Map

Do you travel a lot? Whether it is for personal or business travel, you can be sure the maps on your GPS are up to date with TomTom’s new Map Update Service. The service gives you one year of quarterly map updates for a one-time fee as low as $39.80 (depending on your GPS device), or $9.95 per map release.

Map updates are available for download through TomTom HOME, TomTom's free desktop software application. New maps become available every quarter, and each map update incorporates all changes in the road network that have been validated by Tele Atlas. Subscribers will be alerted to download the latest map update as soon as they are available.

The Map Update Service is available to all TomTom customers, with subscription prices for US and Canada Maps. Prices will vary depending on the TomTom device model.

This is one of those ideas that we have all had, and just wondered when someone was going to build the application. Latitude from Google is one of those applications that might scare some. It is a unique application because it provides Twitter-esque real-time GPS tracking of friends and family. All from the comfort of your computer or cell phone.

Google has done well with the resources available to them. I hope that the founders remain friendly, and stay away from the dark side. What’s next? If the founder of PayPal can build an electric car, maybe the Google founders will build the flying car we all thought would be available today.

This is a great application in moderation, and I look forward to using this service. Don’t leave your cell phone lying around – or password protect the device. Here are some privacy setting tips if you decide to use the service. If my kids had cell phones, I would request they use this service. This would be a great service for groups of vacationers in strange cities or towns.

Google certainly seized the day when the cell phone manufacturers started building GPS into the devices. There is no cost for this service, just like most Google products and services. My favorite is Goog-411.

Google's announcement

Current trends in everything from clothing and manufacturing to electronics are to go green, that is, more environmentally friendly. Google Earth has always been green in quite another sense. Revolutionary for its ability to provide satellite images of much of the world, the breakthrough technology has been restricted to dry land until now. Sure, the ocean was in the picture, but its presence was little more than a blue blur and left much lacking. Given that the majority of our planet’s surface area is water, Google Earth finally lives up to its namesake in version 5.0 by including more detail of the ocean. Now you can view details of the ocean floor, as well as photos or videos of natural formations and wildlife relevant to that spot! Think of it as underwater street-level viewing.

In addition to underwater availability, Google Earth 5.0 includes takes a stab at the next frontier – space – by including a 3D map of Mars (Google Universe anyone?). Perhaps the most interesting addition is a historical viewer which allows the user to view certain locations as they were in the past.

Google Earth 5.0 is available right now for free through Google.com.

Official Google blog

Cnet’s live blog of the Google Earth 5.0 announcement