Google Launches Satelite Search

[Amailer]

nuckfan15 wrote:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/04/05/google.maps.ap/index.html

Interesting in my opinion! Google just grows everyday!

After reading this go here and type in your adress.

http://maps.google.com/

Quote:

The satellite technology, which Google began offering late Monday at http://maps.google.com/, is part of the package that the Mountain View-based company acquired when it bought digital map maker Keyhole Corp. for an undisclosed amount nearly six months ago.

This marks the first time since the deal closed that Google has offered free access to Keyhole's high-tech maps through its search engine. Users previously had to pay $29.95 to download a version of Keyhole's basic software package.

A more traditional map will continue to be the first choice served up by Google's search engine. Users will have the option of retrieving a satellite picture by clicking on a button.

The satellite maps could unnerve some people, even as the technology impresses others. That's because the Keyhole technology is designed to provide close-up perspective of specific addresses.

Keyhole's previous government ties also have raised anxieties.

Founded in 2001, Keyhole raised some money in 2003 from In-Q-Tel, a venture capital firm backed by the Central Intelligence Agency. Leading up to the Google sale, Keyhole's roughly 10,000 customers included a cross-section of government agencies.

There is little reason for people to be paranoid about the satellite maps because the images generally are six to 12 months old, said John Hanke, Keyhole's general manager. "And it's not like you are going to be able to read a license plate on a car or see what an individual was doing when a particular image was taken," he said.

Google believes most people will like the convenience of generating a satellite image with a few clicks of a computer mouse. The company envisions people using the service as a way to scout a hotel's proximity to the beach for a possible vacation or size up the neighborhood where an apartment is for rent.

Google's free satellite maps initially will be limited to North America, with images covering roughly half the United States, Hanke said.

Although Google is offering the satellite maps on a test basis, the feature will probably force its other online rivals to upgrade their technology, predicted search industry analyst Greg Sterling of the Kelsey Group. "To play in this space, you are going to need some robust mapping capabilities."

Sterling said Google's satellite maps pose the biggest threat to Mapquest, a service owned by Time Warner Corp. that has long operated the most popular Web site for finding directions.

The satellite maps also up the ante for the many challengers chipping away at Google's share of the lucrative Internet search engine market by adding more bells and whistles. For instance, Amazon.com Inc.'s A9 search engine earlier this year introduced a feature that includes an index containing 20 million street-level photographs of building exteriors in 10 major U.S. cities.

WHoa, I tested it out- its pretty cool.
Not all the images are created yet and not all of them are up to date... but still pretty cool.

[Tony]

The problem with this is that only major landmarks are photographed. For example, I'm having a hard time making out Waterloo from their outdated low-rez images.

Toronto looks amazing though

[Martin]

Yeah, and Area 51 has green dots over it. Bastards.

[md]

Ottawa is nice and clear, and there are some fairly recent shots too, like from last fall

[Amailer]

I found my school XD Clear!
For some houses it actually shows your the exact location (shows you your house its self). Then again there are those places.... where the map looks so ugly-- -.-

[Dan]

the tunder bay map is crap, i whould not even call it a map. i am so dispointed.......

Also it seems to only realy work for things in north armica and the rest is ether very low rez or made digitaly.

[Amailer]

I think they are stilll working on it.
But they might update the images either every year or every 5 years or something :S, its expensive right?

[Tony]

Hacker Dan wrote:

the tunder bay map is crap, i whould not even call it a map. i am so dispointed.......

I'm not. In fact -- that's how things should be. No one but two bears and you would even care if there're satellite images of Thunderbay available on google.

as Amailer pointed out

Amailer wrote:

its expensive right?

To be more specific - photographs are taken by satellite/aircraft/UFO passing overhead. Now satellites are expensive. Unless they continuesly supply useful information, somebody is loosing money.

So lets put it in perspective -- We've got a single satellite and two choices. We could fly over Toronto and take piles of pictures that can be useds for maps, planning, various observations and entertainment of 5 million people.. or we can not do that and instead waste a day changing the orbit and getting to fly over Thunderbay to take a single photo to shut Dan up.

I know, such a tough call

[brenn]

I can find my house, but Google can't seem to locate my street, let alone my address. Oh well xD

That is cool. *_____*

Bah. My father doesn't seem all that impressed.

[Dan]

Ok 1st of all there are many existing airal and staialy pohots of tunderbay, i know this for a fact b/c i have seen them in the geogrpahy bulding here. 2ndly, tunderbay is not that small of a city and since it is the only thing in many many km around in canada it makes it even more sigfikent. Also tunderbay is the point where the trains from the wester side of canada meet the great lakes and alow for shiping to the rest of the world by water. If it where to not exist it whould hurt the enecomny of canada prity badly.

[Tony]

Let me also add that Google is an American company, as well as the one they aquired to get those images.

[Amailer]

There is a weird problem Im having now witht his- some parts of the map don't load :S its like just connecting.... (white space) dammit!

[[Gandalf]]

Haha, that pretty good *looks around neighbourhood* I didnt even know those streets had names .

Found my house and my school. The directions can probably be pretty useful...

[Tony]

brenn wrote:

I can find my house

I can also find your house If we jump over the fense in your backyard, we could go swimming in your neighbour's pool

[brenn]

tony wrote:

brenn wrote:

I can find my house

I can also find your house If we jump over the fense in your backyard, we could go swimming in your neighbour's pool

Ironically, their kids actually decided to jump over the fence into MY backyard.

And in their haste to get off my property because they realized I could actually see them, they broke my gate. -__-;

I'm not sure if any of the other seven lots that mine's adjacent to have swimming pools as well.