The Geek Brewery

Woot!

I just came home (dorm, my second home) from a Google event at Manila B of Shangri-La Makati. In contrast to most of the events I attend, I went to the venue all alone this time since the slots were too limited that I was not able to tag anyone to go with me.

The Google event was their launching Power User Launch of their new product Google Map Maker. In a conversation with John Pinette, Google’s Director of Communications in Asia Pacific, Philippines is the only South East Asian region where Google Map Maker has been officially launched – although it is already deployed in some countries such as in Vietnam.

Google Map Maker is very similar (and shares the satellite photos) to Google Earth and Google Maps. The main difference is that Google Map Maker is specialized in creating maps with rich user-generated content. A user can contribute by plotting and naming roads, restaurants, banks and other places of interest. Every contribution goes thru an automatic (using an algorithm which involves reliability of the source) and community-driven moderation process to prevent vandalism.

It is indeed a very cool tool. On the live demo, Palawan and Metro Manila was on the highlight. The Metro Manila area was detailed – it featured small and nonmajor streets. Malls and popular places of interest were already on the map. Honestly, I was awed by it that I can hardly believe that it’s a detailed digital map of Metro Manila.

After the live demo, we got the chance to interact with Google people. First of all, there was Ate Aileen Apolo, our very own Google Country Consultant. I met her seven months ago at Davao City during our Food Appreciation Tour. Then, around five (more or less) Google guys from overseas I met for the first time. The Google guys were fun to talk to. Despite the fact that I am not that articulate in speaking in English, chatting with them wasn’t that hard. Our topics ranged from Android phone, iPhone, good Computer Science schools in the United States, my journey as a geek, me having an AdSense account (actually, it is my mom’s account since I’m still a minor) among others.

The event was quite exclusive that it was only by-invitation. Fortunately, I was one of the lucky few. There were only about 50 (+/- 10) of us and the seats were really limited but sufficient.

Just now, I tried doing some more searches. I tried browsing my current location here at Kalayaan Residence Hall and it yielded the following Map and Hybrid outputs:

I also tried it on my hometown, General Santos City. It’s the farthest (Philippine) city from Manila served by major airliners but still they’ve got a good map of it. Details up to street level was sufficient.

I also tried zooming it on our restaurant located in front of our house. The satellite photo started to degrade but still acceptable.

User contributions to Google Map Maker doesn’t appear in Google Earth in realtime. The Google guys still can’t tell the exact timeframe on when the contributions will be synched with Google Earth. They’re still studying on how they’ll do this as they want everything to be as accurate and precise as possible with vandalisms kept at minimum (if complete eradication is impossible).

Overall, it’s a very good service. Before, I was skeptical that such a detailed digital map with sufficient detail on road networks be possible in the case of a Philippine city. I can’t help but believe what I’ve seen in the maps of Metro Manila and General Santos.

And before I forget, I got this cool Google Maps compass/keyholder. Weeeee.