Google Introduces Maps Engine Lite
- Custom Google Maps
- English-only Beta
- 150 different icons as markers
Google has just launched its Maps Engine Lite that allows ordinary users to easily create maps.
- Custom Google Maps
- English-only Beta
- 150 different icons as markers
Google has just launched its Maps Engine Lite that allows ordinary users to easily create maps.
The map engine is still in English-only beta, but Google has already put a number of features and functionality to it. For starters, Maps Engine Lite lets users to upload small spreadsheets with locations and visualise them on a map.
Users can also choose from a variety of different pin icons, which they can drop anywhere on the map. For those who don’t want to use spreadsheets, the engine lets users to draw lines and connect them into shapes, mark specific areas and set place markers with the engines set of 150 icons.
Google has also added a total of nine base maps, including its satellite and terrain maps as well as styles that emphasise city and political boundaries and highways. To get new users up to speed, Google also published a tutorial that offers sample data sets and a step-by-step guide to publishing a custom map.
And for those who have used Google My Maps in the past, saved maps can be imported into the new Maps Engine Lite as the tool may be incorporated in the future into Google Maps Engine Lite. As stated earlier, the Google Maps Engine Lite is still in English-only beta but there’s a fat chance that Google will add more features into the engine in the near future.
Any cartographers out there? What are your thoughts about the new Google Maps Engine Lite? Share us your thoughts by leaving a comment below. You can also add us up Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google Plus and subscribe to our site for more tech news and stories.
