How cool is this- the Android phone is getting an upgrade that will make its map application 3D! Tech crunch released an article that said that maps on the Android phone are now going to render images a lot faster, incorporate 3D buildings, offer offline caching and will use the compass to direct the map. The maps will load faster because they require 100 times less data, instead of downloading the entire map for each level the app will now download the entire map at different levels, which will also enable them to work while offline.
The maps will also work with the compass (which is awesome) by automatically flipping the 3D view to be facing the same direction that the person is facing (so that the 3d image is what the user is actually seeing on the street. That feature would be very beneficial to directionally challenged people like me.
This is what the maps will look like when in use:
I think that this will be so beneficial to people who are lost- they will virtually be seeing the image infront of them so they can find their way!
I really hope that the iPhone decides to use the technology that the android is going to for their maps application. I think that it seems really cool, helpful and informative. I think there is a lot of problems with the iPhone map application and I hope that they eventually move to this.
This article can be found at: http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/06/android-map-app-3d-compass-offline/
No comments:
Post a Comment