Google offers first looks at GeoEye-1 imagery
The tip of Mt. Fuji, now in higher resolution from GeoEye-1 satellite imagery in Google Earth.
(Credit: screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)Google has begun offering the first high-resolution imagery from the GeoEye-1 satellite it helped sponsor--but only as an optional layer in Google Earth for now.
"In the coming months you will start seeing stunning GeoEye-1 imagery blended into our database and viewable through Google Earth, Maps, and Google Maps for Mobile," said Dylan Lorimer, strategic partner manager; and Jacob Schonberg, associate product manager, in a Google Lat Long blog post Wednesday.
Until then, some shots can be viewed by downloading add-on imagery for Google Earth from Google's GeoEye-1 preview site, they said. Because Google Earth now works as a plug-in to some browsers, the full Google Earth application doesn't need to be installed to get a taste. Clicking the thumbnail images in the film strip on the page will launch the in-browser version.
GeoEye launched the satellite in September and plans to launch another with a higher-resolution camera in 2011. However, U.S. government limits the resolution of the images Google shows to details measuring half a meter. GeoEye shared a view of President Barack Obama's inauguration and other teaser images.
GeoEye-1 imagery, such as this shot of Nukuoro in Micronesia, is available in Google Earth as an extra download.
(Credit: screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)
Stephen Shankland writes about a wide range of technology and products, but has a particular focus on browsers and digital photography. He joined CNET News in 1998 and since then also has covered Google, Yahoo, servers, supercomputing, Linux and open-source software, and science. E-mail Stephen, or follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/stshank. 
Awesome!
KieranMullen
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oSIPTFp6F8
- by greendrake55 March 30, 2009 10:26 AM PDT
- I don't understand. This story is about GeoEye and how great the images are from their new satellite. However, both images used in the story are clearly labeled (C) DigitalGlobe - which is a competitor of GeoEye. Whose images are they?
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