Google Adds Satellite Imagery to Maps

Ant writes "BetaNews reports that Google quietly updated its maps service late Monday to include satellite imagery, a first in the industry... Much of Google Maps remains the same - just with detailed pictures from high-tech satellites instead of standard map graphics. Maps can be dragged to view adjacent areas, which means users do not have click and wait for graphics to reload. Zooming is also instantaneous with the help of a slider placed atop the map." The resolution doesn't seem very high, but the integration is very seamless.

Comments

Re:Erm

[MynockGuano]

I think they mean that it's the first time a true mapping/routefinding service (MapQuest, et al) has satellite imagery integrated.

And still no scale.

[Peldor]

Open letter to the head heads at Google:

Great googly-moogly. Stop with cheap low-res sat photos and try adding a scale to your maps. You know, one of the basic features of a map? The little hashed bar that gives me some idea how far it is from one point on the map to another. I realize it is not innovative or amazingly cool, but it kinda renders your maps useless otherwise.

Re:Sounds like good technology for lots of uses

[mosschops]

• Resize the image to various resolutions
  
• Break the images into 200x200 pixel chunks at each resolution and save those chunks as individual image files
  
• Put a javascript interface on
  

Rather than working with fixed resolution images, you're must better off using wavelet compression to store your images. As well as up to 50:1 compression ratios, you can easily stream out whatever resolution you need, without having to uncompress all the data first. ECW and related formats have been used by GIS systems for many years, long before Google joined the party. Still, it's nice to see so much information publically available.

I'm certainly looking forward to when Google add the UK data, so I don't have to rely on the limited service from GetMapping :-)