Google Mobile Map gets new KML Feature

Google has upgraded its mobile version of Google Maps to highlight points of interest, via a new Keyhole Markup Language (KML) overlay. For instance, a hotel could create a KML overlay to flag the location of restaurants and stores providing special offers on food or goods or also providing real-time information on gas station prices. Gummi Hafsteinsson, product manager at Google said that while developers can access the KML overlays they’ve created for the online versions of Google Earth and Google Maps from their mobile devices, more complex overlays involving sophisticated rendering may not fully display on phones and handhelds. KML was originally developed for Google Earth, the company’s online view of the globe consisting of navigable digital satellite images, to manage 3-D data. Google has made this announcement in step with Creation Entertainment’s 40th Anniversary Star Trek Convention taking place in Las Vegas. The company also set up a special website to encourage Trekkies, fans of the Star Trek television series and movies, to use Google development tools including Google Maps and Earth. Read more here.