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Google Acquires Keyhole Corp.
telstar writes "As part of their ever-expanding online presence, Google has acquired online map provider Keyhole Corp.. Keyhole's technology allows users to perform virtual flyovers of satellite imagery of the earth's surface. The immediate impact of this acquisition is a price drop in Keyhole's service charge. Beyond that, Google does 'not have any announced plans regarding how this technology will integrate with our current products and services.'"
Now i can cyberstalk for real!
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You can get similar images from the NASA Worldwind software for free, although they need to fix their servers after the massive slashdotting they got.
So if they don't yet know how they're going to use it, why did they buy it? I hope Google isn't falling into the trap of buying up companies with cool ideas because they have lots of money burning holes in their pockets. That will lead to overexpansion, and with MS breathing down their necks, they can ill afford missteps in their corporate strategy.
12:50 - press return.
It'd be neat if they integrated this technology with the google local search. Imagine searching for a local business then getting to see it on a satellite map, cool.
Coming soon: Google maps. Better than the rest, because we give you sattelite images of your destination!
This is of course..... not true.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
With its neverending quest to be able to search everything and anything, perhaphs you'll be able to search the surface of the earth for things in the future through google. Like mapquest but without needing an address, just a starting location then a google search for something as the destination. Come to think of it, that could be pretty cool. What else could they use this for? It can't just be another revenue stream for google can it?
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Not even William Shatner and Leonard Nemoy can save Priceline from this move. Not only will you be able to name your own price on hotels and airfare, you'll be able to take a virtual walk down the street to the hotel. And you'll see William Shatner inside fighting Leonard Nemoy to get his "job" back. Then google have Scotty beam them up.
And I probably dont have to build a dual proc box to run it.
This is very much in line with google's mission statement.
Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.
Opera Watch - An Opera browser blog.
I know that, like Apple, they're a darling of the slashdot crowd. But unlike Apple, they are rapidly approaching a sort of online monopoly that we haven't seen before.
I don't care what they claim in their corporate mission statements. "Do no evil" my ass, I'm not stupid enough to take anything a bunch of suits say without a grain of salt. MSFT was an underdog with noble goals once upon a time.
Google's growth worries me, the way they seek to be the worlds largest advertising company worries me.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
I have a subscription for Keyhole. It was $35 for a year subscription, so a drop in price is welcome. The max speed I've EVER gotten off their server is 36k. Lag is especially horrible during the day. Hopefully this will mean an increase in speed & responsiveness.
"...we dont care about the economics; we just want to be able to hack great stuff."
http://maps.google.com/q=nuclear+OR+Cbiological+OR +chemical+weapons+-usa+-china%+-uk&sourceid=mozill a-search
Carousel is a lie!
Rest assured, Google has thought ahead. They do have geocoder type apps in the works and this is just a logical acquisition to make, ESPECIALLY when you're flush with cash (Don't forget their stock price has really climbed). After all, if you're going to use Google Local then you might want to provide a map.
I can definitely see use for this, imagine googling your intended location "Jim's Steakhouse"
Not only could google give you the directions, but a map, a menu, and an aerial photo. Sometimes aerial photos are AMAZINGLY helpful. You can see tons of things not on maps such as:
- Where there's nearby parking (lots)
- How many lanes on the hiway (turn lanes too)
- Color of the building/surroundings, which really helps if you've never been there before
- Nearby landmarks (streams, forests, trees, big buildings)
I for one welcome our new google overlords.Let's get one thing perfectly clear, I did not vote for George W Bush, and I do not endorse what he does or says.
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id really like to see google put out a whereis.com-like service, except on a global scale. It'd really help out tourists and your average lost person.
Of course, that's prolly what GPS is for.
In other news, The NYT have picked up on a story from Slashdot with "undeniable proof" that Google is planning to use RFID tags to take satellite photos of people.
You read it here first.
I've got more mod points and GMail invi
Screw that. If it doesn't readily work on OS X or through X11... I'm out.
<google> Dang, there goes an entire percent of our market! I guess we'll just have to be happy with the 99% that's left running windows.</google>
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listening to my iPod now, my PC shipped yesterday Thanks!
why use keyhole when NASA has a FREE and open source solution, which looks very similar WorldWind
of course it only runs on windows... Open Source.Net
it may not be as geared toward streetmaps, but I have found it useful for finding back roads and stuff.
Buying other companies is a way good way to sell your overvalued stock without notifying everyone that you think that the current price is a great sale.
They have a Trailing P/E of 225. That means their stock is trading for way way more than they're making. Compare it to someone like Amazon with ~1/5th of that, or GE with ~1/10th of that. Even their forward P/E (what they think they'll make in the future vs what their presently worth) is double Amazon's and triple GE's.
Google seems like a volcano about to erupt. Or maybe a sleeping tiger waking up. Whatever their plans are, I'm sure we will be in for quite a few changes in how we use the web, as well as and an entertaining show as the Empire panics and responds.
I repeat my earlier speculation that if Google releases its own Linux distro, with a custom desktop, integrated office suite and web functionality, they could end up Owning The World. Then maybe the sun would shine and the birds would sing, or would we all start hating Google and feeling sorry for MS?
"X" Marks the gSpot
Well, if any of you Earthlings can use the combined might of Google and Keyhole to find any signs of intelligent life on Earth, please contact our Mothership, because we've given up looking.
Sincerely,
The Greys.
Some people have been playing around with Google's SMS Service http://www.google.com/sms/ and have found if you SMS "Directions" to 46645 you get a reply back "Looking for driving directions? Unfortunately this feature is not yet supported."
Another undocumented feature is for flight times. Try SMSing flight WN 764 and you get the same reply.
This post was inspired by http://www.engadget.com/entry/8423209320818510/
OK, so we start with a wearable computer. Stuff an NVidia in it. Get a chord type keyboard that's wearable. Display in glasses or the cool new lasers that draw on your retina. GPS jacked into computer. Keyhole maps.
I can finally type 'whereami' and find out!
This is all doable with current technology...
If only it worked in Linux...
You mean you have better network performance being on the same provider as Keyhole? Gee, imagine that. My average speed to the rest of the world hovers around 300KB/s. My original comment was meant to be critical of their database, not necessarily their pipeline. Serving a multi TB database of image data to a large number of people is bound to cause slowdowns during "peak" hours. However, there are *many* posts in the keyhole forums regarding average speeds of around 40K/s which suggests either capping or database lag.
"...we dont care about the economics; we just want to be able to hack great stuff."
Never did get it working on that machine; had to get a refund from Keyhole.
NASA has a similar application. It's not as sleek as keyhole; on the other hand it's free.
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CuTest
Cyberstalking only works with realtime
data. The real KeyHole's (KH-9, etc.)
are all owned by NSA. You be dreamin'.
The only thing Keyhole lacks--well, besides a few more hi-res areas--is a path-finding function. There's a nice little distance-calculating function, but it's as-the-crow-flies. Keyhole will show you the streets, but it can't navigate you through them. I expect Google will change that.
And regarding the rampant speculation on Google's possibly-evil future: Google has earned my trust in a way no other company, online or otherwise, has. Throughout their history, they've shown altruism, and proven that it works. (One wishes more companies would follow their example.) It is entirely possible that Google will turn on us at some point in the future, but until they do, I will continue to trust them and use Google as my search engine exclusively.
Google has a spotless record so far. Until they act otherwise, I see no reason to assume they'll go bad.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized!