Google MapsMania

Developers and google map enthusasts should take note of this great resource/weblog. The site posts regular news updates and information about who's doing what with the Google map API. Follow some interesting news including details of how the developer of Chicago Crime Maps maphack was hired by the Washington Post... very cool! See http://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/

Trimble Outdoors targets the recreational GPS market

At the recent LBS & Telecom summit held in conjunction with the ESRI user conference the Trimble Outdoors application got a fair bit of attention. For those of you not familiar with it, Trimble Outdoors is a very cool community "blogging" style of service that enables outdoor enthusiasts to store, manage, and share their GPS logs with others. A typical user might use the service to store a route from a recent hike, Adding to the coolness is the ability to include comments, photos, etc... with the GPS data. Backpacker magazine boasts about the service and a number of their Editors/Guides use the service to store information about suggested hiking routes. It's a pretty cool application that takes advantage of the popularity of recreational GPS use and geocaching. Check it out at http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/

Google chasing more Location-Based Services

According to searchenginewatch, Google is planning to Acquire Location-Based, Social Networking Service - Google will announce the acquisition of Meetroduction. This is Google's second acquistion in the social networking/location-based services space in recent months. In May, Google acquired dodgeball.com, a service that allows users to find "friends" and new friends using text messaging. You can likely find more on this in the days to come at http://www.meetro.com/