HotSpots = What's UpNext in the city

We are happy to announce a new feature we recently launched, HotSpots

HotSpots are glowing lights that indicate what's UpNext in the city. These lights show events, new openings, festivals, and much more. Now you can visually see what's happening in the city.




Event Legend (on the right):

Blue = Nightlife
Red = Food/Dining
Purple = shopping

We will be adding more categories soon.

Click on any HotSpot to get more information about that event. Or you can click on the "What's UpNext" button on the top right and see the HotSpots in a list.

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2D vs 3D

Since the focus of UpNext is a 3D cityscape of New York, we spend most of our time working on the 3D aspects of the site. Recently, we took a step back and re-examined the 2D features on our site. We saw some places where we were lacking and made some big improvements. So we give you...

The 2D Pop Up Window
(we are taking suggestions for a better name is you have any)

We made some significant improvement to the 2D pop up window on the map. The text is much bigger. The window has much more functionally, allowing users to do more directly on the map. For instance...

Adding Favorites and Review is easier

From top to bottom:
- Star ratings from reviews

- Read/Add Reviews button for easy review management.

- Add favorites with one click.

Better Building Directories

Find any business in any building in a snap.

The new Building Directory is easy to navigate and lets you see all businesses in one page.







We have some exciting new features that are almost ready for your eyes. Keep checking back with us. Also, keep sending us feedback to general [a t] upnext [d o t] com. We love to hear from our users and many of these changes are directly the result of users telling us what they want.

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What people are saying about UpNext...

We are getting some mentions in blogs and press and we wanted to list some of them. We are happy to see that people are excited about UpNext and see the potential. If you see anything else, drop a link in the comments.

PSFK
Upnext.com is a virtual cityscape that allows you to explore Manhattan’s shops, restaurants, and venues in 3-D. The site, similar to other city guide sites like Citysearch and Yelp, allows members to rate and review destinations and socialize with other users, but it also includes several additional features its predecessors don’t... (Read more)

Screenwerk - Greg Sterling
UpNext is a 3D cityguide that offers user ratings and reviews. A kind of cross between Yelp and Microsoft Virtual Earth 3D, the site only covers Manhattan currently but with expansions plans... (Read more)

MarketingVOX
A virtual rendition of Manhattan is now live, thanks to Upnext.com, a new site with social features that invite users to explore and review the city's plethora of shops, restaurants and venues in 3D... (Read more)

Digital Urban
Its hard to get excited nowadays about a new 3D city model that is not either part of Google Earth or Microsoft's Virtual Earth. In many ways kml has become the standard language for web based 3D. So we were expecting not to be impressed by UpNext a newly launched 3D version of New York running in a web browser via Java... (Read more)

Ogle Earth
Digital Urban flags UpNext and its 3D implementation of Manhattan. Wow. Two things: One: It is blindingly fast (albeit by taking some game-engine shortcuts). Two: If they can come out of nowhere with a browser-based 3D client that works for the Mac, what's taking Microsoft so long?

Nitmesh
This, I think is a taste of how we will mesh online and offline shopping and lead to all other meshing 'onoff' 'experiences' in the very near future. There's google earth but here's the newest user-friendly example upnext.com. We sign up, we see NYC as a 3D map with a built in search engine to guide you to anything you want in the city. You could and will take it so much further making a much deeper, more satisfying experience, leading to a detailed virtual 3D interpretation of a street or mall of shops... (Read more)

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UpNext: New and Improved

Yes, it's true we only launched two weeks ago. So how can the site be new and improved already, you ask?

Well, we got a lot of user feedback and worked round the clock to address our users' needs.

Here is what is new on the site (in Q&A format).


Users: I don't want to register. I just want to see the map.

UpNext: No problem. Now you don't have to register.

You can directly go into the site as a guest. Non members, click "Enter Now" -->

But, we highly recommend you do create a profile eventually to enjoy all the features of UpNext (adding reviews, listing favorites, etc).


Users: Can you make the map any bigger?













UpNext: I guess size does matter. Wide screen mode for those of you with bigger monitors.

The map now resizes with your browser window. So, for most users you should see a bigger map. (For users with resolution 1024 x 768 or lower, the map will stay about the same size but it was big already.)


Users: How can I see latest reviews or the top reviewers?

UpNext: We made it easy for you to find this information by adding Top Lists.

Top Lists (Top UpNext Member, Latest UpNext Reviews) now appears on the side search results area once the site is loaded.

Click the "Top List" link in the upper right hand corner of the site to bring the leader board back up.

We are adding more top lists soon to help you find the businesses you want. Keep writing reviews and adding favorites show off you knowledge of the city.

If you have any suggestions for Top Lists, drop us a line in the comments.



Users: Can you re-interpolate road locations to facilitate micro matching and refactor the geocoders?

UpNext: Ok, so that was not a user's questions. But we did it anyways.

What does it mean? It means that UpNext is better and easier to use. We are always working to make the site better.

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Navigation Tip: Neighborhood View

Want to quickly move from Chelsea to the Financial District on UpNext?

To move easily from neighborhood to neighborhood, zoom out to the neighborhood view. Then click on the area you want to explore and the map will zoom back into the 3D view.

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Profile Tip: My Locations

Make UpNext work for you!

In your profile, add "Home" and "Work" to My Locations!

Note: My Locations only appear on your profile and are not visible to others when they view your profile. (So go ahead and add “Lover”.)

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Search Tip: Search Bar

Searching for businesses and information is easy on UpNext!

Recovery Searches - addresses, intersections, specific businesses

1. Enter an address, intersection, business name, etc. in search bar
2. Hit "GO"
3. The map will glide to the desired search result

Discovery Searches - categories, descriptions

1. Enter keyword(s) in search bar
   
2. Hit "GO"
3. Navigate around the city as result update in the viewing area

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