Webware

A Boeing Delta II 7920 launches DigitalGlobe's WorldView-2 satellite.

(Credit: Bill Hartenstein, Boeing)

In 2008, Google got its logo on the rocket launching the GeoEye-1 satellite for collecting space-based imagery. This year, it's Microsoft's turn.

The Bing logo appeared on the side of a Boeing Delta II 7920 rocket that launched DigitalGlobe's new WorldView-2 satellite last week from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. But where Google got sole online rights to the GeoEye-1 imagery, Microsoft will be sharing access to WorldView-2 images with Google, a Digital Globe representative said.

Bing and Nokia sponsored the rocket launching DigitalGlobe's newest imaging satellite.

(Credit: Bill Hartenstein, Boeing)

Another sponsor of the rocket is Nokia, whose Navteq subsidiary also supplies digital maps.

Bing today offers aerial and satellite imagery that looks straight down on some locations and a birds'-eye view that gives an angled view. Still, Microsoft touted its DigitalGlobe partnership as greatly expanding what's available online.

"We now have access to one of the highest resolution global satellite imagery and aerial photography collections (460 million sq. km. + 1 million sq. km. per day moving forward) through a deal we've just struck with DigitalGlobe," said Microsoft's Chris Pendleton in a blog post. "We'll finally be able to backfill areas around the world where people have come to my blog and complained about Virtual Earth not having good imagery or photos in their countries--Poland, Hungary, Russia, Taiwan, Mexico, to name a few--I've heard you loud and clear. And, now, we're fixing that problem."

Google, which already had a DigitalGlobe partnership, was more understated, merely offering congratulations on the launch in a blog post Monday.

In the last year, though, Google slurped up a lot of GeoEye-1 imagery--about 500,000 square kilometers, according to Google spokeswoman Elaine Filadelfo. By comparison, Texas is about 678,000 square kilometers.

Among new areas in Google Earth and Google Maps photographed by GeoEye-1 are Zhangye, China; Perth, Australia; Tangier, Morocco; Como, Italy; Dublin, Ireland; Curitiba, Brazil; Leduc, Canada; Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of Congo; and the formerly closed city of Sevastopol, Ukraine.

DigitalGlobe expects WorldView-2 will double the company's capacity to collect imagery. The satellite's top resolution can detect features as small as 0.46 meter, though U.S. government regulations permit general commercial sales of imagery only of 0.5-meter resolution.

Ball Aerospace built the satellite and, as with GeoEye-1, ITT's Space Systems Division supplied its image sensor.

Launching satellites is an expensive business, but there's at least some funding available: GeoEye secured $400 million in a sale of debt last week.

The Web client for WorldWide Telescope ports most of the sky-gazing tool to your browser.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

Last year, Microsoft introduced its answer to Google Earth's Sky mode, Stellarium, and other celestial mapping programs with WorldWide Telescope, and it's now making it available via any browser that's been bolstered by Silverlight. The basic features of the downloadable program have been ported to the Web, though some of the higher-end renderings didn't make the cut.

As in the desktop version, users can whip around the galaxy using their mouse's scroll wheel to zoom in and out, and hold down the left mouse button to drag the sky from one position to another.

Users will continue to get access to hundreds of terabytes of data on the sky, Earth, and other planets, though for 3D viewing, you'll have to hit up the full program. Thumbnail previews show off relevant and nearby astronomical bodies of interest, and one of the strongest features from the desktop--the tours made by both astronomers and amateurs--are also available here.

The time line is also available, so that you can see what the constellations looked like as far back as 2,000 years ago, and there's a virtual observatory cone search and registry look-up, as well as SIMBAD (Set of Identifications, Measurements and Bibliography for Astronomical Data) search.

The Web version of WordWide Telescope is limited to a geocentric perspective, though Microsoft says it has plans to include multiple points-of-view in future feature upgrades.

(Credit: ZillionTV)

A new company called ZillionTV says it will soon introduce a new service that will enable cable and satellite subscribers to cut the cord and get subscription-free movies and TV shows right on their TVs from the Internet.

The company, which officially launched on Wednesday, has struck deals with some major Hollywood movie studios and TV networks, including Disney, 20th Century Fox Television, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution.

The plan is to offer streaming movies and TV shows directly to TVs using a broadband connection. The company has created a small piece of hardware it calls a Z-bar, which provides the connection between the TV and the Internet via an Ethernet cable or Wi-Fi. The Z-bar also acts as a receiver for the company's unique remote control, which works a lot like a laser pointer and uses sensing technology to navigate through the content menu on the TV screen.

The back side of the Z-bar shows the connections to the TV and the Internet.

(Credit: Marguerite Reardon/CNET )

The ZillionTV service, which is currently being beta tested, will only be offered through an Internet service provider. It will be commercially available starting in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Unlike some other Internet-to-TV services, such as Netflix's movie rental service, ZillionTV does not require a subscription. It also doesn't require users to buy an expensive box, such as Microsoft's Xbox 360, Apple's AppleTV, or even Roku's $99 digital video player. Instead, for a nominal activation fee of less than $50, users will get the Z-bar and remote. And then they will be able to view up to 15,000 titles of TV shows and movies through the service without having to sign up for a monthly subscription.

This shot of Kutztown University in Pennsylvania is the first image from the GeoEye-1 satellite. Google is a commercial customer for the satellite's imagery. Click for a larger view.

(Credit: GeoEye)

Golden Bears fans, take note: The first high-resolution photos from GeoEye's newest satellite, GeoEye-1, have begun arriving, and Kutztown University in Pennsylvania is the first subject of scrutiny.

These are the shots that eventually will show up on Google Maps and Google Earth; Google has an exclusive partnership to use the GeoEye-1 imagery for online services. The satellite's camera can capture image details as small as 41 centimeters, though commercial customers only get 50-centimeter resolution because of U.S. regulations.

The Kutztown University image was taken at noon EDT Tuesday while the satellite was moving south at an altitude of 423 miles at a speed of 4.5 miles per second relative to the Earth's surface, GeoEye said.

GeoEye launched the satellite on September 6; GeoEye-2 is slated for a launch in 2011 or 2012. It has a 25-centimeter resolution.

Southwest Airlines announced Wednesday that it plans to begin trials of satellite-to-airplane broadband Internet service sometime this summer.

Spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said Wednesday morning that initially Southwest plans to test the service on four planes. But because the airline's planes fly many different routes, she did not anticipate--at least not yet--that travelers would be able to plan to fly on one of those planes.

Southwest Airlines plans to begin trials of satellite Internet service this summer.

(Credit: Southwest Airlines)

That means that in the early going at least, the service--which will allow passengers to access the Internet if they have their own Wi-Fi-enabled laptops--will be available at random.

McInnis did not say if Southwest's service would limit what kind of sites or applications passengers could access, as does JetBlue's recently added service.

But she pointed out that because the service is satellite-to-plane--whereas JetBlue's, for example, is ground-to-air--it would ensure consistent connectivity, even over water.

It's not entirely clear what benchmarks Southwest will use to determine the success or failure of the trial. McInnis said that the airline will examine whether the technology works and whether it performs according to plan.

As a frequent Southwest traveler, I guess I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it would be great to have connectivity while on the go. On the other, as many have discussed previously, bringing Internet to the few places where it's not currently available limits the places you can get away from work.

Still, I suppose I'm in favor of the advance. Now if only airlines can work on bringing power outlets to all seats--not just those in business or first class--so that those of us in coach flying long flights can power up the whole way.