Bird’s Eye!??
May 15th, 2008
When Matthew mentioned that we now have Bird’s Eye images in Australia, courtesy of Microsoft Virtual Earth, I messaged him afterwards and said “do you think most users actually know what Bird’s Eye is? They might get the wrong idea…” (we haven’t sent the Captain to sell Turkey Twizzlers in Oz for example). Little did I know he would challenge me to try to explain what it’s all about to you all, so here goes…
New routes to Multimap
May 9th, 2008
A few weeks ago, we shared our plans for redirecting users from MSN UK and Live.com to www.multimap.com, while continuing to offer the maps.live.com experience for those who choose it.
Short story: today we implemented the plans we described then.
Longer story:
About that re-direct…
April 15th, 2008
A great thing about the Internet is that when you put yourself on the line and get things right, users sometimes tell you . The downside of course, is that when you get it wrong, users ALWAYS tell you. In public.
A new and improved Multimap…
April 11th, 2008
You might be wondering why you’ve not heard much from us recently regarding our acquisition by Microsoft.
Back in December, we mentioned that it was all business as usual here at Multimap, and that is still very much the case. Our London office still provides the heartbeat of Multimap, and you still have to be quick to grab your favourite bagel on Fridays (cinnamon and raisin in my case)…
Being part of an organization such as Microsoft however, gives you the opportunity to access fantastic new technology and content. Since the new year we’ve been burning the midnight oil to bring some of these new capabilities to Multimap.com, and we’re delighted to show the results of this to you today.
Helping drivers reduce their carbon footprints
February 26th, 2008
Some of you may have noticed that a few months ago we enhanced our travel directions service to offer users information about the carbon footprint of journeys, as well as the ability to offset those journeys.
The service is provided through a partnership with Carbon Clear, a leading carbon management company that helps businesses and consumers manage their greenhouse gas emissions.
To use the carbon calculator, Multimap users click the “get directions” link on www.multimap.com, enter their journeys’ start and end points, click “find”, and are presented with step-by-step directions and route maps. The directions results now include information on the carbon footprint of the journey. A pull-down menu allows users to choose the correct engine size of their cars, and to compare the carbon footprint of the journey if they were to go by bus or train instead of driving. Users clicking on the “more info” link will find details of how the carbon footprint is calculated, and can visit the Carbon Clear website to take action to offset their journeys.
The story of how the carbon calculator came to be on the Multimap site is an interesting one, which provides a bit of insight into how we innovate, and how new services don’t always turn out as you expect….
New maps in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore
February 25th, 2008
The keen eyed among you may have noticed that we recently updated our maps in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. As these maps are supplied by our friends at Tele Atlas, they are also available within our Open API as part of Tele Atlas’s donation to the Open API community.
Chinese maps on the menu
January 15th, 2008
Which way to Quanjude, the home of Peking Duck?
China is a booming business and tourist destination, and a huge domestic market. It has also been, until now, a new frontier for online mapping in Chinese, let alone English. We are very happy to announce that that is all changing, as we have partnered with MapABC, the premier local mapping company, to pioneer bilingual Chinese mapping.
Treasure maps
December 14th, 2007
Users of multimap.com may have noticed that, if you are in London, you have a choice of map styles. The good people from Harper Collins provide the local street maps that many Londoners are familiar with, while our friends at Tele Atlas provide many of the maps for much of the world that you see on multimap.com.
Business as usual
December 13th, 2007
You may be aware that yesterday was a rather important day for us all at Multimap, as we announced that Multimap is being acquired by Microsoft.
A lot has been written about the deal so I won’t add to that here, other than to say that while we are all very excited by the new possibilities that come from being part of the Microsoft family, it is still very much business as usual here at Multimap. We still pronounce our name mult-ee-map (rather than mult-eye-map!), and we’re still committed to offering our users and our customers the same great service, great products and great functionality you’ve come to expect from Multimap.
Speaking of great functionality, why not have a look at our new Wikipedia layer?
Announcing Static Maps. No, seriously…
November 30th, 2007
You will have done well to miss the evolution of online mapping to use AJAX technology in recent years. Draggable (or slippy) maps have become the norm for users, and websites and the user experience are all the richer for it.
A strange time, then, to release new – wait for it – non-draggable maps? Maps that don’t move no matter hard you drag them? Maps that need pan and zoom buttons to move? So, why have we just released new API functionality that does just that?
Read the rest of this entry »