One change will see numbered pink circles getting replaced with helpful words.  “The new Flickr map will display tags that will hover over specific locations, representing interesting and newsworthy things going on there,” according to a post on Yodel Anecdotal.

And that would be enough to get some people excited – it’ll make browsing Flickr’s geotagged photos a much more straightforward affair.  A more interesting development, though, should be the release of “Places Pages.”  Photos will be grouped according to the area in which they were taken, and that’s just the starting point.

Users should be able to sort pictures according to “popular tags, relevant Flickr groups, featured photographers of that region, along with local information such as a detailed map, current time, and temperature,” writes Kakul Srivastava.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to say when all these updates will be released.  Flickr’s not likely to keep users in suspense for too long, though, so look for something to happen within the next few weeks.