Recently the new version of Google Maps show up in the Android Market and asks for an update. The current version is called 3.4 and includes Multi-touch as amazing new feature for Map navigation. Now it is really convenient to browse the map using following functions and gestures:

• double tap to zoom in
• +/- buttons for zoom in and out
• tap & move for pan
• 2 finger pinch for zooming

Multi-touch should work on all devices. So not only on the Nexus One or Motorola Droid/Milestone but also on older devices such as Samsung Galaxy, HTC Magic, HTC G1 or HTC Hero (at least with custom Roms).

It really seems Google will no longer consider Apples “claim” for Multi-touch. In the near future it is expected that Google and 3rd party developers of Android will provide a lot of apps with Multi-touch capabilities (some examples like the browser are seen in the video). Reasons for buying an iPhone are smelting like snow in the sun.

Other new features for Android Maps are extended Lab functions. Following “experimental” functions are available:

• Map scale
• Terrain view
• Favorite categories
• Button for switching themes
• Direction arrow for current position
• Traffic layer including lables
• Button for my location
• Address info buttons
• Directions and distance
• Measurement tool

With the new version it should be also possible to use your Google My Maps Account.

Recently there were some news about Eduardo Manchón, the co-founder of Panoramio, leaving Google and the Panoramio team. After four and a half year he wants to address to his new task at Askaro. He stated in this blog post at Panaramio:

Panoramio is the coolest thing I have ever done. I went through the greatest adventure of my life with this project. However for some reasons I can’t really explain I like changes and challenges, so it is time to move on to a new project.

I’d like to make a short introduction about Askaro and give you an idea what it is all about:

What is it?

The founders call Askaro a hyperlocal site to exchange information where it matters the most: our neighborhoods, our places or work, etc. It can be used to ask a question which is realted to a specifc area of place. People who live there or live near by, are locale experts and can simply answer your question. Basically it is a system about georeferenced questions and answers.

There are many possibilities to use this site, for example as tourist guid, resteraut review site or event planner. The founder see the site as experiments and are looking forward for feedback to improve the service and make it user driven.

The name “Askaro” comes from “Ask around”.

How does Askaro work?

Askaro combines geolocation, question and answer model and reputation, as basis of its inner workings. Questions are asked, or placed, in a specific area of a city, in order to reach out to the people who live or intimately know the area and are capable of answering them. An analogy would be to stick a flyer at your local grocery store to reach out only to passersby, or people in your neighborhood.

Answers can be voted once as “Good” or “Bad” by anyone, which have the effect of moving them up or down.The question’s author can also designate a specific answer as the “Best answer” if he or she considers it the most useful or appropriate one. Best answers turn green and move to the top.

The number of votes and the answers marked as “best answer” are used to calculate the reputation score of a person, which is a measure of how valuable is someone’s contribution and how useful and trustworthy are his answers. The users with the best reputation in a city can be found in the “Local Heroes” page.

Technology used

Askaro server side code is written in python, and runs in the app engine, google’s cloud computing offering. Client side javascript relies on jquery.

(information from askaro “about” page)

Update (06.02.2010):

Motivational Video by ESRI, if you don’t know what a mashup or a mapping mashup is or how you can create one. Important is that your mashup has to tell a story:

The anwser to this question is easy: Win the ESRI 2010 Mashup Challenge.

The task is to

Create an innovative mashup using ArcGIS Online and Web Mapping APIs for the chance to win one of four cash prizes. Awards will be based on originality, creativity, and analytic process.

Cash Prizes:

• 1st Place: $10,000
• 2nd Place: $5,000
• 3rd Place: $2,500
• 4th Place: $2,500

ESRI Terms and Conditions [PDF]

To win the first prize you may be more creative and innovative than the simple sample application on their homepage. You can use all client side technologies supported by ESRI and based on the ArcGIS Server REST Interface. This includes the JavaScript APIs, Flex API and Silverlight API. As datasoure ESRI online provides numerous map and image service as well as geoprocessing services.

In order to apply for the Challenge you have to shoot a video of your Mash-up and give a short description about what is innovative in your webmap and how it can be used. The video should be posted on YouTube.

ESRI 2010 Mashup Challenge is now online and you will find all further information about the application process there.

Recently ESRI (Jack Dangermond) announced to change the name for the next release from 9.4 to 10.0. In my opinion there has to be more than already promoted features for this release there have to be another joker which is not announced yet. What do you think? What will be the next big thing in ESRI ArcGIS 10?

10 suggestion what might come are (these respresent some of the most requested features for ArcGIS):

• support for Mac OS X (because of the X in the logo) [chance: 20%]
• Full rewrite of ArcObject, which made them native 64bit components. Full x64 support for all components (Engine, Desktop, Server) [change: 40%]
• full 3D GIS system (integrated volumetric geographical objects for all components) [chance: 90%]
• new approach to serve mobile GIS for new mobile Platforms like Android, iPhone OS and Blackberry. [chance: 75%]
• intuitive integration of “cloud” computing (e.g. Toolboxes can be naively published on the web and integrated from the web – from desktop to server) [chance: 60%]
• significant performance improvements (especially reading and writing large amounts of data both for filegeodatabases (fGDBs) as well as for SDE databases) [chance: 50%]
• close all bugs of features in the current release [change: 1%]
• several extensions are integrated in the main product (change of the licensing policy) [chance: 5%]
• ArcGIS is becoming a spatial-temporal GIS [change: 90%]
• major improvement of the ArcGIS Server REST interface (API will support native Geodatabase writing access) [chance: 80%]

Beta 2 will still be called 9.4. The final release will be mid to late Q2 2010.