OS OpenSpace API

I’m pretty new to the world of GIS but one thing seems blindingly obvious to me, maps are becoming commoditised. With Google Maps and Virtual Earth already on the block, who is ever going to pay for maps anymore? New to the fray is the OS OpenSpace API, from the Ordnance Survey. It looks pretty decent, it includes some things not available in the other map providers, such as administrative boundaries, but misses other things like aerial imagery. When I get chance I will play with the API to see how good it is and get some ideas for our own JavaScript API.

"One or more waypoints are not routable in the specified data source" error in MapPoint

I've searched on the internet for any information about this error message returned by the MapPoint web service but haven't been able to find anything, so this is a rundown on what I've found, although this is fairly obvious stuff.

Say you're trying to route between points A, B, C, D and E. Basically the error is saying that MapPoint was unable to route between at least two of these points. So the first thing to do is figure out which points MapPoint didn't like. this can be achieved by breaking the route down into its constituent parts and try to route A to B, B to C, C to D and D to E. The chances are that at least one of these will fail.

Now it's time to take a closer look at the two points that failed. I think the best way to do this is to visualise the route using Google Maps and/or Live Maps. For me, both sites successfully routed between the two points but Google Maps showed something strange. The suggested route involved driving to a T junction, turning right, driving to the end of the road and making a  U turn and driving back along it. Moving the point to the end of the road with the T junction fixed the MapPoint error. For me, being able to route between the points was more important than being completely accurate. I'm not sure what the solution would be if complete accuracy was required.

There's now a Live Maps web service that seems to have a very similar API to the MapPooint web service. I've not looked at this too closely but I'd be interested to know if it has a better algorithm for routing so these kind of errors are reduced. I'd also be interested to know if people have found different solutions to this error message.

Live Maps, what the ...?

As of today, if you go to Live Maps and you're based in the UK, you get redirected to Multimap instead. It's still possible to get to the real Live Maps via the URL http://maps.live.com/?mkt=en-us, but why on earth has Microsoft decided to do this? Live Maps has improved drastically over the last few months and is now at the very least on a par with Google Maps. Multimap, whilst certainly better than it was, is still way behind both of them.

All I can think is that Microsoft spent a significant amount of money on Multimap so isn't prepared to let it die a natural death. Multimap is plastered with ads as well so I guess they will earn some cash from it, something that presumably isn't happening with Live Maps. Unfortunately what will happen is people will just use Google Maps instead so Microsoft will lose out. 

Virtual Earth vs Google Maps part 3

Many moons ago I tried out Windows Live Local (now called Virtual Earth I think) and decided it didn't meet my needs since it didn't show any London tube stations or train stations which made getting round London kind of difficult. I checked it out again today and it now has got tube and train stations. This is actually a step ahead of Google Maps that only show tube stations. However it seems to be a bit buggy currently since sometimes stations appear at one zoom level, disappear when you zoom in, then re-appear again after more zooming, which I presume is not by design. Check out Herne Hill.

So finally these Web 2.0 sites have almost caught up with Streetmap, which I don't think has been updated in about 5 years. Kind of shows up the 'we move in a fast moving industry' mantra as a complete lie.  

Windows Live Local vs Google Maps part 2

So I tried to switch to Live Local but my first problem with it is a bit of a showstopper. The map doesn't show tube or train stations, so for getting round London it's completely useless. Back to Google Maps... Windows Live Local 1 - Google Maps 1

Windows Live Local vs Google Maps

It all started with a trip to the wilds of Lincolnshire. We'd been there before but I didn't know the way too well, so thinking Google has the answer to everything I thought I'd use Google Maps to give us directions. Turns out the directions it gave us weren't too hot, causing much screaming and shouting between me and my other half who was trying to decipher the instructions. Admittedly where we were didn't help, all the roads and countryside looked the same. In the end we had to call the people we were visiting and ask for their help. Somehow they worked out where we were and guided us in. So for my next little trip I thought I'd give Windows Live Local a try. I was dropping my brother off at Heathrow airport so searched for directions for that. It's been a while since I've used the MS mapping stuff and it has certainly improved, in fact I think it may well have moved ahead of Google Maps. Google may have been first with the whole draggable map thing but they don't seem to have done a great deal since. But back to Heathrow, Windows Live gave sensible driving instructions and printing was completely customisable. Google Maps on the other hand suggested a completely insane route, via the M4. For the reverse trip it suggested a completely different insane route via the M25 and M3. Looks like Google thinks motorways are super fast which in the case of London certainly isn't the case. Final score, Windows Live Local 1 - Google Maps 0