Telstra has upgraded its Whereis maps site, and it’s no surprise that it now resembles Google Maps more closely. Added information in this version includes more about speed limits, traffic lights, and expanded rural coverage. While the new site looks good, the real test comes with how well the maps work in transit. If you’ve had experience of the new Whereis, share it in the comments. Whereis
Gmail Labs keeps up its steady pace of releasing new, fun features, this time with a new Location in Signature option that appends your current location (determined by your public IP address) to your email. If you’ve got Gears with location awareness baked in, your results will be even more accurate. [via Gmail Blog]
Location awareness makes a lot of sense on phones, and now it seems it’s shifting to the Mac desktop. According to AppleInsider, developers who’ve been playing around with early builds of Snow Leopard report that OS X 10.6 includes the same CoreLocation framework that the iPhone used to triangulate your location using surrounding Wi-Fi networks. As Gizmodo points out:
Given that CoreLocation requires no special, costly hardware, I say why not? It’s sad that, even from my couch, I close my notebook to use my iPhone whenever I want to look up directions.
Agreed.
Apple’s Snow Leopard to include location, multi-touch tools [AppleInsider via Gizmodo]
