A big talking point produced by Google Maps this time last year was the finding of what many believed to be the sunken city of Atlantis, an island steeped in the mystery and folklore of Ancient Greece.

The story of the mythology tale is that the philosopher Plato was of the opinion that the island was once a well-developed and powerful utopian city and naval base, that ‘in a single day and night of misfortune’ sunk beneath the ocean.

The culmination of a ‘finding’ of the city on Google Maps in 2009 was that it was thrust into popular news stories in 2011 that Atlantis had been re-discovered, though Google were quick to claim that it was just an error in their mapping process.

Unfortunately, it seems as though Google might be right (or just covering an exciting conspiracy), as an update to their satellite imagery of oceans has removed the below-surface ‘grid’, that could clearly be seen in previous images of the ‘Atlantis’ area, pinpointed in the Atlantic Ocean in the area between Madeira, Azores Islands, and Spain’s Canary Islands.

Geophysics analyst David Sandwell said of the potential explanation: “The original version of ‘Google Ocean’ was a newly developed prototype map that had high resolution but also contained thousands of blunders related to the original archived ship data. UCSD [University of California, San Diego (USA)] undergraduate students spent the past three years identifying and correcting the blunders.”

While Google may have put the brakes on much of the theory created by their maps, the rumours and legend surrounding the area will no doubt continue, so what will be the next development in the Atlantis story?

Google’s love-hate story with the Chinese State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping (SBSM) is writing another new chapter, as the American-based search engine and mapping service re-applies to the Chinese authority for a new license to provide maps online in the Asian country.

However, local Chinese media are currently suggesting that Google are being held up in the application process, despite 279 other map providers (as of the end of January), already being accepted for (and granted) the appropriate licenses from SBSM required to operate in China.

Google, through their Google Asia-Pacific regional division, were hoping to launch the site with ‘new online mapping services’ for a Chinese audience, although the site’s domain name in China is reportedly still listed as ‘active’, further adding to the confusion.

Google Asia-Pacific ‘policy communications manager’ Taj Meadows said of the current complications: “We’re in discussions with the [Chinese] government about how we can offer a maps product in China.”

It is believed by some industry insiders that Google, who have never been too favoured by the Chinese government, are being frozen out of the Chinese market due to the hold-up, despite their collaboration with the Beijing Guxiang IT Company as a means of helping their business access in the country.

Independent analyst Bill Bishop said of Google’s scenario: “What Chinese firm will use Google Map’s API [application program interface] for its services now that there is so much uncertainty?”

Yan Xiaojia, an Internet analyst with Analysis International anylist Yan Xiaojia told local newspaper China Daily that there are statistics that back up this trend, and while Google’s mapping services (in API form) are applied by 60% of websites in China that use embedded mapping (around 48,000), Google Maps causes a meagre 9% of traffic from general mapping searches, with Chinese home-grown rival Baidu responsible for 61% of the ‘daily traffic’ for mapping online in China.

While Google have dominated a majority of the markets that the commit themselves in, will they manage to win support of any kind in China?

Incoming satellite searches:-

With just two days to go until Super Bowl XLVI between the Giants and Patriots, supporters of the two franchises, and the NFL in general, are descending upon Indianapolis (USA) for the big game from across America, but a number of them will be doing so in the hope that they can negotiate a ticket from a reseller or tout on the day.

For those fans, it is bad news all-round at the moment, as ticketing data experts SeatGeek revealed that prices for the 46th staging of the Super Bowl are still on-course to be at their highest average in the event’s history , with rates on Thursday afternoon recorded at $3,395.

The cheapest ticket sale in the past fortnight (described by SeatGeek as the ‘get-in price) was $2,200 (recorded yesterday), meaning that there could still be people able to get in for a lower price, although the view will naturally not be as good.

With such high prices, it is obvious that the city are prepared to have the game on whatever the circumstances, with Super Bowl organisers reportedly carrying contingency plans (such as snow plough routes) for 8 different types of weather.

Meanwhile, the NFL have warned fans against purchasing fake tickets, as they alongside local police authorities in the areas of the participating franchises have made a number of arrests in relation to fake tickets and merchandise. They claim to buyers that real tickets will have a heat-sensored Super Bowl logo and two-image hologram, and that anyone who purchases a fake will not be reimbursed by the league.

Authorities claim that they have already confiscated $4.8m worth of fake merchandise (such as hats and jackets), and that they expect to see between 100-200 fake stubs at the gates of the Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday (is that all?). With a level of dedication and planning at a seemingly very high standard, will the Super Bowl collect its profits without a hitch, or will any ‘criminals’ manage to sneak a quick buck from the festivities?

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A French court specialising in commercial cases has ruled Google Maps France as guilty of business foul play, after ‘abusing’ their parent company’s funds to soar to the top of the online mapping market in the country.

The court in Paris (France) decided on Tuesday that Google were ‘unfair’ to local rival company Bottin Cartographes, who complained that Google France (a regional branch of Google) used the safety net of Google’s riches to offer free extended online mapping services to selected French businesses, used as a means of convincing them to apply Google’s mapping option instead of rivals.

Bottin Carto., who launched the complaints, said that the moves were made by Google as a means of quickly getting to a dominant market position by ‘undercutting’ fee-charging rivals, with Google then likely to begin charging for their business mapping services when they had a strong [dominant] foothold in the market.

The ruling made by the court announced that Google are now required to pay €500,000 ($660,000) to Bottin in ‘damages and interest’, while Google will also pay the courts a €15,000 fine for their misconduct.

Bottin Carto’s lawyer Jean-David Scemmama said of the verdict: “This is the end of a two-year battle, a decision without precedent. We proved the illegality of (Google’s) strategy to remove its competitors… the court recognised the unfair and abusive character of the methods used and allocated Bottin Cartographes all it claimed. This is the first time Google has been convicted for its Google Maps application.”

Google France, meanwhile, were naturally not in the best of moods, as a spokesman summarised the company’s plans for the case: “We will appeal this decision. We remain convinced that a free high-quality mapping tool is beneficial for both Internet users and websites. There remains competition in this sector for us, both in France and internationally.”

It is not the first time that Google have run into legal issues in France (after a €100,000 fine last year for data privacy breaches on Google Street View), so is this further proof that at least in France, Google’s high-ranking global business status does not make them untouchable?

Incoming satellite searches:-

In a bid to try and ease some of their workload, Google have announced their intentions to pass on the responsibilities of their Street View-style business photography service to an external organisation called ‘Trusted Photographers’.

The deal is currently only applicable to 14 cites in the USA (including Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle, and New York City) and several countries (such as Australia, France, and New Zealand) win which Trusted Photographers operates.

The idea is that the partnership will allow business owners to be ‘matched up’ with local photographers taking the pictures as an external source on behalf of Google, with the panoramic images (after processing and verification) later appearing on Google’s Street View and Business Listing service.

The approval process for sending a photographer out will most likely be the same, but with less direct work on Google’s part, meaning that with approved ‘freelancers’ now able to take the all-important shots, there is likely to be a higher rate of new images, taking the process of Street View indoors to even quicker and efficient levels. Will placing their trust outside of the company work well for Google’s panoramic image collection?

Google Maps’ latest update sees them providing information-based assistance in the face of any possible disaster, as they allow (mainly American) users to search for and find out more about current problems (such as extreme weather or natural disaster) in their local area.

Steve Hakusa, the main engineer for ‘Google Public Alerts’, claims that the aim of the service is to offer key ‘emergency information’ such as the circumstance, and how long it could have an affect on its area for, combining it simply to the main Google Maps service. The move follows on from a similar service used by Google in 2008, as a means of geo-tagging outbreaks of illnesses, such as flu epidemics.

Hakusa wrote in a blog post announcing the release of Public Alerts: “If a major weather event is headed for your area, you might go online to search for the information you need: What’s happening? Where and when will it strike? How severe will it be? What resources are available to help?”

Google Public Alerts will be applying data sourced from a number of big-name outlets in the USA, including US Geological Survey (USGS), US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Weather Service. Searches can be searched in basic or detailed views, with Google currently working on further improving ‘range and relevance’ of content based on searches. Will this update manage provide users with potentially critical when they need it most?

Some bad news for american football fans planning to watch the Super Bowl live this year, as the event in Indianapolis currently has slightly higher ticket prices than for last year’s version in Arlington. While the difference is reportedly small, a whopping $3,127 is still plenty to manage to leave many ‘lucky’ fans out of pocket in what experts claim is set to be ‘the most expensive sporting event in history’.

That was the average price of a ticket to the event as of Thursday, with the cheapest seats still above the $2,000 mark. These fees will still most likely increase further in cost to something much higher than the original ‘face value’ of the tickets ($800-$1,200).

Fans of the NFL (and in particular the finalist Giants & Patriots) hoping to attend the event will be in for a costly trip (although they probably already knew that anyway), with travel, accommodation, and food all likely to be on the things to consider financially, with the city quite obviously using the opportunity to raise their prices for the week of added tourists.

Regardless of what many people outside of America think of the sport, the popularity of the annual event and demand for tickets makes the high prices in Indianapolis understandable, but some offers around the city just seem to be too much. The highest prices to watch live at the Lucas Oil Stadium will be an incredible $600,000+ fee each for ‘field-level suites’.

Meanwhile, a person in America who is not interested in the big game is trying to cash in anyway, offering for $1,600 the chance to do something that most people would have access to anyway (either themselves or through a friend). The unidentified user of Craigslist (who lives in Indianapolis) wrote: “I’m selling two tickets to watch Super Bowl XLVI at my house on my brand new hi-definition Samsung 55-inch 3D TV. I’m not much of a football fan so I don’t plan on watching the game myself however, since I’d hate to see such a great 3D television experience go to waste, I thought I’d give someone else the opportunity to enjoy it.”

For fans looking for a cheaper way to enjoy the week, other Super Bowl-themed attractions in the city include downtown street parties, viewing areas, and an official ‘NFL Experience’ and ‘Super Bowl Village’, amongst others.

It will be a big expensive spectacle that is set to occur on Sunday, but can the event live up to the hype both on and off the field?

Incoming satellite searches:-