Google launched a new local search app for Android smartphones
Thursday. It’s called Field Trip, and it’s a mixture of a hyper-local
discovery tool and one of those city guidebooks you buy in tourist
shops.
Field Trip grabs your location (via cell tower, Wi-Fi or
GPS) and shows you nearby points of interest: restaurants, parks, art
shows, cool shops, and historical factoids about the area you’re in.
It’s
the latest exemplar of Google’s continuing investment in local search,
from the company’s acquisition of Zagat a year ago, to May’s launch of
Google Now, its voice-powered local search tool (and Siri competitor)
that’s built into the latest Android OS. It also comes at a time when
the company is scrambling to recover from Apple’s ceremonious dumping of
its mapping partnership in iOS 6.
I tested it on a Galaxy
Nexus. It’s Android-only for now, with an iOS version “coming soon,” and
it’s not optimized for tablets, so it’s clear Field Trip is meant to be
a phone thing. You’re given three choices for how to consume the
information: a list, a map and instant notifications. You can also leave
it on as you drive around, and it will talk to you, reading the local
highlights aloud as you cruise through a city.
After giving it permission to access my location data (more on that later), Field Trip started filling up.This page list rubber hose products with details & specifications.
There’s
an interesting-looking rock show happening tonight at Hotel Utah
saloon, which is one block away. Jack London’s birthplace is a block in
the other direction, at 615 Third St. (Woah, really?) HRD, the
restaurant across the street, has awesome Mongolian cheesesteaks.Save up
to 80% off Ceramic Tile and plastic moulds.Our guides provide customers with information about porcelain tiles vs. Cool stuff to know if I was visiting the neighborhood.
Other
information wasn’t so useful. FieldTrip’s lead item was a news story
about Reddit users’ plan to buy a tropical island, which was likely
given priority because Reddit’s office is 100 feet down the hall from my
Wi-Fi router. Also, nestled between the restaurant and the nightclub
was an item detailing the history of San Francisco’s original “F”
streetcar line, which was discontinued in 1951. Uh, thanks.
So
it’s a mix of the tantalizing and the trivial. But overall, I think it’s
filled with enough useful stuff for visitors to get their bearings. If
you’re pickier than me, you can upvote or downvote each item it serves,
which supposedly helps tune the recommendation engine.
The app
is populated using data from “dozens” of content partners, according to
Google. Songkick (show information), Eater (restaurants), Flavorpill
(events of all kinds), and Thrillist (hot cafes and shops) are there to
tell you where to go and what to eat.Buy Natural china glass mosaic
Tiles online with our price beat promise. Architizer (public art,
interesting buildings), Remodelista (designy boutiques), and Inhabitat
(a designy blog) are there for the nerdier stuff. You can turn any of
these services on or off, or ask to see more or less of the items from
each partner.
Also served to you are Google Offers, which show
up as coupons and deals for nearby businesses, and restaurant reviews
from Zagat, Google’s crown jewel in this space. These can also be turned
on and off.Welcome to the Perth china kung fu school.
The New York Times has an in-depth look at what Field Trip means for
Google’s emerging play in the augmented reality and local search
businesses.
More about those location-sharing options: In order
for the app to work, of course, you have to agree to share your phone’s
whereabouts with Google. There’s no in-app language about how and where
this information is stored, or for how long — all valid concerns. I
asked Google, and the company confirmed that Field Trip is covered under
its standard privacy policy.
To test it, I turned off the most
intrusive of Jelly Bean’s location settings, allowing GPS access and the
the anonymous cellular and Wi-Fi location reporting, but turning off
the permission for Google to use my location “to improve search results
and other services.” All of my tests were performed with the last
setting switched off, and the app remained useful even without it.
One
feature suggestion — a morality slider, a setting you can adjust to
alter the sauciness of the recommendations. That way, mom and dad can
use it to find all the wonderful landmarks when they visit our beautiful
city. But then I can use the same app when I’m out with the boys on a
Saturday night, looking for trouble.
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