San Francisco — Google is embellishing more of its location-based services, this time with Google Maps for Android. In a last weekends blog post, search engine titan Google Inc. announced that Google Maps for Android has been updated to version 4.6 to include a few great and useful new features, including a redesigned Place Page Reviews, the ability to narrow search results, and real-time updating for Google Latitude, and is now available for download in the Android Market.
According to the development team, they were intended on providing users with more ways in which they would find nearby places with Google Maps for Android, and the new release is a continuation of that effort.
“Lately, we have been working on giving you even better ways to find nearby places with Google Maps for Android, such as the Places icon and rich Place pages,” a recent post on Google Mobile Blog reads.
“Today, we are introducing Google Maps 4.6 with a fresh design for Place page reviews, more options to filter search results, and a Google Latitude real-time updating option.”
Place Page Reviews:
The newly-redesigned Place Pages Reviews On Android will look pretty much like they do on the desktop. According to Google, the new Place Page Reviews allows users to see the following:
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Now users can glance at “reviews from around the Web,” a section of the page that showcases clips from different reputable review sites like Yelp and Trip Advisor. It also features “reviews from Google users,” where the opinions posted by users on Google Maps itself are shared.
“Reading reviews is one of the major activity that people do before deciding if a place is right for them,” Jana Urban, Google place page team member, said in an Oct. 15 blog post.
Narrow Down Search Results:
The search results can now be better filtered, the development team describes. In addition to “Distance” and “Ratings,” Android-powered smartphone users can now narrow down Place Page Review search results by “Open now,” “Neighborhood,” and “Related searches.”
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Google Latitude Real-Time Updates:
Another important feature included in the new Google Maps 4.6 for Android is Google Latitude real-time updating. Individuals can now choose to receive real-time location updates from their friend’s Google Latitude profiles.
“In Latitude, you can also choose an experimental “Real-time updating” option from an individual Latitude friend’s profile page to help meet up with them by temporarily seeing faster location updates (friends must have Maps 4.6 and Android 2.2+),” the development team notes.
However, users must keep in mind that the feature is still in the experimental phase. Therefore, minor bugs and inaccuracies are expected. Android 2.2 [Froyo] and Google Maps version 4.6 are required.
Version 4.6 of Google Maps for Android is now available in the Android Market for free. The application supports Android 1.6 [Donut] and higher.