The Hindu Business Line : Map mania

The mapping industry, less commonly known as geographical information systems, is getting stuffy. With Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Wikimapia shuffling around, the user is spoilt for choice.

But this is just the beginning of a new industry called location-based services. While we wait for the Big Bang, let's take a look around the mapping scene today.

It started with plain satellite images of Earth that brought forth a gasp from Internet users in 2005. Street maps came up, and we zoomed down to our rooftops and squinted at the roads and circles. Now, hybrid maps — street maps overlaid on the satellite ones — are available. So now you will be able to place the park that your friend says is nearest to a landmark, or hunt for lakes for that weekend getaway. Check out Yahoo!'s latest Maps site for this feature (maps.yahoo.com).

Wikimapia.org again leverages its unique user content in its site. Once you zoom into your locality, you can upload information in the form of tags, and also write a little about your neighbourhood in a textbox provided to educate virtual passers-by. You are able to view the longitude and latitude too. However, don't expect your friends to search for your home on the site.

Microsoft Research India announced in 2005 a community project called Virtual India (virtualindia.msresearch.in). It invited the aam-janata to upload information on streets and cities in their own languages onto maps.

However, as the research head Joseph M Joy accepts, it seems to have hit a roadblock as "there is only so much a research project can accomplish. It has not been made commercial." The contributions have waned and Microsoft appears to have ignored it for other pursuits.

On the other hand, Yahoo! has swept ahead by partnering with mapmyindia.com, the first Indian mapping service. Yahoo's photo sharing site Flickr was also one of the firsts to get `mashed' with maps. Geo tagged photos are being culled to other sites. They are pinned onto a spreadout of the world map that reminds one of the Atlas.

Mappr, Flickr Maps and Earthalbum are popular sites that feature interesting snaps from all corners of the world.

So while you may still see drivers hanging onto their TTK maps, the mobile urban citizen will probably choose to go the paper-less way.

preethij@thehindu.co.in