Foundcity, a site that attempts to list favorite things to do at a metropolitan city, does a very horrible job of implementing GoogleMaps API.  At best, it’s going to be a horribly designed site that no one will use.

They will really need to hire real engineers to make the site right.

Foundcity is a social mapping tool for creating a personalized map of your life on-the-fly. From your computer or cell phone, you tag locations, add photos, label them with any words you want, and plot them to your map, which you can share with friends, keep private, or publish openly.

via feedmyapp

Xoost, a new beta search engine, was just launched. It’s a new search engine that let’s search sites through what seems like Google API, Yahoo API, and LIve search API.

Basically you get all three major search engines in one plus you get to tag and bookmark all your searches.

On top of that, you can also share your searches on your favorite social networks such as Facebook or Twitter.

A lot of experts have been pointing out that Google needs some type of human interaction in order to reach the next level.  Xoost seems to have done just that, taking Google to another level and it might grow big if they can pick up a lot of active users.

Do you Search the Web for your favourite topics and you would like to share your search skills with your friends? Xoost is the only place for you. With Xoost you will web search what you like most, your search stream will be continuously added to your profile, and you will socialize with other Xoosters on the basis of common search interests.
Your searches and related websites will be automatically stored in your account and you will be able to access them anytime. In addition, you can share your Xoost searches with your friends on other networks such as Facebook or Twitter and you can tag or delete any search and related website as you like most. Xoost is simple, viral, scalable, enjoyable and is currently in private beta test: join the beta if you like the concept.

WiTur is a travel social bookmarking/networking site where users can share their travel experiences via GoogleMaps API. It’s sorta similar to GoogleMaps itself (where you can mark your trails) but more focused towards actual travel experiences.

I looked up a San Francisco travel experience by a member and found it quite informational although they do need lots more users.  Looks great and should be picking up some web traffic rapidly.

Witur is actually a space for people to share their travel itineraries, read detailed trip suggestions on a Google-powered geolocalized map, ask questions to the trip plan writers and locals and share trip plans with others. The site is pretty easy to navigate and there are a variety of different ways that you can search including a search bar where you can plug in your destination and another that allows you to enter your interests as well. You can also search by clicking directly on the map and seeing what trips people have taken and what they recommend. Lastly, search by trip type which include amongst other categories: nature, history, relax, coast, adventure, gastronomy and shopping.

via killerstartups

Uptake.com, is another website by Yen Lee, a former general manager of Yahoo Travel (YHOO).

After a quick peek, I got a sense that this could be Yelp for travel. Yelp did start out in San Francisco and I even saw a lot of their Craigslist listing for college kids to review restaurants and retail stores for like $5 per review. (when they were unknown that is)

Perhaps that’s not what uptake can do as travel covers so many different places but they could target major tourism areas like Las Vegas, New York, Hawaii, and San Francisco.

This site does have potential to become a lot bigger as I do like the site layout plus the GoogleMaps API looks great for a travel site. Now, they might even do better if they add a travel blog and write about places they go for promoting their site… (hint, hint?)

Looks great though and they could end up killing competitor sites like Orbitz one day.

(click to enlarge)

Is there room for another? Perhaps. Enter, Uptake, the invention of former general manager of Yahoo Travel, Yen Lee.

Having previously carried the name “Kango,” in its private beta days (circa, December 2007), UpTake is a site that purports to offer a collection of “the travel industry’s largest database of hotels and attractions,” plus an analysis of “more than 20 million online opinions.” All of it intended to carry out the industry promise of helping travelers “make better decisions.”

via mashable

Here’s an open embed format called oEmbed. With all the crazy number of different embed formats, this oEmbed might be the solution to all that bizzaz. With some bigger video sites already participating in the oEmbed such as Viddler and Revision3, oEmbed could be the next embed standard for all video/media sites.

oEmbed is a format for allowing an embedded representation of a URL on third party sites. The simple API allows a website to display embedded content (such as photos or videos) when a user posts a link to that resource, without having to parse the resource directly.

via readwriteweb

Wow, here’s a mashup of GoogleMaps with GPS and embeddable videos called Seero. As you can see in the above broadcast, you can be traveling while you record your videos and chart it in real-time via GoogleMaps API. Looks like they are based in San Fran and the guy in the video is driving around the Golden Gate Park, where I drive through daily.

Thankfully the embeddable video player has configurations for both horizontal and vertical orientations, so it’s easier to find the right size embed to fit into your personal blog or website. As with all Seero video embeds, the new GPS embed has an on-demand playlist option so viewers can watch your content, regardless of your live or off-air status. As a self-broadcaster, you can determine which videos you’d like to display on the playlist.

via mashable

Here’s another online real estate idea mashed up with GoogleMaps API similar to our One Buck Wiki.

Looks like they got Guy Kawasaki to buy one too. (or is he behind this site??? Btw, nice business cards Guy, I will try that too)

The bigger problem, though, is that this idea has been done to death. While each iteration, to our amazement, seems to have some moderate success — especially given the extremely low barrier for entry — they’ll never equal the success that Alex Tew enjoyed for Million Dollar Homepage in 2005. The basic idea behind these sites is that advertising is sold on the premise that the method of advertising is so unique or wacky that it will garner mainstream press attention just for being sold — and thus make the ads themselves worthwhile.

via readwriteweb