TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Re: Neat New Satellite Map Program

Re: Neat New Satellite Map Program

Brad Houser (bradDOThouser@intel.com)
Wed, 1 Jun 2005 09:45:15 -0700

On Wed, 1 Jun 2005 00:38:02 EDT, TELECOM Digest Editor wrote:

> I have been using Google Maps when I wanted to locate places, etc but
> when my brother was here over the holiday weekend he turned me on to
> a _really neat_ service from a company called 'Keyhole', which I have
> been told is being / has been acquired by Google.

I have been using Keyhole for about a year. Google did acquire them
and when you use Google maps, you can click on a link that is the
latest satellite view in their database. They are renaming the product
Google Earth, and it will include the ability to show restaurants,
hotels, and other points of interest on the image.

> It consists of streaming realtime video captured by satellites as they
> fly around everywhere.

Not exactly, Pat. The images are not live (try looking at night or on
a cloudy day and you will get the same image). You are getting them
from their server, so it is not limited by what can be stored on a CD
or DVD. You can look on the Keyhole.com site for the date and
resolution of the images. Most are within the last 2 years.

> I did not have the luck yet with it my brother had, but get this: he
> put in his home address and zip code; we see the 'satellite' flying
> through the sky, closing in on _your house_ (or whatever address you
> choose) and by changing the camera's 'zoom' and its 'tilt' I
> actually saw a close up of his front door and a car on the street in
> front of his house.

The cool thing about Tilt is you can turn on "Terrain" and it will adjust
the 3D views so hills and valleys look very realistic. Unfotunately, only
the ground elevations work, so buildings, trees, bridges, etc. are flat.

Brad Houser

[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I found that out today also, that the
images are stored away. But I have to wonder how many hundreds of
thousands of images do they have stored away considering the multiple
ways you can angle/tilt/zoom in with the 'camera' you are using. I
also found out the price is $29.95 _per year_ to use the poor man's
version of the program. PAT]

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