23 Musings

Google have announced a new feature on Google Maps related to it's directions feature.

Now, you know how annoying it is with all the online driving directions services when the route they return is one that you know could be quicker if a slight detour was taken. Or maybe you know of some roadworks somewhere that you want to avoid, and of course Google Maps can't be aware of that so sends you straight for them? Or maybe you need directions to somewhere but want to make a stop off somewhere along the way which is slightly off route? Now Google Maps can give you that flexibility!

The new feature allows you to click on a point in your plotted route and drag it to another road. Doing this once will replot the route on your chosen road. A bit of an odd feature/niggle seems to be that in an area with a lot of roads it sometimes just gives you a spur off your main route, although this could be useful too. You can click on as many points on the route as you like and position them on other roads to get round this in areas where the road system is very complex.

It's fantastic! A constant annoyance of mine is driving directions calculators that send you down the wrong route. This new feature allows for human input to a route which adds immense value. Now you could share a route with your friends and they could amend it if they know that there is a quicker way.

With Google Maps now available on mobile, I'm wondering how long it will be until Google can tie that in with a GPS receiver to turn it into a true GPS driving directions engine (watch out TomTom)!

Vodafone mobile subscribers will soon be able to access and update their MySpace pages on the go according to this BBC story. It's the first joint venture between MySpace and a mobile company, seems a very smart move for both parties. They will then be able to edit their MySpace profiles, post photos and blogs and send and receive MySpace messages.

NTT Docomo were doing this kind of thing ages ago with iMode in Japan so it's good to see the UK catching up with what is a relatively straightforward and easy to use application.

Perhaps something location based would be cool for those GPS users amongst us? Some way of letting your MySpace friends know where you are perhaps?

An ex-colleague of mine who's an extremely gifted technical wiz with the rare talent to be able to talk turkey with the business world set up a range of GPS based mobile services a while back. I've just been to check out his progress and the service is looking amazing now!

The service is called Sportsdo, originally it was a range of services aimed at specific sports (Skido, Rundo, Snowdo, Cycledo and Bikedo) but he's now got a single service aimed at users of any sport or leisure activity that involves movement. The idea is that you install the Sportsdo software on your mobile phone (they support Windows Mobile and Java based phones), plug in a GPS receiver and go take part in your activity. The software tracks your progress using GPS to give you accurate realtime performance stats. It can generate live and accurate readings on your speed, distance travelled, time, gradient, calories used, pace, total ascent and descent. A full log of your exploits are created and can either be viewed on your phone or uploaded to the Sportsdo portal.

The software has a Live option which can transmit real-time performance information to the web so everyone can see how you're doing. You can even set it to send regular text messages containing your key stats to your mates as often as you choose.

The portal has a community feel and you can share info and meet other enthusiasts through it. You can create your own sportslog which stores your sporting achievements and sorts all your data for you. The sportslog contains Google maps showing your routes and image maps from Google Earth. You can even upload pictures taken on your phone and they're fixed to the maps at the points they were taken.

The portal has a really nice blog feel to it and a lot of influence has obviously been taken from various Web2.0 companies. I'm really pleased for the guys involved as they have been nursing this idea since it started as a way for two techies to see how fast/far they were skiing on their expeditions. The great thing about this service is it's been developed by sports people for sports people, it just so happens that the sports people who developed it also happen to be extremely technical! I'm sure Sportsdo will be a success, there are so many activities it fits with (motorsport comes to mind) and the possibilities are endless.