Comments on: UpNext: Wicked 3D Maps of NYC on Facebook

By: JamisonTT23

JamisonTT23 — Fri, 08 May 2009 21:34:53 +0000

UpNext released an app for the iphone, btw. Tried it out, and it’s just as impressive, if not more than their site version. Great if you live in NY, as usual.

By: UpNext « Tomim. Strategy, Marketing & Media Tech

UpNext « Tomim. Strategy, Marketing & Media Tech — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:48:03 +0000

[...] UpNext: Wicked 3D Maps of NYC on Facebook [...]

By: Geospatial new-comer Earthmine to use Nasa mapping technology » VentureBeat

Geospatial new-comer Earthmine to use Nasa mapping technology » VentureBeat — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:37:01 +0000

[...] Facebook applications featuring its rendering technology (and received equal praise and heat from TechCrunch ), and Geosemble, which lets clients import data such as addresses to map out physical locations. [...]

By: John

John — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 01:35:46 +0000

“You need the latest version of Java installed for our program to work!”
Oh well guess I can’t run it then…. who still uses Java plugins?

It will be interesting to see how this evolves with next gen browsers supporting 3D natively.
John.

By: Raj Advani

Raj Advani — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 17:13:03 +0000

Thanks for the comments and feedback everyone!

Nick @23: That’s a bit like saying NavTeq and TeleAtlas created Google Maps, or satellite imaging companies created Google Earth. The data didn’t make the engine. VisionMedia provided us with invaluable polygon data, but I only wish that was enough!

We developed new compression technologies to clean those polygons and transfer them to browsers, and built a browser-based 3D renderer with support for hardware acceleration. For the mapping part, we worked on spatial matching algorithms to get per-building detail. And then there was the whole web layer. Not a matter of plug-and-play, but it was a good time and there’s a lot we still want to do going forward!

Raj Advani
UpNext

By: nick of cebu

nick of cebu — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 10:30:36 +0000

Excellent, very detailed post. Good job.

But the real story here is VisionMedia – the little bootstrapping startup merely found their product and ran with it. The whole enterprise wouldn’t be possible without VisionMedia, who are the real innovators here. Upnext mashed it all up with other data, which is of course great, but not that profound.

By: I Am Not Posting To Spam My Blog

I Am Not Posting To Spam My Blog — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 10:22:34 +0000

Would it have killed them to choose a name that had something to do with maps?

Maybe telling people what you actually do is Web 0.5 or something, but I think Multimap, Streetmap and Google Maps have an advantage over this lot because if someone says ‘You should try Google Maps’, I instantly know what they do.

By: Steve Ballmer

Steve Ballmer — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 01:17:53 +0000

Facebook is really on the ball since we started working with them!

By: admanGo

admanGo — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 00:47:45 +0000

Holy cow, is that what they turned upnext.com into? I still remember when it was an Asian American pseudo-portal site based out of Los Angeles while they played Starcraft at import car shows! My have the years gone by!

By: Ryan Spahn

Ryan Spahn — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 23:19:32 +0000

They recently were chosen as the best startup at NY StartUp Camp!

Congrats on all your success!

Social Alarm Clock guy

By: Sunverse.net

Sunverse.net — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 23:15:30 +0000

3D Maps of NYC on Facebook…

From http://www.tech...yc-on-facebook/ When it comes to online maps, there is a gap between the 2-D maps and pictures you see on Google Maps, Live Maps, and Yahoo Maps, and the more fully-immersive, fly-thro…

By: Paul J

Paul J — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 22:23:15 +0000

Are you kidding? This is amazing. Even forgetting the fact that it’s 4 guys with a tiny amount of cash, it’s still truly remarkable.

I’ve been waiting for technology like this to implement an idea I’ve been sitting on for a few years.

A really amazing browser experience. Can be used for so much more than showing classifieds. So much more.

Well done Raj, Vik, Robin & Danny. And good luck.

Let me know if you ever want to licence the technology

By: Duncan Riley

Duncan Riley — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 22:18:15 +0000

Microsoft offers a similar browser based service, review here. A startup like this taking on Microsoft and even Google (google are rolling this out now in Maps, see here) is a brave, brave startup.

By: HonestMall.com

HonestMall.com — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:55:30 +0000

impressive work from a 4 man team!

i love how the lights go out when you are looking up nightclubs.

By: Chris R.

Chris R. — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:54:05 +0000

“general rule of thumb, don’t posts twice – unless someone calls you out.”

Ooohhhhh, good rule! I won’ts ever do its agains sir.

By: Henry

Henry — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:33:00 +0000

I’ve virtual earth before and i’ve just tried UpNext. Virtual Earth has better graphics but takes forever to load. With MS VE, on my comp all i could see were 3 or 4 buildings and my machine slowed to a crawl. UpNext worked smoothly though.

By: Troll

Troll — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:32:17 +0000

Chris R.
stop spamming.

general rule of thumb, don’t posts twice – unless someone calls you out.

By: Chris R.

Chris R. — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:29:57 +0000

BTW, If the UpNext guys want to partner with us, you know how to get a hold of me. This could be our google maps for our search. We won’t pay though, it has to be equity only.

By: Chris R.

Chris R. — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:28:06 +0000

“You can load 3D views in a browser with Virtual Earth, and the details are much better than the screenshot above, so what’s the big deal?”

Microsoft stuff sucks. Everybody knows that. Whatever they make doesn’t count.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:24:41 +0000

You can load 3D views in a browser with Virtual Earth, and the details are much better than the screenshot above, so what’s the big deal?

By: James

James — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:21:01 +0000

Can you stop writing so many long articles and get to the point, you moron.

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:20:03 +0000

I saw them demo at the NY Tech MeetUp a few months ago, and I think everyone in attendance was pretty impressed. I have also had an opportunity to chat with Danny (CEO) a few times, and he is a pretty smart guy. Good luck guys, make NY proud.

By: lawrence

lawrence — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:19:03 +0000

It’s a cool visual way of finding things – i guess.
lol – your mind gets lost in immersion and imagination while viewing the city

but i’d have to agree with most comments…
the visuals are cool, but the usefulness is in question.

By: Allen Stern

Allen Stern — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:07:05 +0000

I’ve got an interview with them from last month as well:
http://www.cent...t-local-web-app

I agree it’s wicked – I could see it working with a Yelp as well. On CN a few of the comments were around the initial load time and the Java map.

The key is getting people off Yelp and other review sites and onto UpNext.

By: Jeff the Great

Jeff the Great — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:05:01 +0000

this is very cool BUT where is the usefulness?

You are right though, Erick, it is a perfect buyout candidate for someone that doesn’t need it to generate revenue on its own (aka Google).