Heroic Bird Avenges Google Street View Victims

For anyone who's ever been caught truck partying or pantsless on Street View, a brave pigeon in Los Angeles has taken the fight to the Google Van. More »

Google Reportedly Deep in Talks to Buy Yelp

Techcrunch hears that Google is in advanced talks to buy Yelp (supposedly for $500 million), and that the deal, while not finalized, is very close to that stage. This could be a huge boon for Google's mapping and mobile efforts. More »

Google Street View Spots One Chunky Man's Funky Truck Party

If I lived in Winnipeg, I'd be doing this, too. More »

Google Street View Captures Guy Getting Ready To Do Something Disgusting on a DC Street

It's hard to tell exactly what this guy is about to do, but he appears to be squatting (more or less) with his pants around his ankles on a DC street. More »

Which Places In the World Does Wikipedia Discuss Most?

This heat cold map signifies the total number of Wikis tied to each country. The designer learned there are literally more articles written about Antarctica and even Middle Earth than many countries in Africa. [mark graham via boingboing]

Bing Maps Take on Google With Fancy 3D Streetview

Bing Maps just got a big ol' update, bringing its own fancy 3D street view images as well as Twitter and Facebook integration. More »

More Evidence Apple's Looking Beyond Google for iPhone Maps?

A few months ago, Apple bought their own mapmaker, Placebase, which seemingly opened the possibility of non-Google-y maps. Now, they're looking for an iPhone maps engineer to "rethink how users use Maps and change the way people find things." More »

Luke Wilson's Droppin' Post Cards on Verizon Wireless

When I think escalating mega cellphone carrier ad war, I think actor Luke Wilson. Oh wait, no I don't, and yet here he is, again, striking back on behalf of AT&T against Verizon Wireless. More »

Google Earth 2.0 For iPhone Brings Custom Maps

Google is rolling out Google Earth 2.0 for the iPhone over the next 24 hours and it brings a long-awaited custom map feature by allowing you to sync your Google My Maps with the app. More »

Google Maps Shows You the Way to Your Swine Flu Vaccine

The Pandemic That Was Going to Kill Us All But Didn't is still alive, lurking to take you in a one-way trip across the Styx. Or a two-way trip to Snotland. Google Maps points the way to the nearest vaccine. More »

New York 'Map Cuts' Aren't for Traveling, But Sure Are Purdy

I can't imagine how long it took to cut out these extremely detailed maps of NYC. By removing the bustle of street names, traffic flows and landmarks, nothing is left but the city's organizational beauty. More »

Is Google Secretly Working On A Free Mobile Navigation App?

There's a lot of speculation about Google working on and preparing to release a mobile navigation app. For free. The logic's there and the pieces fit, but we still lack solid proof. More »

Apple Buys Their Very Own Maps Company (See Ya, Google Maps?)

The Apple/Google divorce continues to come into focus: Apple quietly bought Placebase, a mapping service company, back in July. Apple doesn't buy companies it's not going to use. Meaning, Apple's getting into making their own maps. Peace out, Google. More »

Nokia Booklet 3G and N900 Will Come to America, Absolutely No ETA

In a U.S. press briefing this morning, Nokia said that its Booklet 3G and the N900 will eventually be sold in the US of A. The company would not detail if they would be sold through carriers or simply unlocked (and in Nokia's U.S. based flagship stores). More »

What To Do If Your GPS Fails

Have you ever considered a backup plan for your GPS if it happens to fail in a city you're not familiar with? If you said "another GPS", you get a gold star. But what if you're not rich? More »

The Most Detailed 3D Map of Earth Yet

Forget Google Maps: NASA and Japan's Ministry of Economy have released the most detailed three-dimensional map of Earth yet. It covers our planet between the 83 north and 83 south parallels thanks to 1.3 million stereo images like these: More »

NYC Subway Mapped to Street Gauntlet

At last, your claims of knowing New York's subway system "like the back of your hand" will be more than just boasting (OK, lying). More »

Google Street View Gets Smarter Navigation, 3D Effects

Street View has given us a near-endless supply of shenanigans, but it's always been awkward to actually use. Now, Google has implemented semi-3D "Smart Navigation," which makes your virtual walking and/or stalking a lot easier, and way, way cooler. More »

North Korea Secrets Uncovered In Google Earth by Amateur Spies

On April 4 2007, Curtis Melvin—a PhD student at George Mason University—decided to start the "North Korea Uncovered" project. Two years later it became the definitive reference for the country's secrets, thanks to an army of amateur spies. More »

Snowmodo: Install Motion X GPS For the IPhone So We Can Track Our Total Skiing Mileage

Saturday, at our Snowmodo reader event, we're going to be tabulating everyone's ski/snowboard runs TOTAL mileage for the day for the entire Gizmodo hivemind. If you have an iphone, use the Motion-x gps app. More »

Peek Emailer Spotted Running a Very Fuzzy Maps App

Spotted in the wild, this Peek appears to be running a maps app. Whether it's a creative hack or a sign of things to come, the Peek might soon do more than just one thing. More »

Navigon 7300T and 4300T GPS Units Powered by Rand McNally

At CES, we heard that Rand McNally and Navigon were partnering up to make some interesting GPSs. And the results of that torrid affair, the 7300T and 4300T, do have some pinchable cheecks. More »

Download Google Earth 5.0: Explore the Oceans and Time

Google Earth 5.0 beta is live and more amazing than ever: You can travel back in time and see how a place has developed, go ocean-diving with Jacques Cousteau, and record your journeys to share. More »

Google Maps Gets a Public Transit Layer

Google Maps added a transit layer to its terrain and sat and road views today for viewing bus, train and ferry lines, etc. There's no NY support, but these 50 cities are covered: More »

Google Street View Captures Prototype Porsches

First Google Street View captures a person peeing on the street, and now they drive right by a bunch of Porsche prototypes in Colorado. More »

Rand McNally Releases Atlases for Kindle, Has Odd Vision for the Future of Maps

Rand McNally can't be happy with everyone dropping their bulky atlases for GPS units and nav-enabled phones, so they're fighting back. But they seem a little confused. More »

Celestial Globe Shows Earth During Day, Star Map at Night

When I eventually decide that it's time to manufacture or purchase my offspring, needless to say, they will be outfitted with the best tech I can force onto them, including this great day/night globe.

Navigon's 8100T GPS Has 3D Terrain-View Maps

Navigon's just announced a new high-end GPS unit, the 8100T, that actually displays the right terrain in its map representations. Dubbed Panorama View 3D, the system uses NASA-derived height data to accurately recreate the inclinations of the road as it crosses terrain ahead of you. The unit's also got a 4.8-inch screen, includes free traffic data updates for life, voice recognition for destination entry and the company's Reality View junction lane-assistance tech. It's due out this month for $599. Press release below. More »