Google Android + Street View + Compasss = Amazing!

Posted At : September 25, 2008 12:26 PM | Posted By : Justin Carter
Related Categories: Google,Cool Stuff,HTC

I just saw this one over on Engadget... For the most part they walk through Gmail push features and some simple mapping stuff, but watch it from the 5 minute mark onwards - at about 5 minutes 55 seconds they show off a compass feature that will blow your mind!

Now I find myself imagining the day that we can use a GPS with driving directions that practically shows a video of your entire journey! Cool, scary, convenient? :)

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Ok, I'm very excited about Android, but I'm having a hard time understanding why the compass thing is more than a "gee whiz" feature (shiny new, cool, but useless). If I'm standing on a street corner wondering where to go...why would having the same view as what I can see with my own eyes on my phone be helpful? If I can see it in real life, why does the street view help me? Sure, it's neat that I can spin around and the street view follows me...but in the end, who cares?

Signed,
Perplexed in Boise.
# Posted By Jake Munson | 9/25/08 1:49 PM
I think it's great for people who have absolutely no sense of direction, or for when you're in a place where you simply can't find a street sign, or for when the weather is bad and you're struggling to find your orientation... I've been travelling through Europe for over 5 months now, and it only just occured to me that it would help having a compass in a city (think: it's cloudy, you arrive in a city for the first time, you pop up out of a metro station, and you have no idea which way to go...). Of course all you would need is N, E, S, and W, but the visualisation is just a nice thing to confirm that you are looking at the correct street - and if you had directions overlayed on the screen as well it would be an amazing visual tool, IMO :)
# Posted By Justin Carter | 9/25/08 2:43 PM
Ok, those are some good reasons. Do you know if it does overlay directions on streetview? If so, it would be awesome. I thought it was just showing you street view, and I'm seeing myself say, "Yup, sure enough, there's a grey building across the street. I didn't need my phone to tell me that, I can see it for myself." ;)
# Posted By Jake Munson | 9/25/08 4:52 PM
You can see in the video (with difficulty) it shows the name of the street, the same as the normal web version of Street View (check it out it you haven't already - it's really cool), so that's useful enough. I doubt it does a directions overlay though (yet!).
# Posted By Justin Carter | 9/25/08 5:11 PM
this is just a start.. for example i allready have an app that shows me atm machines gps locations, overlayed over realtime videofeed :-) , so just sit tight hold on, marvelous stuff wil be coming for android phones.; Just a matter of time and enough devoted programmers. ;)
# Posted By NRG | 6/8/09 6:31 AM
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