New satellite to sharpen Google Earth
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DigitalGlobe, provider of imagery  for Google Inc's  interactive mapping program Google  Earth, said a new high-resolution satellite will boost the  accuracy of its satellite images and flesh out its archive.
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Microsoft technology partner Dassault will help Virtual Earth users add 3D images to maps.
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Maverick, the new supercomputer from Sun Microsystems and the University of Texas at Austin, promises speedier data analysis for global weather prediction, emergency response management
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Google Earth &#038; Multimedia Featured Content Google has just announced that Google Earth will be integrating multimedia educational information overlays under the Featured Content for Google Earth program. One of the providers is Turn Here, an innovative travel video service which offers free short films on destination cities, restaurants and hotels. Users can access these informative overlays [...]
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By MAY WONG     SAN JOSE, Calif.  -- Hoping to spur a 3-D revolution, Sharp Systems of America introduced Monday a new flat-panel computer display designed to deliver eye-popping images without the need for special glasses...
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Blog: At an event in New York, Google announces Google Earth Outreach initiative to help nonprofit organizations use the 3D mapping tool to aid their education and advocay missions.
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Manufacturers of satellite navigation  devices are loading up their gadgets with features from audio  sightseeing guides to three-dimensional city views as they seek  to differentiate themselves in a crowded market.
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Tools from Google Earth and Amazon.com are being applied by users to help in the effort to find missing aviator and adventurer Steve Fossett.
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New higher-resolution images and maps of the moon as well as multimedia content is now available on Google's Moon Web site.
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Google Inc. now provides a searchable index to the millions of Google Earth layers on the Web.
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To BGAN at the beginning... Blog Suppose you had to test a brand new bit of wireless internet gear. Specifically, an Inmarsat Broadband Global Area Network satellite modem.â¦
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(InfoWorld) - Iridium Satellite LLC, the company that raised Motorola Inc.'s expensive space-based network from the ashes of bankruptcy, is now planning a new generation of satellites that may be able to continuously monitor the environment and take pictures of Earth. Iridium was launched in 1998 as a go-anywhere phone service aimed at executives, with outdoor coverage almost everywhere on the planet, including the north and south poles. But its high price and bulky handsets doomed the network to financial failure. The craft stayed aloft and the current company, which took over in 2000, has had more success selling data communications to government and industries such as shipping and aviation along with voice, according to Matt Desch, Iridium's chairman and CEO. Next week at the Satellite 2007 conference in Washington, D.C., the company will unveil an initiative called Iridium Next to build a next-generation network, or "constellation," of satellites. Over the next two years, Iridium will consider technologies and seek partners and financing for the system, which is expected to cost more than US$2 billion to build and deploy, becoming fully operational by 2016. Future services could include environmental monitoring, photography and a geographic positioning system to complement the current GPS (Global Positioning System), Desch said. The current system, consisting of 66 satellites that form a mesh network, provides a baseline speed of only 2.4K bps (bits per second) but supports voice calls, e-mail and exchange of some data such as a ship's position, Desch said. The next generation may have speeds up to 10M bps and provide a broadband data experience, he said. The new satellites may be able to constantly monitor environmental factors such as temperature and the level of the oceans around the world, according to Desch. They could constantly take pictures so enterprises or consumers could monitor facilities or homes anywhere in the world. And working with GPS, they could provide location accuracy down to feet or inches, he said. The next-generation system will be totally based on IP (Internet Protocol), making it easier for Iridium to take advantage of new technology advances and for enterprises to integrate services into their existing applications, according to the company. Iridium sells more data modems than handsets today, and with the next generation it hopes to bring those modems down to a single chip that can be built into more devices, Desch said. Iridium Next will gradually replace the current generation of satellites, which are expected to reach the end of their useful lives starting around 2014, Desch said. Iridium sells wholesale access to the network that is then resold by partners, Desch said. Voice calls cost end customers about US$0.80 to $1.50 per minute and data services are typically priced per packet, he said. Modems cost about $300 and handsets start at about $1,200.
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An in-car satellite radio and multimedia system that could use out-of-date satellites is unveiled.
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Satellite images of the world in 2007
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(InfoWorld) - A photo that purports to confirm the existence of a new class of Chinese ballistic missile submarine could torpedo Google's aspirations in the world's second-largest Internet market. Users of Google Earth in China should enjoy it while they can. On July 5, researcher Hans Kristensen posted what he believes is the first photo of the Jin-class submarine to the Strategic Security blog on the Web site of the Federation of American Scientists, a nuclear weapons research and opposition group. The photo,Â taken from Google Earth, is accompanied by coordinates for six other Chinese submarine bases on the same page. Although it was the People's Liberation Army Navy that docked the alleged new sub outdoors, in full view not only of the commercial satellites that Google uses but also those employed by the U.S. and other militaries, that doesn't mean that China's growing blue-water force will take kindly to being put on display. The sub photo made headlines, with a story appearing on the front page of a newspaper called "Global Military Affairs Weekend," accompanied not by the Google Earth image, but a picture of a sub so old it looks like it fought in World War II. The article stated that the submarine captured by satellite was "China's newest submarine, the Yuan class." Google hasn't fared well in China, even before the sub photo surfaced. It trails rival BaiduÂ in the local search market, and earlier this year admitted that it hadÂ "inadvertently" usedÂ part of a database from Chinese portal Sohu.comÂ to create a Chinese-language search tool. The company has come under fire for knuckling under to Chinese Internet censorship policies, such as excluding politically sensitive results from the Chinese version of its search engine. None of this includes the other difficulties Google has encountered in China, including occasional blocking of its main search engine, the blocking of its Blogspot blogging site, the inaccessibility of cached pages from its main site, and limited access to Google News. In fairness, China isn't the only country that has had weaponry and military sites laid bare by Google Earth. The North Koreans must be thrilled that most of their naval bases can be viewed by anybody with a PC and a broadband connection. That's not to mention the new security risks presented to military installations in the U.S. and elsewhere, now that hostile forces, be they terrorists or regulars, have an easily accessible aerial view of each site. For situations like this in China, rarely is the reaction immediate. With Beijing's 2008 Olympic Games just over a year from now, China isn't eager to court negative press as it seeks to present itself as more open and tolerant. Its response may also not be so public. Despite being outed by a piece of software, Google's troubles will more likely occur if it attempts to expand in China via investment or acquisition, or if it attempts to move into other business areas, especially anything involving online video. A Google spokeswoman in Beijing did not respond to a request for comment on how the submarine photo may affect the company's fortunes in China. Â
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A new satellite tracking device, which could cost less than Â£100, aims to reunite parents with their lost children.
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Forget a Global Positioning System or even a map. The Earth's own original satellite is the most important guide for two hikers making the first known continuous trek of the nation's western coastline.