much they are going to charge for their maps sooner rather than later.  No one can run a company without a clear idea of costs (well at least run a company for longer than 6 months).  While Nestoria could have done better due diligence before banking on Google, clearly it is easy enough to move platforms.  Lock-in is something that online mapping APIs do not have.

2.  Freyfogle is completely wrong:

… Freyfogle says, and they must render what Google wants them render — a criticism Google did not address when we asked the company for clarification. “You can make your maps look however you want. Rivers can be red instead of blue if you wanted…. With Google you’re not getting any data. You just get a map on your page.”

You can make the Google Maps look anyway you want dynamically.  That’s pretty awesome because you don’t have to create your own tiles.  He says Google didn’t respond to his questions, but I would assume someone using an API would know what it does (seriously, how can you not research an API that is critical to your app?).

3.  Steve Coast is still alive.  Hey Steve!

4.  OpenStreetMap is growing and will continue grow if Google fails to address the customer service aspects of the Google Maps API.  Leaflet is the key to gaining control over your applications (Nestoria uses it).  Learn it, use it, love it.

One by one, the Gorillas are choosing OSM.

Filed under Google, Google Maps, Leaflet, Open Source, OpenStreetMap Tagged with , , , , ,

Microsoft Magicshop Frontdoor — Improved Address Locations, Released to OpenStreetMap

June 6, 2011 Leave a Comment

The minute I saw this I knew it was going to be awesome:

A few months ago an experimental service to automatically find roads and other features in aerial imagery was launched. Today we’re adding to that a service to help improve local search results.
The frontdoor app allows anyone on the web to help improve our address location results. The site allows you to drag a pin from where we think an address currently is to the front door of the property.

It works on a similar concept to Amazon’s Mechanical Turk.  Only here the output is freely available OpenStreetMap[ref]Or will be soon[/ref] address data. I’ve been working through Magicshop Frontdoor quite a bit this week so I know this is easy enough. Can’t be that many addresses in the USA, can there?  The great thing about helping Microsoft here over lets say Google is that your efforts are helping the community at large.  I wish other mapping companies would embrace this concept as Microsoft has[ref]Wait, did I just call Microsoft a mapping company?[/ref].

Just drag that pushpin to the front door and your done.

Filed under GIS Tagged with , , ,

MapQuest Takes on Google Navigation – OSM Comes Along For The Ride

February 16, 2011 9 Comments

Clearly when it comes to navigation, the Android platform is king. Me being an iOS Fan Boi, I roll with MapQuest as my navigation tool on the iPhone because it seems to do the best routing. The Google Map app seems to let me down again and again. Now MapQuest seems to have pegged its future on OSM and this new Android Navi app brings it front and center.

  • OSM Maps: User-sourced maps that may provide unique local perspective and detail
  • Bug Logging for OSM: Standing in front of a new building? Report it to the community and they’ll fill in the missing pieces
  • International Maps: Take MapQuest abroad on business trips (or for you ex-pats) and experience maps improved by mapping enthusiasts[ref]is that code for mapping wackos?[/ref]

As I don’t have a working Android phone anymore, I can’t test it out. What would be killer is that if the OSM maps could be cached so that you can navigate while traveling and not have to use expensive data roaming plans.

No word if Mario uses it when in his kart…

Filed under GIS Tagged with , ,

MapQuest Finally Goes OSM in USA

December 16, 2010 3 Comments

So apparently our work is done in the USA with the OpenStreetMap data because MapQuest opened up their USA version of their open initiative.

Open.Mapquest.com provides the same features as our 10 sites in Europe and Asia, and also debuts a new error-reporting tool (which has been added to all of MapQuest’s open sites).  For many, this tool may be their first step in becoming OSM contributors.  Now, on any open MapQuest site, errors can be reported directly and are displayed in near real-time.  These errors can range from an incorrect speed limit or directional changes on a street to a missing parking lot or a new cultural institution.

Bing Boom goes the dynamite!  I guess now we can’t complain about the quality of the map anymore because it is my own fault it sucks in Arizona.  This is a very gutsy move on MapQuest’s part as I’m not sure the map is really good enough to use in the United States, but we need something like this out there to get it moving forward.  Rather than fix errors in the Google Map, now we can fix errors in the MapQuest Map and send them on to the root OSM map.  Good work MapQuest!

As an Arizona State alumni, I’m planning a trip to see the NCAA this weekend to correct a horrible wrong done to our fair university.  Looks like I’ll be making that trip with MapQuest and OSM.

Filed under GIS Tagged with , , ,

What Steve Coast’s Move to Bing Really Means

November 23, 2010 33 Comments

OK, sure — there is a rush to blog the news. Steve Coast joined Bing. But leaving it at just that news misses the whole point of what Bing/Microsoft wants and why Steve would go join the Bing Maps team.

One benevolent dictator for life welcomes another to his domain.

Microsoft and OpenStreetMap

Remember this news a couple months ago?  It was cute right?  Nothing earth shattering, just another layer to do your Bing Maps mashups over (assuming you are one of the 5 people who have ever done that).  But deeper something else was going on.  See Google broke the detente that the vendors had with the data providers. (can you believe that was barely a year ago?)  In doing so it put a ton of pressure on the other mapping API vendors to change how they did business.  Despite the problems with Google Maps, the one thing it had going for it was that it could be updated.  Microsoft was stuck with the old model.  Navteq is authoritative1 and that means it takes months to update the data.  Google’s navigation might have been totally borked, but at least they controlled it.  Microsoft and MapQuest didn’t have the luxury.

Time to Bail!

So MapQuest went first and in a big way.  Not only did they announce they were breaking with their data vendor, but they were also going to donate money and time back to OSM to help further the project along.  Already MapQuest’s Open website is running and those at least in the UK are happy as clams.  But despite all those German OSM mappers doing great work in the middle of Europe, for OSM to be viable it needs to have a workable/routable map in the good old USA.  This was the whole concept behind those Cloudmade ambassadors.  The idea was they could have succeeded if they had the map right.  Well the reality of the scope of the project killed Cloudmade’s efforts and the USA has lagged behind.  What the OSM project needed was some company that could do the heavy lifting and move the project forward in the USA and other parts of the world where it needed help.

Enter the 500 lb Gorilla

So here we are.  Microsoft needs to get involved with OpenStreetMap to continue to be relevant in the web mapping space and OSM needs Microsoft, their aerial images, their big pocketbook and their need to dominate all spaces they exist to join up.  Simple as pie, right?  Oh, but wait — the minute Microsoft enters the community, they’ll be a huge backlash.  I mean the goal of Microsoft is to put a proprietary OS on everyone’s desktop (at least that is the feeling I got from an OSMer at WhereCamp5280).  Ah, but remember this wonderful news?  Who better to represent Microsoft with OSM than one of the founder’s of OSM!

The Way Forward

So what does this mean, really?  Short term, not too much.  The OSM data in the USA is still not good enough to route with2.  But the better aerials will improve the USA greatly and quickly.  If there is one thing that Microsoft has done well, it is the aerial imagery in the greatest democracy south of Canada, north of Mexico; OSM-US <added link to OSM-US>.  Plus rather than investing in their technology to route with Navteq, they’ll push those efforts toward OSM routing and BOOM; we’ll have a working, routable OSM map that everyone can use.

Makes you wonder about Google’s choice to roll their own now doesn’t it?  How quickly Google’s map looks like it will be a drag on their innovation.  Between the OSM mappers, MapQuest, Microsoft and all the others who are part of the open project; I see no way OSM doesn’t dominate the market as the choice for mapping data moving forward.  And you know who wins, everyone who wants free and open data.  That’s the take away — congratulations to Steve Coast because he sure deserves success, but the real winners here are you and I.

1. By authoritative I mean busted and old business model.

2. Flame away guys, but you’d be wrong to think otherwise!

Filed under GIS Tagged with , , , , , ,

Is it Monday Already?

September 13, 2010 7 Comments

Wait, what happened to 3 day weekends.  I guess you get one and then you expect them all the time.  Oh well…

Some interesting reading for a Monday morning:

ArcGISEditor for OSM – Randal looks at the ArcGIS Editor for OSM and concludes it is complicated, but powerful.  I all Esri tools (they are “scientific” mind you) nothing is ever simple, but if you can get your hands around it, powerful results happen.

FOSS4G 2010 Final Answer – Apparently there was a Geospatial conference going on somewhere.  They all kind of start blending in to each other, don’t they?

Making a Data Portal With WordPress – Content management is content management, right?  (bless his heart for trying to do this with WordPress)  Just goes to show that if you can hack your way around code, there isn’t anything you can’t accomplish (assuming your billable time isn’t an issue).

Gearing up for GIS in the Rockies – Time for the fall conference season to kick into high gear.  Front Range GIS is a unique community who do some really great things with both proprietary and open source tools (usually in combination).  Bummed I can’t go.

Why not GeoJSON? – Looks like France was good to Sean.  He’s got a great post up on ESRI’s use of JSON in their RESTful API.

Oh and way to represent SEC!

Filed under GIS Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

ArcGIS Editor for OpenStreetMap Available as Open Source

July 9, 2010 Leave a Comment

Marten Hogeweg says that the ArcGIS Editor for OpenStreetMap is available on CodePlex as an open source add-in.

Adds Marten:

If you want to contribute to documentation, best practices, or code, send your codeplex account to mhogeweg at esri dot com and I can add you to the list of contributors.

You Wichita lineman can get editing those OpenStreetMaps right away

Filed under GIS Tagged with , , , , , , ,

MapQuest goes OpenStreetMap – At Least in UK

July 9, 2010 5 Comments

MapQuest, in that ever battle to stay relevant, has chosen to move toward OpenStreetMap.  Says the Wall Street Journal:

The company [MapQuest], a subsidiary of AOL, plans to announce Friday morning that it is launching a site in the U.K. based on a project called OpenStreetMap, which is dedicated to user-created mapping. The OpenStreetMap project has caught on most quickly in Europe, which is why MapQuest is starting there, but AOL also will devote $1 million to support the growth of open-source mapping in the U.S. The site has a U.K. address — http://open.mapquest.co.uk — but users can navigate to user-created maps from any country.

While we’ve all worked really hard here in the good old USA to improve the maps, clearly there is still a ton of work to get done (especially with building the networks), but $1,000,000 (doesn’t it look bigger when you use those zeros?) should help get this moving.  CloudMade tried to fund this through their Ambassador program, but pulled the plug when progress was slow in coming.  AOL is clearly committed to the program and probably happy to spend their dollars on funding OSM than shipping them off to Navteq (er Nokia) and their competition.  How long before Microsoft decides that they are done funding Nokia’s Ovi Maps effort through licensing and joins OSM or moves to Tele Atlas?

Now if AOL gave me that million dollars and asked me to figure out how to build out the USA, I’d go ahead and hire the top 10 German OSM contributes and set them loose on America.  It would be done in two weeks.  Seriously though, the USA map needs a ton of work and the quality of the map compared to Europe is probably the only thing holding back OSM.

MapQuest has more details on their blog.

Here comes AOL!

Filed under GIS Tagged with , , , , , , ,

ArcGIS for iOS Release

July 6, 2010 30 Comments

Over the holiday weekend, ESRI’s new ArcGIS for iOS went live on the Apple iTunes Store.

ArcGIS for iOS (iPhone) Splash Screen

ESRI lists the following as “features”:

  • Navigate map galleries in just a few taps
  • Use maps authored in ArcGIS.com
  • Access your own GIS data
  • Display and zoom to current location
  • Perform linear and area measurements based on your current location or by interacting with the map.
  • Retrieve detailed map metadata
  • View feature attribute information
  • Perform keyword search and get access to relevant information
  • Execute predefined searches
  • Change the visibility of layers
  • Access popular maps faster by adding them to your favorites list
  • Share maps with other iPhone/iPad users

Now the app is quite impressive. The functionality and the ease of use stand out to me on my quick look this morning.  The UI is simple and puts both the map and search functionality front and center.  There is also a “Find Maps” button that takes you to what is essentially ArcGIS Online, where you can view many maps that are available in that service as well as add your own web mapping service.  The only issue I have with this is that currently you can only add ArcGIS Server web services, not any OGC services.  In an ESRI centric environment, that might not be an issue, but it does limit its use outside of an “ESRI shop”.  You also can’t consume CSW services to discover web content, you can only use ArcGIS.com.

The simple UI for ArcGIS for iOS on the iPhone

ArcGIS for iOS Find Maps Screen

ArcGIS for iOS Browse Maps Screen

The ArcGIS for iOS OpenStreetMap Service

ArcGIS for iOS uses ESRI Web Services Only

The search works well in that you can find not only places, but companies and other useful points of interest.

Isn't it nice how the search for ESRI puts you right at the front door of the Q Building?

The Map Tools are accessible via the wrench in the upper right Map screen and give you Identify and Measure (Area and Distance).  The Identify has a reverse geocoder to give you the address of a location as well as its coordinate and any features available.

The map tools available for ArcGIS for iOS

The identify function of ArcGIS for iOS

ArcGIS for iOS is a very impressive mobile mapping app.  It really shows the attention to detail ESRI has put into their new ArcGIS Mobile apps.  Compared to the old Windows CE and Windows Mobile crap they used to put out, this was easily used by my son without any direction.  Having all those ESRI web services (from the wonderful Topological Map, to the Bing Maps) at your finger tips is great (plus adding in OSM is just icing on the cake).

ArcGIS Golf Oil Spill Forecast Map

As I said above, my biggest disappointment is lack of OGC standards support.  WMS and CSW support is really needed to make this application valuable outside of ESRI centric workflows.  That said, watching my 7 year old son move around the application with ease gives me new hope what we GIS folks can actually make usable GIS apps for public consumption.  We’ll just have to see how open they can get.

Filed under GIS Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Cloudmade’s OpenStreetMap Project is Successful

April 17, 2010 7 Comments

I know many readers of my blog are very interested in the OpenStreetMap project so this news will all make you breath a sigh of relief. The great visionary Michael Arrington has the hot scoop:

Many people describe CloudMade’s OpenStreetMap project as “Wikipedia for maps,” and they aren’t far off. The project allows anyone to add and edit map data around the globe, and the project is now a viable open and free source of mapping data for third party developers.

CloudMade has allowed entire new classes of applications to be possible. In Germany 150,000 people have paid to download skobbler, which is based on data from OpenStreetMap. Countless other apps also use the data. One notably creative one – a gay cities app that shows the gay areas of cities around the world, with points of interest.

I’ve been a huge proponent of CloudMade’s OpenStreetMap project since the Cloudmade guys created it back in the day. Thus being a CloudMade OpenStreetMap participant for years, I’m glad to see that the CloudMade project is finally getting its due.

.
.
.
.

Ugh right? The whole “article” sounds like it was planted for CloudMade’s gain because to represent the OpenStreetMap project this way is a huge diservice to those of us who have put countless nights on improving the maps. Toss in one softball comment and we’ve got a hype project working.

The whole operation reminds me of a good YouTube video…

Update: In fairness to Cloudmade, they have clearly stated that they are not running the project.

I take two things away from this. Arrington doesn’t understand a thing about location and someone (a VC perhaps) is feeding Arrington bad information. It would appear the management of Cloudmade was unaware of this story so if there is something going on, it is outside of their knowledge.

I’m fairly sure both Steve and Nick wouldn’t represent CM this way so lets just go on the assumption Arrington and some wacko know nothing about anything.

Filed under GIS Tagged with , , ,

← Older posts