Another Look at CartoDB's Torque

To contact us Click HERE

I had another look at CartoDB's Torque library on GitHub today and noticed they have added some new examples of the library in action. A polished example of Torque is available in the amazing Navy of WWI animated visualisation highlighted this week in The Guardian newspaper. GitHub also has three other good demo maps.

Storms uses Torque with Google Maps to animate through 50 years of tropical storm data. The map animates the storm data on a Google Map and really emphasises the stunning speed with which Torque can display data.

Vertnet uses Torque to animates through over two hundred years of data (I'm not sure what the data represents). This demo illustrates how Torque can be used to effortlessly display thousands of data points on Google Maps. 

The USPO Map animates through the opening of post offices in the U.S. between1644 and 1901. 

The Bull's Bollocks on Google Maps

To contact us Click HERE

USE-IT - Torino is a handy Google Maps based guide for the Italian city of Torino. The map's developers say that the map is "made by locals who know what’s going on in the city, and who give no-nonsense inside advice on where to eat, sleep and go out if you’re not a millionaire".

The map displays important points of interest in the city and also offers some useful advice, such as whether you should step on the bull's testicles on the statue outside Caffe Torino (opinion is divided). Users of the map can filter the results shown by category, for example local tips, going out, sightseeing, bars and food.

Share Your Favorite Places with Google Maps

To contact us Click HERE

Placeling is a neat location sharing application that allows users to share locations with friends across different platforms.

One of the neatest features of Placeling is that it allows users to save their favorite locations, create tours and then access and share the created Google Maps via the web, on a smartphone or on a WordPress blog.

Users can bookmark locations anywhere in the world, describe places with notes and photographs and even create their own tours.Locations and tour maps can be viewed or shared on the web, accessed from a smartphone app or even embedded in a blog post.

Placeling also allows users to ask questions about locations, such as "Where can I get the best coffee in Toronto?' or 'Where is the best pizza in New York?' and other Placeling users can help with their answers and suggestions.

Put down your language learning books, we've got transliterated tiles in the API!

To contact us Click HERE
Posted by Pamela Fox, Maps API Team

Due to the usage of non-latin characters in languages like Russian, and our decision to label countries and cities in their native tongue, I've always found browsing foreign countries in Google Maps to be quite the educational experience. How else would I have discovered that other languages have such pretty swirly letters? Unfortunately, it's also quite a frustrating experience when you're actually trying to find some place in those countries ("Tokyo! SHOW ME TOKYO!! aRrrgghghH!"). Well, thankfully the Google Maps team has now made it easier to have both an educational and satisfying experience with the recent introduction of transliterated tiles for Russia, Greece, Japan, and Thailand.

For users with a browser setting for the native languages of those countries, they'll continue seeing the tiles with just the labels in that language. But for everyone else, they'll see tiles with both the labels in the native character set and in the latin character set below it. You can trust the language setting to get that effect in the Maps API, or if you'd like, you can force a particular output in both the Javascript and Static Maps API by appending the"hl" parameter to the script src or image src with the desired language value. Experiment with the various language/country combinations in the example below to see this in action in both the Static and Javascript APIs:

We're Going to Google I/O!

To contact us Click HERE
Posted by Mano Marks, Geo APIs Team

I'm getting excited about Google I/O May 28th & 29th in San Francisco. The reason I'm excited is that many of you will be there too, and it will be a great chance to meet. Google I/O is like the Google Developer Day we had last year, which in turn was based on Google Geo Developer Day, which we had two years ago. This year, there will be a whole track on Maps & Geo, including KML, Maps, and Mapplets. There will, of course, be other tracks, AJAX, APIs & Tools, Social, and Mobile. Both Pamela and I will be there, along with all the Google Geo stars.

The event won’t be limited to just Google APIs and developer tools. There is a lot of knowledge about web development in general at Google, and we’d like to share that expertise so that all applications on the web get better. And of course, we're focusing a lot on Open Source tools, like the new libkml (more about that in a later post).

Over the two days of Google I/O, Google engineers and other leading software developers will share their knowledge in breakout sessions, hands-on Code Labs, and Q&A Fireside Chats. That's your chance to sit down with Google engineers and ask all the questions you've ever wanted to, as well as meet each other.

Visit the Google I/O website to learn more and register. Space is limited, so be sure to make plans to attend now.

And after Google I/O, we'll be doing other developer days all over the world, so if you can't make it to SF, hopefully you can make it to one closer to you.

Hannibal's Journey on Google Maps

To contact us Click HERE

I really like the map used in the Digital Map of the Roman Empire by the Pelagios Project. I decided to play around with the map today and decided to use the map tiles to plot the route of Hannibal's famous journey to Italy from Carthage.

The Hannibal's Journey map shows the (very rough) route that Hannibal took and some of the major battles that he fought with the Roman Empire along the way. I also used the Polyline Symbols function in the Google Maps API to include an animated arrow that provides a little bit of action to an otherwise fairly static map.

Another Look at CartoDB's Torque

To contact us Click HERE

I had another look at CartoDB's Torque library on GitHub today and noticed they have added some new examples of the library in action. A polished example of Torque is available in the amazing Navy of WWI animated visualisation highlighted this week in The Guardian newspaper. GitHub also has three other good demo maps.

Storms uses Torque with Google Maps to animate through 50 years of tropical storm data. The map animates the storm data on a Google Map and really emphasises the stunning speed with which Torque can display data.

Vertnet uses Torque to animates through over two hundred years of data (I'm not sure what the data represents). This demo illustrates how Torque can be used to effortlessly display thousands of data points on Google Maps. 

The USPO Map animates through the opening of post offices in the U.S. between1644 and 1901. 

Share Your Geo Data via Google Maps

To contact us Click HERE

MapProvision is a free online tool that allows you to easily display and share geo data. Using MapProvision you can quickly create a Google Map to display data which allow users of your created map to perform customised analysis on the data using thematic overlays, animation, and charting.

MapProvision can represent spatial data in a number of unique layers such as multi geometry (points, lines and polygons), interpolation, videos, raster grid, circles, density, and using your own customisable image sets. It also includes visualisations to chart trends in your data using scatter plot, histogram, and data tables.

Here is an example of a MapProvision data visualisation in action.

The Bull's Bollocks on Google Maps

To contact us Click HERE

USE-IT - Torino is a handy Google Maps based guide for the Italian city of Torino. The map's developers say that the map is "made by locals who know what’s going on in the city, and who give no-nonsense inside advice on where to eat, sleep and go out if you’re not a millionaire".

The map displays important points of interest in the city and also offers some useful advice, such as whether you should step on the bull's testicles on the statue outside Caffe Torino (opinion is divided). Users of the map can filter the results shown by category, for example local tips, going out, sightseeing, bars and food.

Some Friday Fun with Google Maps

To contact us Click HERE

Artist Rheinhard King has created a number of prints featuring large cities floating in the sky. The prints transpose cities like New York and London into Laputian like floating islands.


Do you know the way to Sesame Street?
Why yes. Yes I do. 
I have Google Maps.


Halloween has come a little early this year on Google Maps Street View. This indoor Street View of Monster Mini Golf in Marlboro, NJ is not for the faint of heart.

Via:  Street View Funny

The Bull's Bollocks on Google Maps

To contact us Click HERE

USE-IT - Torino is a handy Google Maps based guide for the Italian city of Torino. The map's developers say that the map is "made by locals who know what’s going on in the city, and who give no-nonsense inside advice on where to eat, sleep and go out if you’re not a millionaire".

The map displays important points of interest in the city and also offers some useful advice, such as whether you should step on the bull's testicles on the statue outside Caffe Torino (opinion is divided). Users of the map can filter the results shown by category, for example local tips, going out, sightseeing, bars and food.

Time Travelling with Google Maps

To contact us Click HERE

Let me take you on a journey, back through time, to the France of the 18th century. In the coastal town of St Tropez news that The Sun King Louis XIV has just arrived and the people ... 

Actually forget me - let La France en Relief transport you back to 18th century France instead.

La France en Relief is an amazing collection of historical relief maps of French towns.That in itself would be enough to get map fanatics like me excited. However La France en Relief has gone even further and have taken a number of the featured relief maps and turned them into full 3d cities. In loving detail the city's buildings have been recreated in 3d, allowing users to immerse themselves in the France of the 18th and 19th centuries.

So far eight towns have been created in 3d, including St Tropez, Toulon and Mont Saint Michel. The 3d map of Mont Saint Michel is worth the ticket price on its own - except there is no ticket price and there are also seven more 3d towns to explore.

Google Maps for Cognition

To contact us Click HERE

I do like it when developers use custom images with the Google Maps API. However a lot of attempts to use the Google Maps API to navigate custom images don't really take advantage of the many features of the API to add interactivity to otherwise static images.

That isn't true of this map of the human brain that includes a number of options to add custom polylines on top of the brain to illustrate a number of cognitive processes.

Cognitive Consilience is a Google Map that was created to accomapny a Frontiers in Neuroanatomy publication "Cognitive consilience: Primate non-primary neuroanatomical circuits underlying cognition", by Soren Solari and Rich Stoner.

The map uses a custom image in Google Maps to help show cortical circuits in the brain. The map includes a number of overlays that can be added to the brain diagram to show the processes involved in consolidated long-term declarative memory, short-term declarative memory, working memory/information processing, behavioral memory selection, behavioral memory output, cognitive control and cortical information flow regulation.

Also See

• The KESM Brain Atlas - maps of mouse brains that can be viewed using the Google Maps interface.
• Brain Neural Maps - Brown University's two-dimensional neural image maps of the brain
• NYU School of Medicine Virtual Microscope - the Virtual Microscope uses the Google Maps API to display and navigate scanned slides of microscopic images
• Genome Projector - a searchable database browser that uses the Google Maps API to provide a zoomable user interface for molecular biology
• Zygote Body - a body browser that uses a Google Maps type interface to explore the human body

The Biggest Street View Update Yet

To contact us Click HERE

Catherine Palace

Google Maps has today announced its biggest Street View update ever, adding over 250,000 miles of panoramic imagery to roads around the world.

New Street View imagery has been rolled out in Macau, Singapore, Sweden, the U.S., Thailand, Taiwan, Italy, Great Britain, Denmark, Norway and Canada. Special Collections of off-road imagery has also been added in South Africa, Japan, Spain, France, Brazil and Mexico.

The Google Lat Long blog has picked out some highlights, including the Catherine Palace and Ferapontov Monastery in Russia, the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taiwan, or Stanley Park in Vancouver. You can even walk through the urban jungle of Singapore's Fort Canning Park, without ever leaving home.

There are obviously going to be a lot of surprises in this new release of Street View. In the US I think the Street Views in Six Flags Magic Mountain, Six Flags St Louis, and Kings Island (Cincinnati) are new. In the UK Shepperton Studios and Pinewood Studios now also have Street View.

Time Zones for the Google Maps API

Google has also added today a new Time Zone API to the Google Maps API Web Services. The API returns information about the time zone of any location on earth. The response contains information such as the IANA Time Zone ID, long form name, offset from UTC and any offset due to daylight savings.

Developers can access the API up to 2,500 requests per day, while Google Maps API for Business customers make 100,000 requests. Full documentation is available on the Google Developers website.

Making Google Maps more comprehensive with biggest Street View update ever

To contact us Click HERE

Today we’re making our Street View coverage more comprehensive than ever before by launching our biggest ever update--doubling our number of special collections and updating over 250,000 miles of roads around the world. We’re increasing Street View coverage in Macau, Singapore, Sweden, the U.S., Thailand, Taiwan, Italy, Great Britain, Denmark, Norway and Canada. And we’re launching special collections in South Africa, Japan, Spain, France, Brazil and Mexico, among others.

Hey World, are you ready for your close up?
You can explore our many new places directly in Google Maps, including parks, city centers, castles and tourist attractions like Catherine Palace and Ferapontov monastery in Russia, the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taiwan, or Stanley Park in Vancouver. You can even walk through the urban jungle of Singapore's Fort Canning Park, without ever leaving home.


Taroko Gorge, Taroko National Park, Taiwan
To see, or not to see?
Street View, as you know, is a useful resource when you’re planning a route or looking for a destination, but it can also magically transport you to some of the world’s picturesque and culturally significant landmarks.

On the walls of Elsinore Castle, nestled on the northeastern coast Helsingør in Denmark, Bernardo and Francisco uttered the opening words to William Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy. The castle known locally as Kronborg and immortalised by Hamlet, provided the setting for the Prince of Denmark to play out his personal battle with madness, grief and searing rage. Today we’re also launching images from inside Kronborg and its surroundings, so you can discover for yourself the inspiration behind Shakespeare’s masterpiece.


The courtyard of Kronborg castle, Denmark
We hope you enjoy taking a virtual stroll around some of the world’s beautiful places, and stay tuned for more Street View updates as we look to make our maps more comprehensive and useful for you. To learn more, visit: maps.google.com/streetview

Posted by Ulf Spitzer, Street View Program Manager

European Geocoding with Google Maps

To contact us Click HERE

GeoCoder Europa is a useful Google Maps application for retrieving the latitude and longitude, and the full postal address of any location in Europe.

Users can search the map by address or by simply clicking on the map. The app then returns the latitude and longitude at that point. GeoCoder Europa can retrieve the latitude and longitude for any location in the world but in Europe the app also returns the full postal address.

The Bull's Bollocks on Google Maps

To contact us Click HERE

USE-IT - Torino is a handy Google Maps based guide for the Italian city of Torino. The map's developers say that the map is "made by locals who know what’s going on in the city, and who give no-nonsense inside advice on where to eat, sleep and go out if you’re not a millionaire".

The map displays important points of interest in the city and also offers some useful advice, such as whether you should step on the bull's testicles on the statue outside Caffe Torino (opinion is divided). Users of the map can filter the results shown by category, for example local tips, going out, sightseeing, bars and food.

London Wards on Google Maps

To contact us Click HERE

The Greater London Authority has released a Google Map providing demographic and related data for each ward in Greater London.

The Ward Atlas allows users to explore demographic data in each London ward area by population, diversity, households, life expectancy, housing, crime, benefits, land use, deprivation, and employment. It is possible to select the data displayed on the map using the map sidebars and to select individual wards on the map to view the data in that area.

All the data used in the map is also available for download from the London DataStore.

Indian Railways Live on Google Maps

To contact us Click HERE

There are a lot of real-time Google Maps of train systems around the world. Now we have one for the largest democracy in the world.

RailRadar allows users to view the entire Indian rail network on a Google Map. The map shows the live locations of all trains on the Indian railways in real-time. The map updates about every five minutes so the exact position of the trains may be a little out.

If users click on an individual train map marker they can view the train's starting point and destination and also the train's next scheduled stop. The map also displays the overall status of the network, showing the percentage of trains on the network running on time and the percentage that are currently delayed.


Tagkarten is a real-time animated map of the Swedish rail network.

Green map markers show trains that are currently running on time and red markers indicate trains that are running late. If you click on a train's marker you can also view its starting point and destination.


Stops.lt is a real-time animated map of buses in Vilnius, Lithuania.

This map uses numbered map markers so users can tell at a glance the location of any bus. Users can also click on bus-stop markers to view which buses they can catch from a stop and find out when the next buses are scheduled to arrive.

Water Quality Displayed with Google Maps

To contact us Click HERE

APEL Carte Interactive uses Google Maps to visualise water quality data in the watershed of the St. Charles River, Quebec.

Water quality is displayed on the map using different colors (blue for good, red for bad). If you click on a map marker two graphs load in the map sidebar illustrating annual and monthly trends at that location. A menu at the top of the map allows users to also view the results of different water quality readings, such as fecal coliform, phosphorous etc.

Tracking Birds with Google Maps

To contact us Click HERE

Birdfeeders.com are using Google Maps to crowdsource the tracking of migrating Hummingbirds. The Hummingbird Migration Map allows anyone to add a sighting of a hummingbird to the map to help build a picture of the birds' migratory patterns

Users of the map can refine the map by species of hummingbird and also select a date range to view on the map.


The British Trust for Ornithology have tagged a number of cuckoos and have created an animated Google Map for each bird showing its migratory journey.

The maps show each of the cuckoo's journeys from the UK to Africa and help to reveal the birds' stop over points on their migrations to and from the UK.

In the UK the RSPB are also using Google Maps to track osprey chicks as they migrate to and from Africa to the Scottish Highlands. A number of birds have been tracked since 2008 and you can view the individual tracks of each bird directly on the RSPB Google Map. 

The Bull's Bollocks on Google Maps

To contact us Click HERE

USE-IT - Torino is a handy Google Maps based guide for the Italian city of Torino. The map's developers say that the map is "made by locals who know what’s going on in the city, and who give no-nonsense inside advice on where to eat, sleep and go out if you’re not a millionaire".

The map displays important points of interest in the city and also offers some useful advice, such as whether you should step on the bull's testicles on the statue outside Caffe Torino (opinion is divided). Users of the map can filter the results shown by category, for example local tips, going out, sightseeing, bars and food.

Find a Vacation Apartment with Google Maps

To contact us Click HERE

HouseTrip.com allows users to search for and book holiday rentals around the world.

Using the application it is possible to search for properties by location and by the date of your trip.The results of a search can then be viewed in a list or on a Google Map. In both views you can refine the results displayed by the number of bedrooms, the price per night, the type of property and by the facilities offered.

If you select a property's marker on the map you can view extra details about the property and, if you like what you read, submit a request to rent the property for your trip.

Put down your language learning books, we've got transliterated tiles in the API!

To contact us Click HERE
Posted by Pamela Fox, Maps API Team

Due to the usage of non-latin characters in languages like Russian, and our decision to label countries and cities in their native tongue, I've always found browsing foreign countries in Google Maps to be quite the educational experience. How else would I have discovered that other languages have such pretty swirly letters? Unfortunately, it's also quite a frustrating experience when you're actually trying to find some place in those countries ("Tokyo! SHOW ME TOKYO!! aRrrgghghH!"). Well, thankfully the Google Maps team has now made it easier to have both an educational and satisfying experience with the recent introduction of transliterated tiles for Russia, Greece, Japan, and Thailand.

For users with a browser setting for the native languages of those countries, they'll continue seeing the tiles with just the labels in that language. But for everyone else, they'll see tiles with both the labels in the native character set and in the latin character set below it. You can trust the language setting to get that effect in the Maps API, or if you'd like, you can force a particular output in both the Javascript and Static Maps API by appending the"hl" parameter to the script src or image src with the desired language value. Experiment with the various language/country combinations in the example below to see this in action in both the Static and Javascript APIs:

We're Going to Google I/O!

To contact us Click HERE
Posted by Mano Marks, Geo APIs Team

I'm getting excited about Google I/O May 28th & 29th in San Francisco. The reason I'm excited is that many of you will be there too, and it will be a great chance to meet. Google I/O is like the Google Developer Day we had last year, which in turn was based on Google Geo Developer Day, which we had two years ago. This year, there will be a whole track on Maps & Geo, including KML, Maps, and Mapplets. There will, of course, be other tracks, AJAX, APIs & Tools, Social, and Mobile. Both Pamela and I will be there, along with all the Google Geo stars.

The event won’t be limited to just Google APIs and developer tools. There is a lot of knowledge about web development in general at Google, and we’d like to share that expertise so that all applications on the web get better. And of course, we're focusing a lot on Open Source tools, like the new libkml (more about that in a later post).

Over the two days of Google I/O, Google engineers and other leading software developers will share their knowledge in breakout sessions, hands-on Code Labs, and Q&A Fireside Chats. That's your chance to sit down with Google engineers and ask all the questions you've ever wanted to, as well as meet each other.

Visit the Google I/O website to learn more and register. Space is limited, so be sure to make plans to attend now.

And after Google I/O, we'll be doing other developer days all over the world, so if you can't make it to SF, hopefully you can make it to one closer to you.

Mexican Drug Homicides on Google Maps

To contact us Click HERE

Map of the Drug War in Mexico is using the Google Maps API to map drug related homicides in Mexico.

The map uses custom map markers to display the number of homicides in different locations within Mexico. The size of the markers corresponds to the number of homicides at that location. If the user selects a marker they can view a graph showing the number of homicides over the last eight years.

It is also possible to use the provided drawing tools to search a custom area on the map.

Creating a User-Contributed Map: Look, Ma - No server side scripts!

To contact us Click HERE
Posted by Keir Clarke, Virtual Tourism Blog Author and Google Maps Mania Blog Contributor

Pamela Fox wrote a wonderful tutorial in November called Creating a User-Contributed Map with PHP and Google Spreadsheets. However if you are like me, the thought of having to tackle server-side scripting sends you running for the hills. Fortunately, the recent release of forms for Google Spreadsheets means it is now possible (with just a tiny bit of hacking and wizardry) to create a user contributed map without any server-side scripting and with the added bonus of Google hosting the data for you.

1. The first step is to create a form for Google Spreadsheets at this page.

   The information that we need in order to add a contributor to our map is their name, latitude, and longitude. Of course, if you want more information on your map, you can always add more fields to the form later.

   • The first question we will ask is ‘What is your name?’. Type this into the ‘Question Title’ box. The default question type is ‘text’ - leave this as it is. After you have completed the ‘Question Title’ press ‘save’.
   • Now add the second question by clicking ‘+ Add a question’ and this time type ‘Latitude’ in the Question Title box. Again leave the question type as 'text' and press ‘save’ again.
   • Add one more question with ‘Longitude’ as the ‘Question Title’.

2. The second step (and the only one that requires some coding) is to hack the generated spreadsheet form so that instead of having to type in a latitude and longitude manually, our users can just click on a map to show where they live. To do this, we create a map and then assign an event listener for the map 'click' event that writes the values of the clicked coordinate into the form input fields. The code that accomplishes that is shown below:

   var map = new GMap2(document.getElementById("map_canvas"));
   map.setCenter(new GLatLng(37.4419, -122.1419), 13);
   map.addControl(new GSmallMapControl());
   map.addControl(new GMapTypeControl());
   
   GEvent.addListener(map, 'click', function(overlay, latlng) {
     var LatLngStr = "Lat = " + latlng.lat() + ", Long = " + latlng.lng();
     map.openInfoWindow(latlng, LatLngStr);
     document.getElementById("latbox").value = latlng.lat();
     document.getElementById("lonbox").value = latlng.lng();
   });
   

   The full HTML for the form and map is here. This page extracts the latitude and longitude when a user clicks on the map and automatically fills in the input boxes for latitude and longitude in the spreadsheet form, and also lets the user fill in their name. The important things to remember about modifying the generated spreadsheet form is that the form field names remain the same (e.g. the name for the latitude input is 'single:2'), and that the form action remains the same (e.g. 'http://spreadsheets.google.com/formResponse?key=pHxwMuyQhRdSwN9QcKaqWVA').

   Now that you understand how the simple map-based form works, feel free to hack it further. Here's an example using the same form that integrates the GClientGeocoder to let users type in an address and then stores the resulting coordinate in hidden input fields.

3. Once you've successfully modified the form, all you need to do is use the Spreadsheet Map wizard to create your user-contributed map.

   The wizard will do all the work of creating your map and generating the code, and give you something like the map embedded below. You could also try out generating KML from the spreadsheet with the techniques from the Spreadsheets Mapper tool.

Mash your way to a better world

To contact us Click HERE
Posted by Mano Marks, Geo APIs Team Our friends up at NetSquared recently opened a mashup challenge to engage developers in helping nonprofits realize some of their web ideas. The concept is pretty simple. First, nonprofits post ideas on data they have and what they'd like to be able do do with it on the web. Then, product managers and developers peruse projects and sign up to help produce specs and bring them to life over the course of the next month. Nonprofits with the coolest mashup at the end are eligible for grants totaling $100k at this year's NetSquared conference in May. This year there's extra emphasis on openness, from standards and data to software and ideas. If your mashup can itself be mashed up, all the better. Mix and match APIs from different sources as you see fit - the only goal is to meet a need that a nonprofit has expressed. We like this idea a lot, and we want to help it - and potential volunteers like you - succeed. On March 7, we'll be hosting a hackathon at the Googleplex in Mountain View, California, for participants, where you'll be able to talk shop with API experts from Google. We'll also be inviting gurus from other API providers in the area to join us so you get all the help you need. If you sign up to work on a project you'll hear more from NetSquared about this event and others like it. Go check out some of the projects, think about how you might be able to apply your design skills and API wizardry to help these groups out, sign up, and mash away!

Put down your language learning books, we've got transliterated tiles in the API!

To contact us Click HERE
Posted by Pamela Fox, Maps API Team

Due to the usage of non-latin characters in languages like Russian, and our decision to label countries and cities in their native tongue, I've always found browsing foreign countries in Google Maps to be quite the educational experience. How else would I have discovered that other languages have such pretty swirly letters? Unfortunately, it's also quite a frustrating experience when you're actually trying to find some place in those countries ("Tokyo! SHOW ME TOKYO!! aRrrgghghH!"). Well, thankfully the Google Maps team has now made it easier to have both an educational and satisfying experience with the recent introduction of transliterated tiles for Russia, Greece, Japan, and Thailand.

For users with a browser setting for the native languages of those countries, they'll continue seeing the tiles with just the labels in that language. But for everyone else, they'll see tiles with both the labels in the native character set and in the latin character set below it. You can trust the language setting to get that effect in the Maps API, or if you'd like, you can force a particular output in both the Javascript and Static Maps API by appending the"hl" parameter to the script src or image src with the desired language value. Experiment with the various language/country combinations in the example below to see this in action in both the Static and Javascript APIs: