Google Maps are more than what an average web surfer thinks about it. It's not just about scanning geographical terrain, but goes beyond that. Some of the labs features for Google maps makes it a very useful tool and gives you several unique options that you may have never used before. Much of these features are in labs state but works very well. I'm compiling the best 5 Google Maps labs features that I found quite useful while scanning my favorite maps.
Distance Measurement: It is one of the most useful labs feature for city travelers. Once activated, you can easily calculate distance between two places on a map in your preferred distance metric. If you have travel multiple locations on a single route, it can calculate distance between two points in a route as well as the over all distance from the starting point till the end point. It's one of my favorite labs feature.
Short URL: This feature can be very handy for social media enthusiasts and mobile users. When this feature is turned on, you can obtain a shortened url for your Google map to share easily over different social media services. There's no need to separately used any 3rd party url shortening service for your map access link. Just activate this feature and get instant shortened urls to share and distribute it among your network.
Show Me Here: Yet another useful labs feature for explorers. This features adds a 'Show Me Here!' button to the context menu. Whenever you point a location and click it, you are instantly zoomed in on that location with relevant details. There's no need to scroll, drag and adjust to zoom accurately at any location. Just point and click and there you are. It's a time saver feature, particularly if you're scanning too many locations.
Rotatable Maps: Are you tired off scanning the classic map alignment with north direction always on top. As the name suggests, this feature lets you rotate your maps in any direction giving you more flexibility in scanning. Make sure you're not confused about directions while using this feature. Rotatable maps feature is ideal for architects and civil engineers who regularly use similar feature for their work.
LatLng Marker: This is one of the most useful labs features. Latlng Marker adds a mini-marker to the location you point with latitude and longitude data. These mini-markers are persistent until your delete them explicitly. Even when you drag, rotate or shift your map, these mini-markers retain their position. This feature is ideal for explorers, trackers and mountaineers. I'd like to get this feature out of labs as soon as possible.
What other Google Maps features you find exciting and interesting? Do you use these labs features?
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