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With so many things you can do with technology today, there is almost no area in that cannot be covered by it. One of the most popular products of technology is the Mac OS. It is the operating system used for the apple products that many people are using today, from iPhone to iPad. What makes these products so popular is that they have many applications that are proven to be useful in everyday life, although not really all. One of the many applications that are proven useful especially for drivers and hikers is the mapping software for Mac. This software allows diver to find their way in areas they are not familiar with.

10. iMapBuilder Interactive Flash Map Builder

iMapBuilder is a “what you see is what you get” Flash map building tool, the mapping tool is an all-in-one program that creates a professional Flash easily and quickly without any additional software or programming skills required of the user. The mapping software is designed users who are non-technical, Web-masters and or anybody else who wants to make their own professional Flash map but have no time to learn Flash programming or other mapping software.

9. MacGPS Pro

MacGPS Pro is a software for Mac designed for communicating with users GPS who are viewing your current position on moving digital maps and nautical charts. The images of the nautical charts and digital maps can be viewed without any GPS receiver used in real-time or connected as a moving-map display of the user’s current position and speed. The software imports maps from a wide array of sources using the following formats: JPEG, TIFF, PNG, GIF, BMP, PICT, PDF, ECW and Photoshop (PSD). The mapping software also imports and manually calibrates the maps users have scanned themselves.

8. Mapwing Creator Pro

Mapwing Creator Pro is the mapping software professional’s choice for making a virtual tour. With the software’s flexible options and powerful tools, any user can build a large-scale tour containing high resolution photos and maps, custom branding, comments, and several types of hotspots. The created tours can be exported to a variety of formats including Flash from Adobe and shared cross-platform through the Web, email or disc.

7. RouteBuddy

RouteBuddy mapping software is a GPS application for Mac OS X. All the essential functions of the user’s GPS is supported, all they ever need is a Mac, a GPs and RouteBuddy. The mapping software supports topographic and road maps and supports Garmin, USGlobalSat, NMEA and Tom Tom devices. With this mapping software users are able to navigate and find to a feature or address or any point of interest. Users can also create a route between locations and search map data with FastSearch.

6. eMaps

eMaps in an app for Mac that gives its users an easy access to Google Maps. The mapping software provides satellite and aerial photos, street maps, street level views, hybrid and terrain views of locations in different counties all over the world. This mapping application combines the power of Google Maps mapping services with the strength of the Mac OS X application. eMaps makes the Google Maps more interactive, responsive and more fun to use with the familiar and intuitive interface elements.

5. Ortelius

Another great mapping software for Mac included in the list of the best is the Ortelius. Ortelius is a feature packed and highly affordable vector drawing app great for cartography. Using this application, users can create custom map graphics, publications, and scaled plans for reports, presentations and websites. This software features special cartography tools that allow users to draw directly with great features such as roads, buildings, rivers, coastlines, contours and symbols. Ortelius also features support GIS-type attribute information which can be referenced by text labels. Almost everything can be drawn and positioned by simply dragging and dropping.

4. Google Earth 7.0.0 for Mac

Google Earth is perhaps one of the best when it comes to mapping applications. What’s new? Google has added new features that make it a necessity for users whose topographic needs and wants are more serious. In addition to the Earth’s cartography, users can also checkout the Google Ocean, historical Earth maps and the surface of earth’s neighbors, Mars! Most of Google Earth’s interface’s real estate like displays are a rendering of the globe that can zoom in on a satellite image of the user’s location and destination once they’ve keyed it in. The controls are located on the top tool bar and a left-side navigation window that allows users to quickly jump between different locations and views.

3. ABNavigator for Mac

ABNavigator is a mapping app for designed for easily obtaining driving directions from the user’s location which is point A to the destination which is point B, using the information contained in the user’s address book. The app is super easy to use; users can simply choose their starting point (From the address) and the destination (To the address). The app gets its directions from the map providers like Google Maps, Expedia, Maps.com, Yahoo! Local Maps, MapQuest and MSN Maps & Directions. After the users have chosen their starting and destination point, they can simple click the “Get Directions” and the app will retrieve the route.

2. World Explorer for Mac

World Explorer is a mapping application for Mac that lets users enter any of the 350,000 locations contained in the database of the software and see images and read descriptions of the selected location. Working with Mac OS’s geolocation capacity, users can also see what’s near them. When it comes to installation, the application is easy and quick to install. The World Explorer’s interface presents its users with a dialog box where they can enter the location, and then three panes below will show images, illustrated descriptions and the ratings of the nearby featured places.

1. MapQuest Sherlock Channel for Mac

The last but certainly not the least in our list of top 10 mapping software for Mac is AOL’s MapQuest Sherlock Channel for Mac. This application is easy to install and use. The application simply displays a map with pan and zoom controls and can feature all locations from all countries around the globe. The app also features directions to the specified address for a much easier route search; however, the feature is only available in the U.S territories.

Location-aware devices are becoming common across Apple’s (s aapl) lineup, except when it comes to MacBooks. But adding GPS to a MacBook is as easy as pairing with a Bluetooth mouse. When shopping for an external GPS device for a Mac, are two main things you want to consider: the ability to live track GPS info on your computer using a Bluetooth receiver, and what software is available to analyze that data for each device. The three GPS Bluetooth receivers compared below all have data tracking capabilities and work well with Macs:

*Items highlighted in green represent the best options for each category.

Columbus V900 – While not from a very well know manufacture, the V900 has been one of my favorite GPS devices. It is available on Amazon (s amzn) for around $105. While it is the most expensive of the three, it also has the most features. Besides being able to remove the microSD memory card, this device will also let you record and tag a voice memo at an exact location. The included software used to read and access the data on the device, called Time Album, is Java-based and will run just fine on the Mac. While it will charge with a miniUSB able, you will need to carry around a microSD card reader in order to import the log data on your Mac.

QStarz BT-Q1000XT – QStarz manufactures several different GPS receivers worth looking into for your particular needs. I have been using one of their Travel series and it has served me well. The Q1000XT is every bit as versatile as the V900 when used solely as a GPS receiver. It currently lists for $99 on Amazon. The major downside with QStarz is that the included software used to access the stored data requires a unique USB driver that is Windows (s msft) only. There is however a third party utility, BT747 that will work with the QStarz. But you will have to install the CP210x USB to UART Bridge VCP Drivers from Silicon Labs in order to get it to work properly.

USGlobalSat BT-335 – As reputable as QStarz, USGlobalSat is a well known and reputable brand among GPS receivers. The BT-335 is their latest Bluetooth receiver that is also a Data Logger. At just $69 on Amazon, it is the cheapest of the three. The one thing I did not like about the BT-335 is that it does not charge via mini USB and therefore requires you to travel with a dedicated charger specific to the device. There is, however, a native Mac version of the Global Sync utility which makes accessing the data straight forward. The only other downside is that it is the bulkiest of the three to carry around.

Once paired with your Mac, most GPS aware applications will automatically detect the GPS receiver. For instance, in Google Earth, from the Tools menu select the GPS menu item. On the Realtime tab check the “Automatically follow the path” and click the Start button. Google Earth (s goog) will create a “Temporary Place” in your places that will update the map with your coordinates.

All three devices are excellent data loggers and Bluetooth receivers. While pairing via Bluetooth works identically on the Mac for all three, the same cannot be said of the connectivity and access to the data captured by each device’s logging capabilities. Any one will work just fine with your Mac, but having access to all three, I tend to opt for the Columbus V900 most often.

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