Keeping up with the various digital globe products from companies such as Google, Microsoft and more
Last week on Google Earth Blog we…
You can read more over at GEarthBlog.com.
Last week on Google Earth Blog we…
You can read more over at GEarthBlog.com.
Over the weekend, Bing Maps launched a new application in partnership with National Geographic called Global Action Atlas. The new application allows people to peer into areas where our planet needs help. The actionable themes include Conservation, Humanitarian Affairs, Cultures, Exploration, Climate Change and Energy. For example, if you click on the Animal and Plants icon in the Pacific NW region, Global Action Atlas will provide an overview of Bird Protection in the Northwest, specifically focused on the spotted owl, and provide a call to action for people wanting to help.
More info can be found on the Bing Maps blog.
In addition, they’ve just released another nice-sized batch of imagery. It totals 194,000 sq km and covers various locations in New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, Namibia, Russian Federation and South Africa. More about the update can be found here.
Microsoft has just released their largest update ever to Bing Maps, with more than 6.7M sq. kilometers of fresh imagery.
They added a ton of new imagery in the Russian Federation, Australia, Mexico and many places in the United States. They also added a lot of new Bird’s Eye imagery in Sweden. Check out their Bing Maps World Tour to see the highlights.
The full list of updates:
Aerial
Australia 524,645 sq. km.
Botswana 61,433 sq. km.
Estonia 618 sq. km.
Hungary 3,369 sq. km.
Mexico 236,624 sq. km.
Morocco 13,303 sq. km.
Namibia 72,162 sq. km.
New Zealand 14,987 sq. km.
Poland 6,254 sq. km.
Romania 3,695 sq. km.
Russian Federation 553,244 sq. km.
South Africa 123,138 sq. km.
Turkey 16,148 sq. km.
United Kingdom 15,221 sq. km.
United States 4,961,758 sq. km.
Oblique (Bird’s Eye)
Austria 238 sq. km.
Belgium 898 sq. km.
Denmark 718 sq. km.
Finland 1,634 sq. km.
France 2,001 sq. km.
Greece 931 sq. km.
Ireland 1,340 sq. km.
Netherlands 1,709 sq. km.
Norway 2,425 sq. km.
Portugal 2,184 sq. km.
Romania 1,534 sq. km.
Spain 5,143 sq. km.
Sweden 6,747 sq. km.
Switzerland 424 sq. km.
United Kingdom 13,094 sq. km.
United States 56,007 sq. km.
It’s quite impressive! Time to start digging around see what kind of fun stuff I can find in there.
A couple of quick links today:
Imagery update in Google Earth: Just two weeks since their last one, Google has pushed out another imagery update. It’s not a huge one, but it covers small parts of many countries.
New 3D imagery in Google Earth: Google has started using StreetView imagery in some cities to create lifelike facades in the downtown areas. The result is stunning. Check out the video below to see how it looks:
Bing “StreetView” coming soon? It looks like Microsoft may be planning to bring a StreetView-like competitor to Bing Maps. The image on the right (via StreetViewFun) shows a Bing-labeled van driving around Vancouver gathering street-level imagery.
Considering the Winter Olympics start in Vancouver in a few months, I’d expect we’ll see the results of the imagery before then.
Microsoft has just dropped a nice imagery update on Bing Maps, covering around 180,000 sq. km. This update is focused heavily in Europe, in the following countries:
As usual, there’s no new 3D to be found, but it looks to be a very nice update. Be sure to check out the Bing Maps World Tour to see the full details.
Details are still coming in, but there’s been a significant imagery update for Google Earth. The Google LatLong Blog has their usual quiz, and the Google Earth Blog is filling in the details.
So far, updated areas include Argentina, Canada, New Zealand, South Korea, Ukraine and various parts of the United States. Stay updated to the GEB post for the latest.
Another month, another big imagery release for Bing Maps. It’s not as large as the last one (101,485 square kilometers, vs. about 189,000 sq. km. in July), but it’s still very substantial.
This one covers 23 countries, but only Japan got more than just a smattering of new imagery. There wasn’t even any in the continental United States, though there is some great new imagery of Mt. McKinley in Alaska.
As always, they’ve pushed out their cool World Tour Application to highlight the updates. Also, as always, no new 3D buildings. So sad…
The Google Earth Blog is reporting new imagery arriving in Google Earth. The extent of the update isn’t yet known, but people have found new images in Argentina, Poland, Germany, Chile, France and the USA.
As with most updates, this one is live in Google Earth but not in Google Maps. This means you can compare the two to decide if a given location is fresh or not.
Keep an eye on the GEB post for more updates as people discover other areas with new imagery.
Hot on the heels of Google’s latest imagery update, we have a huge imagery update from Bing Maps (via James Fee). This update includes 41TB of raw imagery, covering 189,000 sq. km., and about 12,000 sq. km. of Bird’s Eye imagery.
One of the neat things that Microsoft does with each release is post a “World Tour” that highlights all of the changes across the globe. However, despite all of the updates, we still don’t have any new 3D buildings. I simply don’t understand that, and I’ve not been able to get any answers from Microsoft — but I’ll keep trying. Their 3D cities are amazing, with 100,000+ buildings and a ton of 3D trees, but they haven’t updated them in over a year.
Still, this is an excellent update and gives you a lot of more data to play with!
Update: Google provides an update file as well, in the form of a KML file that shows all of the updated areas.
