GPS information

Mapping data provider NAVTEQ today announced the availability of the first complete, navigable map of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (or just Jordan to the rest of us), on the heels of the first commercial GPS release in the country back in January.

The maps cover over 28, 000 kilometers of Jordan’s road network including speed limits, and more importantly, 13, 000 points of interest which are key to navigation in a country where infrastructure is still in its infancy.

As NAVTEQ points out in its press release:

“With mail delivered to post office boxes, street addresses rarely used and most places of interest (such as government buildings, hotels and restaurants) in Jordanian cities and towns well known, directions are usually given based on nearby landmarks. With its usual attention to local detail, NAVTEQ has therefore included a particularly wide range of POIs which can be used as destinations. The commonly used 1st to 8th Circle names for the central jabal junctions have also been retained but NAVTEQ has also added the alternative official names where they are available.”

All of the Jordan map info is available in both Arabic and English, and includes all major tourists destinations.

The addition of Jordan brings NAVTEQ’s Middle Eastern map coverage to seven countries, also including Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

TrafficTweet is the latest take, albeit a creative one, on the aggregation and distribution of real-time traffic data.

While TrafficTweet is an iPhone application, and performs the same function as waze, which I wrote about yesterday, it uses a combination of GPS and Twitter updates to help drivers navigate real-time road conditions. The app lets users send road condition updates from their iPhone to Twitter, eventually making its way back to TrafficTweet where it is displayed on a map.

Interestingly, clicking on a Twitter link brings you to a Yahoo! Map. I’m not sure why Washington-based Mobomo, creator of TrafficTweet, chose to use Yahoo! Maps rather than Google or Bing, but most of the links are for cities that Yahoo! covers with real-time traffic information supplied by TrafficCast.

While it’s arguable how useful TrafficTweet will be given that it requires the user to manually update it while driving, its use of GPS simplifies the process enough to cut the process down to a few clicks. I would still find any traffic app that requires manual updates a HUGE hassle while driving; possibly even more of a hassle than hitting a traffic jam.

One thing is for sure: TrafficTweet will only succeed if it can acquire a critical mass of users. While it’s eye-catching in that it hitches on the current Twitter popularity storm, I think there are just too many real-time traffic apps and services available that are much simpler to use. As a novelty app though, the $0.99 TrafficTweet (iTunes link) is definitely interesting.

Google Maps and to a smaller extent, Microsoft’s Bing Maps, are the major online mapping platforms attracting developers right now. The once dominant MapQuest has been working hard over the past year to update its platform in order to get back in the game. From an end user perspective, the MapQuest brand seems to be more engaging than Google Maps, though the latter has more monthly traffic.

But without developers using the platform to innovate, MapQuest won’t stand a chance at the end of the day. A preview announced yesterday of its MapQuest 6.0 Platform: JavaScript SDK seems to have made some serious upgrades for developers. Not only is the new SDK easier to use, according to the company, it also has a completely revamped, more modular code base that has a much smaller footprint resulting in a faster response time.

The most significant new feature addition is that of Draggable Routes which allows developers to create applications, inside of which end users can edit their routes right from the map. MapQuest also reorganized its developer documentation so it’s more linear and easier to follow.

You can check out the 6.0 SDK here.