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Google Acquires Keyhole Corp.

Posted by timothy on from the combine-with-maps-service-please dept.

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.'"

34 of 245 comments (clear)

  1. CYBERSTALK! by ayf6 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now i can cyberstalk for real!

  2. What about Worldwind? by Nuskrad · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

    1. Re:What about Worldwind? by cmallinson · · Score: 4, Informative
      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.

      I've tried both services within the last week, and although I was impressed with NASA'a Worldwine, Keyhole 2 kicks its ass in a big way. The street name overlay and colour images make it so much easier to use.

    2. Re:What about Worldwind? by Spy+Hunter · · Score: 5, Informative
      You can still use World Wind if you select TerraServer as your imagery source instead of NASA. It truly is an awesome program and everyone even remotely interested in this should check it out.

      World Wind is here. Just be sure to deselect "Landsat 7" from the toolbar (this uses NASA servers that are out of commission) and select "USGS-1m" instead for 1m resolution for the US. For some urban areas you can get much higher resolution and color by going into the "Layer Manager" under Images->High Resolution Terrain Mapped Imagery and selecting "USGS Urban Aera Ortho-Imagery". The topo maps are cool too.

      --
      main(c,r){for(r=32;r;) printf(++c>31?c=!r--,"\n":c<r?" ":~c&r?" `":" #");}
  3. Bad planning? by kalpol · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.
    1. Re:Bad planning? by Dachannien · · Score: 3, Funny

      Judging from the uptick this morning, investors either disagree or just don't care.... Long live the Internet bubble!

    2. Re:Bad planning? by B'Trey · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Since when does "no announced plans" mean "... they don't know how they're going to use it...?"

      If MS IS breathing down their neck, do you think the wisest move would be to announce to the world exactly what their plans are?

      --

      "The legitimate powers of government extend only to such acts as are injurious to others." Thomas Jefferson.

    3. Re:Bad planning? by Mattintosh · · Score: 4, Funny

      If there's one thing I've learned from cartoons, it's that the wisest move is always to announce your plans to at least someone who might be able to stop them, if not the whole world.

      Mua-ha-ha...

    4. Re:Bad planning? by generic-man · · Score: 3, Funny

      Keyhole will be renamed "Google Keyhole [BETA]." The entire application will be rewritten in JavaScript and will only work with Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox 1.1preview4b(v) with Google Keyhole [BETA] extension installed.

      Slashdot will run at least four front-page stories on the subject (including "Google Acquires Keyhole Corp." and tomorrow's "Google Aquires Keyhole Corpany"). Comments will range from "This is cool" to "This sucks" to "Well it's BETA, what do you expect."

      Lather, rinse, repeat.

      --
      For more information, click here.
  4. Neato by Jonny_eh · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

  5. Googleing for people! by Kenja · · Score: 4, Funny
    So once we get our government mandated RFID tag installed you'll be able to google for a person and see there location on a satellite map!

    This is of course..... not true.

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    1. Re:Googleing for people! by elFarto+the+2nd · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This is of course..... not true.

      ...yet

      Regards
      elFarto
  6. Google Maps? by CtrlPhreak · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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?

    --
    WikiAfterDark.com It's a sex wiki, go now!
    1. Re:Google Maps? by justforaday · · Score: 4, Funny

      ...perhaphs you'll be able to search the surface of the earth for things in the future through google.

      Oooooh! Y'mean like "where will I be at 10:45am tomorrow"???

      --
      I'll turn into a supernova and burn up everything. Well I'll turn into a black little hole and you'll turn into string.
  7. Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline, etc = in Trouble by Gary+Destruction · · Score: 3, Funny

    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.

  8. Mission Statement by TheJavaGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.
  9. Google needs real competition by stratjakt · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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!!!!
    1. Re:Google needs real competition by stratjakt · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Google's a corporation, corporations are neither good nor bad IMO, they're all alike, all about profit.

      Google seems to be seeking to own every service the internet provides. That's what worries me. What happens when mapquest and competing search engines dry up? Google could easily impose on every netizen a "google tax".

      Just because it's free now, doesn't mean they wouldn't exploit such a rich source of revenue, especially with no competition to undercut them.

      It's not tinfoil hat time at all. It always worries me when a single entity gets so much control over a globally shared resource like the internet.

      --
      I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
    2. Re:Google needs real competition by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yahoo alread does a large part of what Google is doing. Google is hardly the only source of any particular service that I am aware of, and it isn't like an operating system lock-in that I can't switch and the others don't have 100% of the software I need, I can pick and choose where to go for every particular service Google offers.

    3. Re:Google needs real competition by drakaan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And here's why that won't wash.

      They have no competition at their current price point. Once you charge for a service, all of us non-subscribing, cheap-ass, "I'll just do it myself...better"-type geeks will do an end-run around you and give a better offering away for free.

      Linux was first (and pretty much ignored for 10 years), then Microsoft said "hey, if we give away a browser for free, we can kick Netscape's ass!", then Netscape went and open-sourced and gave us Mozilla, which we can run on Linux...etc, etc, etc. Free (as in beer) usually wins. Free (as in freedom) is a no-brainer.

      Google's rise to it's current status has a lot to do with the geeks that work at Google, and the geeks that are in charge of Google, so the odds of nefarious plot hatching there are (IMHO) somewhat lower than at MS. They built their business on advertising revenue, rather than liscensing madness, so aside from doing a good job and getting people to look at their ads, they don't have much to push...certainly not in the form of subscriptions (well, maybe a charge for ad-free searching).

      Right now, the good thing is that Google is scaring the crap out of Microsoft, and may (eventually) force a change in their revenue model. Short term: Google is still good. Long term: Even if Google forgets how to be good, they won't get away with it...geeks are fickle.

      --
      "Murphy was an optimist" - O'Toole's commentary on Murphy's Law
    4. Re:Google needs real competition by stratjakt · · Score: 5, Insightful

      To make personal computing available and affordable to the masses? That was basically their original "mission statement", and was noble enough at a time when computing was basically the domain of the rich.

      Would I have ever owned a C64 for under $1000 bucks (at launch) if not in part for it's built-in BASIC interpreter by Micro Soft of Palo Alto?

      --
      I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  10. Sweet! by shdragon · · Score: 3, Informative

    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."
  11. I can see it now... by Saint+Aardvark · · Score: 5, Funny
    Millions of queries out of Maryland...

    http://maps.google.com/q=nuclear+OR+Cbiological+OR +chemical+weapons+-usa+-china%+-uk&sourceid=mozill a-search

    --
    Carousel is a lie!
  12. Smart move by Google.... by i_want_you_to_throw_ · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.

  13. Google + Maps = goodness by xThinkx · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.
    "
  14. In other news.... by System.out.println() · · Score: 5, Funny

    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
  15. Re:No Mac version by JUSTONEMORELATTE · · Score: 5, Funny

    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>

    --
    listening to my iPod now, my PC shipped yesterday Thanks!

  16. Re:Who's going to register this domain? by Otter · · Score: 4, Funny
    Fortunately, I'm now halfway through a marketing course and can inform you that the ideal name for this business is:

    Geyhole

    --
    What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
  17. Could be the Show of the Century by serutan · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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?

    1. Re:Could be the Show of the Century by stratjakt · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Then maybe the sun would shine and the birds would sing, or would we all start hating Google and feeling sorry for MS?

      The latter. Look at how the slashdot crowd sees IBM as the "good guys" these days. They have the longest history of evil-doing in the computing world. I remember quite clearly the geek community cheering MS for sticking it to IBM, and crushing OS/2 before it could even leave the gate.

      Now that IBM seeks to exploit, err "embrace" linux, we act like they're being run by Care Bears or something.

      For the record, I am leery of IBMs involvement in Open Source, and I see their goals as ultimately "owning" linux, insomuch as they can control where and how it's used. Whether they can pull that off or not is anyones guess.

      --
      I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  18. On this map... by jaguar5150 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "X" Marks the gSpot

  19. I saw this coming by lou2ser · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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/

  20. Re:Who's going to register this domain? by owlstead · · Score: 3, Funny

    No, you've retained too little from the owners name. As you might know, the new owner wants to put a stamp on it. Therefore you should use more of the buyers name, such as:

    Goohole

  21. Now maybe they'll fix the copy protection by Animats · · Score: 3, Informative
    If you try to upgrade from a 30-day demo version of Keyhole to a pay version by uninstalling the demo, buying a real, but different, version, and installing, you end up in a copy protection hell. Somewhere, Keyhole has stored that you've previously had a demo version, and the real version doesn't deal with that properly.

    Never did get it working on that machine; had to get a refund from Keyhole.