Slashgeo

Found on the Geoweb Guru blog, here is a snippet of the article :"GIS Cloud has just entered its public beta phase. GIS Cloud is an online "GIS for the web". The 'cloud' in the name refers to it being SaaS (Software-as-a-Service). It is unclear if it is implemented in true 'cloud' fashion (eg. like Amazon EC2 or Microsoft's Azure). Unlike the vast bulk of the "geo-web" systems we cover, this is much more than a simple map viewer/annotator/query engine; but allows more GIS-like data operations. "
Make sure to check the blog for the rest.

Here's your weekly dose of geonews in batch mode. Please allow the less frequent posts lately, I'm quite busy at the moment. I'll also be away next week, so we rely on your contributions and other editors. Thank you for your comprehension.

On the FOSS4G front, the open source GIS uDig 1.2 reached milestone M9. TMR links to a Washington Post article on OpenStreetMap. Plenty of geoblogs/lists pointed to the interesting O'Reilly Radar entry named Rethinking Open Data: "[...] it costs money to make existing data open."

In the Apple front, more from CNET on the iPad and maps (via TMR). APB links to instructions to access Google StreetView on the iPhone (yes you can!). Here's details on a 'GIS app' for the iPhone. Here's an entry comparing free maps and navigation apps.

In other news, several geoblogs mentioned the excellent article on geolocation in html5. It seems the USGS budget cuts hit geospatial as well. NAVTEQ is shutting down Nav4All, used by 27 million users, that uses NAVTEQ data, due to license agreements. Here's an interesting short entry named How KML Succeeds and Fails as a Web Format. Here's another interesting entry named How Coordinates are Referenced in Databases. Here's an interesting graph of artificial satellites by nations, including the functional and non-functional ones.

In the maps category, here's a series of maps on the U.S. State of the Union. Here's various Bing Maps maps of Vancouver, in time for the Olympics. Here's a "Tube Map" of the Milky Way. There's new bedrock maps for the U.K.

Here's recent Google-related geonews. Google added World World II historical imagery to Google Earth: "Images taken in 1943 show the effect of wartime bombing on more than 35 European towns and cities. Imagery for Warsaw, which was heavily destroyed at the time, is available from both years 1935 and 1945." Here's another entry specifically for Warsaw.

The ocean seafloor in Google Earth got updated with new high resolution DEMs. There is a new Ocean Showcase launched that uses the Google Earth plugin. There's an offline installer for Google Earth and updates to the 3D Warehouse and Building Maker. Here's a climate change tour of cold places. There's work to add Google Earth imagery to Microsoft's Flight Simulator. Finally, Google Maps for Mobile adds places and searches syncing capabilities.

fotoguzzi writes "The Copenhagen Wheel is more than an energy-gathering power-assist for tired legs; it also monitors environmental conditions. A slick video shows how the wheel can report to a smart phone which can then report to a community map. Enough Wheels and you have a good snapshot of sound and air quality in the city. I question the music and the unidentifiable accent of the video, but the ideal seems worth considering. Could the sensors be placed in the phone and leave the Wheel out of it?"

geocoded Art writes "GeocodedArt.com is a collection of world's greatest landscape, cityscape and seascape paintings, geocoded to Google or Bing Maps. The goal of geocodedArt is to use digital map technology to add context to fine art, and to use fine art to illuminate geography. The criteria for inclusion in this collection are that the image is a recognizable depiction of specific location; the image be in the public domain; and that the image be beautiful, and/or be of an interesting place."

Stefan Knecht writes "In times where Maps and Navigation go for free, United Maps premiers Walk & Ride — solid hyperlocal maps with everything included but the cost of infamous data roaming charges: no Internet connection necessary, no stress abroad. Works on iPod Touch or iPhone with maps so nice that we still dare to sell it at the cost of a short taxi ride. Walk & Ride packs a punch with its unique details and extensive information that other maps don't show. The City Maps are as comprehensive as they're accurate, showing the entire area, not just the city center:

        * all buildings with outlines and accurate house numbers
        * the complete index of all roads, streets, and paths, including all crossings and short-cuts
        * thousands of POIs (points of interest) that other maps don't show — with addresses and lots of helpful information
        * fully selectable scale of up to 1:500 — perfect for pedestrians
        * no infamous international data roaming charges: all vector and offline
        * true multi-modal route calculator, accurate to the house number for three route types: on foot, by railbased public transport systems and by car

Available in German, English, French, Italian and Spanish. More information and Screenshots: http://walknride.com/" We mentioned Walk & Ride last December.

knecht writes "TomTom promising daily map updates In an exclusive article [in German], the German business magazine WiWo (Wirtschaftswoche) quotes TomTom CEO Harold Goddin: „Bis Ende des Jahres werden wir alle ein bis zwei Tage aktualisierte Karten zum Download anbieten“ (German original) "Until end of 2010 we'll offer downloadable map updates every two days." (rough translate) Well, the year is still young, things may happen and the quote is fairly vague on detailing exactly what will be updated. Missing streets?" Here's previous TomTom stories.