Google just hit Android users with a sack full of potatoes. And by potatoes I mean delicious new apps and features. Let’s take a look:
Google Maps 3.3.0
Maps gets a huge update that adds a new “Labs” feature which lets you enable or disable Maps experiments (much like GMail experiments). They are great! Take a look at the screenshots below to see the five currently available experiments. The official return of the compass really made my day. Also new is a feature to directly report mapping errors to Google.
Google Goggles 1.0.0
Google Goggles is a brand new application that uses the built-in camera and gps to help you identify and search for information on things simply by taking a picture. This Youtube video provides a nice explanation. I tested Goggles on a book cover, but Goggles can also be used to recognize real life objects with or without text. Note that Goggles can only be used on devices with Android 1.6 or newer.
Maps 4 hit this morning, complete with support for the new Twitter-alike Buzz service. The Buzz client built into Maps is specifically tailored for creating geolocated buzzes (ALL buzzes created with the Maps buzz client have a geotag). It will also only show nearby buzzes, rather than your normal buzzfeed. As with all the 3.3+ versions of Maps, your Android device must be running 1.6 or higher.
[quote=“catfish13”]Your friend Yisyuan looks hot. Is she single?
lol
Probably would want to blot out the names and addresses if I were you.[/quote]
Those aren’t my friends, they are public buzzes from strangers shown around my location when I pulled up the Buzz layer in Maps. You could see them yourself if you scrolled near Xindian on Maps 4.0.0 with Buzz layer on.
p.s. i’ve seen enough Facebook pictures to know that it’s not wise to judge someone’s looks by one 128x128 px image
