Author: Dan Gendro

Update for Android’s Google Maps introduces new navigation UI

| September 4, 2015

The latest version of this mobile app will be adding a range of new features that are meant to boost the experience.

Google has now released a couple of new updates to the Android version of its Google Maps app, which has provided a number of features that include everything from thumbnail previews of a Street View spot to added navigation UI for users.

These latest updates to the popular mobile app have been released over the last couple of weeks.

The latest version of Google Maps for users of Android based smartphones is rolling out already, but people who aren’t willing to wait can still download or sideload the APK file with the Google signature. The most recent edition of this mobile app is its version 9.14 and it is starting to hit various Google Play locations around the world. From the look of it, it can be assumed that the primary focus of the latest updates to the app has been to improve its overall navigation for a smoother and more convenient experience.

The navigation in the Android version of Google Maps has received a new settings interface for navigation.

Google Maps - AndroidIt has also made it possible to see the thumbnail view in the mobile app, and the navigation search has been taken away with a larger image revealing the routes has replaced it. In the most recent of the updates, the maps on the app’s navigation page have zooming and scrolling features that cannot be used in the previous version of the app’s thumbnail view. Moreover, there has been a subtle shift in the position of the option to select the mode of transportation. It is now located under the start and destination fields.

Additional details have also been added to the route page with the latest update. These can be accessed by the user in order to learn more about areas in which there could be potential slowdowns in traffic along the recommended routes. Moreover, more information about the routes is provided than had been available in the previous version.

The newest version of Google Maps also gives the user the chance to touch to choose routes based on estimated ETA, which includes data with regards to road blocks or potential delays.

Augmented reality is promoting advertising creativity

| September 2, 2015

Tech startups that are investigating new technologies such as AR, or space as a whole, are enhancing ads.

According to a new report, tech startups that are branching into entirely new areas such as virtual and augmented reality, drones, and space, have been generating tremendous financing through investments since 2014 and are also contributing into far more creativity n the ad industry.

A recent report indicated that since last year, there have been $3.15 billion in 183 deals in these areas.

The report was on an analysis conducted by CB Insights and it was released on Friday. What it indicated was that the types of tech companies – including everything from augmented reality to satellites and space – are a considerable draw for investments and are revealing a notable shift in the way that imagers are created. This allows ads to be delivered in an entirely new way and style.

In this way, augmented reality and other tech are starting to have a spreading impact on many industries.

Augmented Reality - Ad CreativitySince 2014, companies that are focused on AR and virtual reality have managed to raise $1 billion. This tech reached a peak of $623 million in all of last year. During the first quarter of this year, that figure dropped to $114 billion. However, brands have now started some serious experimentation. Discovery, for example, which is working with AR technology and with virtual reality, will bring about the very first videos meant specifically for this type of tech.

The main launch worth discussing in this area, at the moment, is Discovery VR, which will be the very first virtual reality network. This service is being designed to be able to test the boundaries and capabilities of this tech. The first videos debut Thursday and are posted on the DiscoveryVR.com website, as well as on Android and iPhone apps, and on YouTube.

Virtual and augmented reality startups that have a specific focus on commercial uses represented 40 percent of all of the funding that has been received in this category since 2012, said the report. Some of the largest brands in AR, Blippar and Augment, for example, are among the examples of the businesses within that sub-category that received some considerable funding within that time.