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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.'"

12 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 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. 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.
  4. 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: 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!!!!
  5. 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!
  6. 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.

  7. 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
  8. 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!

  9. On this map... by jaguar5150 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "X" Marks the gSpot

  10. 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/