Google will be exclusive online map service to use images from new satellite


Satellite imagery is used for many different reasons today from mapping and fun to military analysis and more. As more satellites are launched and new technologies are released, satellite imagery is getting better with each new satellite put into orbit.

GeoEye Inc. is getting ready to launch a new satellite that will be able to take images form orbit with a resolution of .41 meters in black and white and 1.65 meters in color. Current government regulations limit images being offered to the public to a resolution of a half-meter. The color resolution the satellite will offer is the highest in the market.

The resolution limitation is partly because the U.S. government fears the amount of information that can be found in satellite images on services like Google Earth.

Read more: dailytech.com 

Labels: Earth, GeoEye, images, satellite

Google Earth lets you fly anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings and even explore galaxies in the Sky. You can explore rich geographical content, save your toured places and share with others.

Satellite images and 3D buildings all in one place.

New! in Google Earth 4.3 (beta)

- Photo-realistic buildings from cities around the world
- Dawn to dusk views with the Sunlight feature
- Swoop navigation from outer space to street-level

Download: Google Earth Mac 4.3.7284.3916 Beta  for PC, Mac or Linux

Labels: 3D, Earth, Linux, Macintosh, satellite, search, space, terrain, World

Google Earth lets you fly anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings and even explore galaxies in the Sky. You can explore rich geographical content, save your toured places and share with others.

Satellite images and 3D buildings all in one place.

New! in Google Earth 4.3 (beta)

- Photo-realistic buildings from cities around the world
- Dawn to dusk views with the Sunlight feature
- Swoop navigation from outer space to street-level

Download: Google Earth 4.3.7284  for PC, Mac or Linux

Labels: 3D, Earth, Linux, Macintosh, satellite, search, space, terrain, World

The Google Earth API and its JavaScript API let you embed Google Earth, a true 3D digital globe, into your web pages. Using the API you can draw markers and lines, drape images over the terrain, add 3D models, or load KML files, allowing you to build sophisticated 3D map applications. If you have an existing Maps API site, you can 3D-enable your page with as little as one line of code.

Download: Google Earth API 1.1 Beta 

Labels: 3D, APIs, Earth, plug-in, Software

Google today sped ahead in the web search domain once again with the release of the Google Earth API. Yes, the recent improvements to Live Maps were impressive, but today the search giant has put Google Earth into the browser. Microsoft made this move first, completely disregarding Google's client release of Google Earth, with its Virtual Earth API and browser plug-in. Google's Windows-only release today seems to focus on 3D, and speed. The performance is noticeably superior to Microsoft's, but there are still obvious kinks that need to be worked out.

Read more: arstechnica.com 

Labels: 3D, browser, Earth, plug-in, Software

The cyclone which hit Myanmar (Burma) last weekend caused an indescribable amount of damage to the nation’s people; the ill effects of the storm have been vast extended by the ruling military junta’s resistance to both substantive and logistical aid from outside sources.

And while Google has spend the past few days offering its users quick access to two financial drop-boxes established for a duo of international relief organizations, UNICEF and Direct Relief International (to which Mountain View has pledges a $1m donation, presumably to be made through it’s philanthropic arm, Google.org), the company has gathered a collection of Google Earth layers through its Outreach program to help any and all interested to observe visual data of the region in the aftermath of the disaster.

Read more: mashable.com 

Labels: Burma, Earth, Myanmar

 

Labels: Earth, Earth Day

Google Earth lets you fly anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings and even explore galaxies in the Sky. You can explore rich geographical content, save your toured places and share with others.

Satellite images and 3D buildings all in one place.

New! in Google Earth 4.3 (beta)

- Photo-realistic buildings from cities around the world
- Dawn to dusk views with the Sunlight feature
- Swoop navigation from outer space to street-level

Download: Google Earth 4.3 Beta  for PC, Mac or Linux

Labels: 3D, Earth, Linux, Macintosh, satellite, search, space, terrain, World

Members of industry group the Open Geospatial Consortium have approved Google’s KML technology as an open standard for describing some geographic data.

KML is used to manage the display of geospatial information in Google Earth, the company’s software for flying over the surface of a virtual globe. With its 3D co-ordinate-based system, people can create models of city buildings, draw a line showing where they have hiked or overlay their own custom place names on a generic map.

Google hopes standardising KML will help mean broader use for the map description language, with rivals such as Microsoft already embracing it. Google already shares its KML format openly, and others have used it in software products, but the search giant now hopes that its status as an official Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standard will decrease the number of barriers to further adoption.

Full article: ZDNet.co.uk 

Labels: Earth, mapping, Maps

Google Earth combines the power of Google Search with satellite imagery, maps, terrain and 3D buildings to put the world's geographic information at your fingertips.

Features:

• Explore the sky
• Fly to your house. Just type in an address, press Search, and you’ll zoom right in.
• Search for schools, parks, restaurants, and hotels. Get driving directions.
• Tilt and rotate the view to see 3D terrain and buildings.
• Save and share your searches and favorites.
• Sophisticated streaming technology delivers the data to you as you need it.
• Imagery and 3D data depict the entire earth - Terabytes of aerial and satellite imagery depict cities around the world in high-resolution detail.
• Local search lets you search for restaurants, hotels, and even driving directions. Results show in your 3D earth view. Easy to layer multiple searches, save results to folders, and share with others.
• Layers show parks, schools, hospitals, airports, shopping, and more.
• KML – data exchange format let your share useful annotations and view. thousands of data points created by Google Earth users.
• Free for personal use.

Use it for:

- Planning a trip
- Getting driving directions
- Finding a house or apartment
- Finding a local business
- Exploring the world

Download: Google Earth 4.2.0205 Windows 2000/XP/Vista, Mac OS X, Linux 

Labels: 3D, Earth, satellite, search, space, terrain, World

Virtual explorers can now discover and watch YouTube (http://www.youtube.com) videos while they traverse the globe. Starting today, a YouTube layer will be available in the Featured Content folder of Google Earth (http://earth.google.com).

The new layer enables users to zoom in on any location on the planet and view YouTube videos related to that place. For example, a trip to Maui offers videos of surfing, snorkeling and exotic sea life, while users who fly to Chamonix-Mont Blanc, France, can watch breathtaking videos filmed at the highest points of the Alps.

The integration of YouTube functionality into Google Earth offers a new way to experience destinations as seen through the eyes of YouTube users who have visited them, enabling people to watch, hear and feel what's happening in locations theythank may never have otherwise visited. For instance, armchair tourists to Rome can now watch YouTube videos filmed at the Colosseum, providing a holistic experience and adding a new perspective for users who enjoy looking at the Colosseum and other noteworthy locations from above through satellite imagery, as 3D buildings created with SketchUp, and in user-contributed photos uploaded to Panoramio.

Read more: Google Press Center 

Labels: Earth, video, youtube

Google Earth combines the power of Google Search with satellite imagery, maps, terrain and 3D buildings to put the world's geographic information at your fingertips.

Features:

• Explore the sky
• Fly to your house. Just type in an address, press Search, and you’ll zoom right in.
• Search for schools, parks, restaurants, and hotels. Get driving directions.
• Tilt and rotate the view to see 3D terrain and buildings.
• Save and share your searches and favorites.
• Sophisticated streaming technology delivers the data to you as you need it.
• Imagery and 3D data depict the entire earth - Terabytes of aerial and satellite imagery depict cities around the world in high-resolution detail.
• Local search lets you search for restaurants, hotels, and even driving directions. Results show in your 3D earth view. Easy to layer multiple searches, save results to folders, and share with others.
• Layers show parks, schools, hospitals, airports, shopping, and more.
• KML – data exchange format let your share useful annotations and view. thousands of data points created by Google Earth users.
• Free for personal use.

Use it for:

- Planning a trip
- Getting driving directions
- Finding a house or apartment
- Finding a local business
- Exploring the world

Download: Google Earth 4.2.0198.2451 Beta Windows 2000/XP/Vista, Mac OS X, Linux 

Labels: 3D, Earth, satellite, search, space, terrain, World

Images from Google Earth are being enrolled in the search for adventurer Steve Fossett.

Many people are scouring up-to-date satellite images of Nevada to try to spot Mr Fossett's downed plane or wreckage.

The project is being co-ordinated via Amazon's human-powered problem solving scheme called the Mechanical Turk.

It comes after a frustrating weekend in which searchers failed to turn up any sign of Mr Fossett.

Full article: BBC News 

Labels: Earth, search, Steve Fossett

Some time last week, Google expanded Google Earth with Google Sky. As fascinating as Google Sky is, that's not the focus of this post. Along with the latest update comes a hidden feature of which I cannot seem to find any other information about. It's not in the release notes and a search on Google produces no results. Seems Google have done one of their unpublicised updates they're becoming well-known for.

What I'm talking about is a flight simulator embedded within GE. Sounds awesome, doesn't it? If the thought amazes you as much as it did me, then might have run off and tried it for yourself. But there's a problem. Remember what I said above - it's a hidden feature!

Read more: marco-za.blogspot.com 

Labels: Earth, feature, Flight, simulator

In the consumer space, Google Earth and Google Maps go hand-in-hand. Now the same goes for Google Earth for the enterprise.

Business and government users of Google Earth for the enterprise can now view their organizations' geospatial data in 2-D on a browser behind the firewall.

As a part of the product upgrade, Google opened a "special" Maps API for the enterprise. That means administrators can now embed the Google Maps 2-D view into any Web application and create mashups with information from external databases, spreadsheets and other data sources, Noah Doyle, product manager for enterprise geo products, told internetnews.com.

Full article: internetnews.com 

Labels: Earth, enterprise, Maps, Mashup, Spreadsheets

Maps anyone...

Google has acquired ImageAmerica, a company that builds high-resolution cameras and uses them to take aerial photographs.

The search engine giant announced the move on its LatLong blog about Google Earth and its other mapping efforts. It didn't disclose terms of the deal.

Product Manager Stephen Chau said on the blog: "We're excited about how ImageAmerica's technology will contribute to our mapping services down the road. Since we're in the research and development phase right now it may be some time before you see any of this imagery in Google Maps or Earth."

Full article: silicon.com 

Labels: aerial, Earth, ImageAmerica, Maps, photographer

Model city

AMD'S FAVOURITE BIT of Germany, Dresden has become the largest digital city on Google Earth, according to its boggle-eyed creators.

A virtual model of the Saxon city went online on Monday for folk to peruse with Google Earth. It seems to be pretty popular as the site is currently reclining tits-uppermost.

Read more: theinquirer.net 

Labels: city, Dresden, Earth, Germany

Discovery of the submarine image is likely to cause consternation within China's military.

Google Inc. is offering a rare public glimpse of China's new ballistic-missile submarine, according to a researcher at the Federation of American Scientists.

"The new submarine was photographed by the commercial Quickbird satellite in late 2006 and the image is freely available on the Google Earth Web site," wrote Hans Kristensen on the Strategic Security Blog.

(Photo Courtesy of Strategic Security Blog)

Full story: pcworld.com 

Labels: China, Earth, missile

At an event in Google's New York offices on Tuesday, the company unveiled a new initiative to make its Google Earth geography software a more accessible tool for nonprofit organizations.

"We're now officially launching a program called Google Earth Outreach," said John Hanke, director of Google Earth and Maps. "Google is stepping up and validating this as a bona fide program that will be staffed in our group."

Google Earth Outreach is now live, and several downloadable layers from the program's inaugural partners--the Global Heritage Fund, Earthwatch and Fair Trade Certified--are now available online.

Full article: webware.com 

Labels: Earth, geography, Maps, nonprofit, Software

It was bound to happen eventually - terrorists are allegedly using Google Earth and Google Maps to plan attacks.

Abdul Kadir, one of the men accused of plotting to blow up fuel pipelines, fuel tanks, and buildings at John F. Kennedy International Airport, instructed his cohorts to use Google's online mapping software to obtain more detailed images of the airport, court documents say.

Read more: The Sydney Morning Herald 

Labels: Earth, Mapplets, Maps