Google Earth Blog: August 2011 Archives

« July 2011 | Main | September 2011 »

August 31, 2011

The damage from Hurricane Irene

While Hurricane Irene didn't strike the United States with as much force as many had predicted, it was still a substantial storm that claimed 54 lives and did more than $10 billion in damage.

GEB reader Noel has taken some of the imagery from NOAA's Hurricane Irene Project Index Page and assembled them as image overlays in Google Earth. Some of the the imagery is quite striking, such as this image of a section of Highway 12 being washed away on North Carolina's Outer Banks.

Highway 12 is the only road that connects Hatteras Island to the mainland, and this destruction has left 2,500 residents stranded on the island. There is an emergency ferry now in place to shuttle emergency personnel to and from the island, and no injuries have been reported.

To see the file for yourself, simply download this KMZ file Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. and you'll be taken to the areas with this new imagery.

Tweet
Posted by mickmel at 7:19 AM | Comments (0)

August 24, 2011

New Google Earth Imagery - August 24

After going nearly a month between the last few sets of updates, Google apparently just pushed out some fresh imagery. Thanks to 'Andreas' for being the first to spot it.

[UPDATE, August 30: Google has posted their official blog entry about the update and they've updated the KML file Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. ]

Interestingly, this imagery isn't very fresh. Andreas found a few locations in Germany with new imagery, but the imagery is from 2008 (replacing imagery from 2004, which is still visible on Google Maps). Perhaps Google just acquired this imagery from a new provider and they're updating various areas with it?

As is usually the case, you can use Google Maps to determine for sure whether or not a specific area is fresh. This new imagery isn't in Google Maps yet, so you can compare Earth vs. Maps to see what's new; the fresh imagery is already in Google Earth, but the old imagery is still in Google Maps. If you compare the two side-by-side and they're not identical, that means that you've found a freshly updated area in Google Earth!

[UPDATED - 24-August, 3:02pm EST]

Bosnia Herzegovina: Sokolac
Germany: Berlin (BBI Airport), Schwedt, Templin
United States: Arizona (Quartzsite), California (Stockton, Modesto, Los Banos, Lake Tahoe), Kansas (Dodge City), Nevada (Carson City, Las Vegas, Reno), Texas (Pecos) -- thanks 'Steven'

Tweet
Posted by mickmel at 10:41 AM | Comments (17)

Hurricane Irene in Google Earth

Hurricane Irene, which has already done some serious damage to Puerto Rico, was recently captured in stunning high resolution by NASA's Terra satellite as it heads toward the east coast of the United States.

[UPDATE: We've posted more tools for tracking Hurricane Irene]

You can view the image on NASA's Earth Observatory website, or view it in Google Earth using this KML file. Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. Be aware the KML is loading the full 5 MB file from NASA's server, as it's amazingly sharp, so it'll take a few moments to load.

To track the Hurricane and view its forecasted track, turn on your Places layer and an icon will appear over the Hurricane. Clicking that icon will give you access to details about the Hurricane, along with historical data and various projected paths. More details about this feature can be found in this post from a few months ago.

If you're aware of other great tools to help track Irene and other 2011 hurricanes, leave a comment below and let us know.

Tweet
Posted by mickmel at 7:10 AM | Comments (7)

August 23, 2011

Rome looks amazing in Google Earth

Google has just pushed out more 3D buildings for Rome, Italy, and the result is a stunningly realistic 3D city. For a great example, here is St. Peter's Basilica and Piazza in Vatican City:

You can also view historical landmarks such as the Colosseum, which is another amazingly detailed 3D model:

To see the buildings for yourself, simply search for "Rome, Italy" in Google Earth and make sure that you have the 3D Buildings layer turned on. You can also use this KML tour Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. that Google has created to show off some of the best landmarks.

If you're unable to view the buildings in Google Earth right now, here is a video to give you a sneak peek:

Lastly, don't forget about the excellent Ancient Rome 3D layer that we told you about a few years ago. Look under the "Gallery" layer and choose "Ancient Rome 3D" to view 3D models of buildings that existed thousands of years ago.

Tweet
Posted by mickmel at 7:47 AM | Comments (2)

August 22, 2011

High Resolution African Animals in Google Earth

Nearly six years ago, the "National Geographic Magazine" layer was added to Google Earth. While we haven't discussed it much lately, it remains one of the great gems inside of Google Earth. You can find it under the "Gallery" layer in Google Earth.

One of the best parts of that layer is the "Africa Megaflyover" photos that were captured by Michael Fay. Michael took over 92,000 photos while flying across parts of Africa, and hundreds of them are visible in Google Earth. The quality of the images is stunning, as shown here.

User "Reggie98" in the Google Earth Community built a great collection of placemarks Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. to highlight the African animals captured in these photos, and organized them by animal type. The original post is from 2005, but still does a great job of showing off the animals.

There is a lot of great stuff to explore in the National Geographic layer, so go check it out. Also, with nearly 1.3 million subscribers, the Google Earth Community continues to be a great way to meet other Google Earth users and find answers to your questions. If you haven't been out there in a while, we certainly suggest you check it out.

Tweet
Posted by mickmel at 6:56 AM | Comments (2)

August 19, 2011

Just how big is the Stone Mountain sculpture?

Peter Olsen has built some great 3D models for Google Earth in the past, including items such as the animated Disney monorail and the Tenerife Airport disaster.

When he told me he was working on a model of Stone Mountain, I was excited to see what he could come up with because it's located very close to where I live. However, things got interesting when he tried to start finding the exact measurements of the sculpture.

The carving on the mountain is widely thought to be 190 feet x 90 feet, provided by their official website as well as on Wikipedia. However, based on measurements made in Google Earth, Peter believed the actual size to be closer to 167' x 77'. After repeated inquiries, Stone Mountain Park was able to confirm the actual size of the carving at 158' x 76' -- even smaller than he had suggested (though still quite massive).

It's also widely advertised that the total cutout on the mountain covers 3 acres. As it turns out, the cutout are is roughly 359' x 191' which amounts to 1.57 acres.

Peter's new model just recently went live in the 3D Warehouse, so you can use this KML file Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. to fly there and see it in Google Earth.

As Peter says, it's "another win for "armchair archaeology". Great work!

Tweet
Posted by mickmel at 7:56 AM | Comments (2)

Weather features now in Google Maps, but still better in Google Earth

Google just added some great weather features to Google Maps, which you can read about on the Google Lat Long Blog. There are some cool features in there, and I'll probably use it from time to time.

However, if you really want to dig into the weather, Google Earth is still your best bet. Not only does it include the features now found in Google Maps, but you have great features like cloud/radar animations, "sun" mode to show real-time global light and the combination of a few of those to make Earth look amazingly realistic from space.

A few months ago, we posted a detailed entry highlighting all of the great weather tools in Google Earth. Be sure to grab the weather tools KMZ file Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. to be able to see everything in one place.

Tweet
Posted by mickmel at 6:54 AM | Comments (2)

August 18, 2011

New Street View imagery in Iraq's National Museum; the Amazon is coming soon

Google is hard at work expanding their Street View coverage. They recently released imagery for the interior of Iraq's National Museum and they're hard at work capturing great imagery along the Amazon.

We've seen Google use a variety of equipment to capture imagery around the world, including a trike for outdoor paths and a snowmobile for ski slopes. Now they're introducing us to a few more: the trolley (seen below) was used to help capture imagery in the museum and they have a boat-mounted system to capture imagery along the Amazon river. Here's what the trolley looks like:

You can take a look around inside the museum by using this link.

Google's other Street View news is about the new imagery they're currently acquiring along the Amazon river. They're using the StreetView trike and the new boat-mounted Street View camera to capture the imagery there. No release date has been set for it, but we'll certainly keep you posted. This will be a wonderful resource to have available, not only for us digital explorers but also for educational settings.

Don't forget that you can use Street View inside of Google Earth. As you know, this feature was greatly enhanced with the release of Google Earth 6, making it much easier to browse this kind of imagery from within Google Earth. To enter one of these areas, or any other Street View-enabled location, simply drag the "Peg Man" from the controls in the upper right corner onto the globe.

Tweet
Posted by mickmel at 6:39 AM | Comments (1)

August 17, 2011

Amazing tool to browse rendered SketchUp models in real time

Over the past few years, we've shown you some great tools to help bring you SketchUp models to life, such as the excellent Shaderlight plug-in. However, these plug-ins have one big issue in common; they can only render a single image or a simple animation. If you want a different view, you need to render it again.

LumenRT Review is hoping to fix that. When you render a model using their software, it turns the model into a fully-rendered interactive program. The Google SketchUp blog says that it allows people to "explore like they're in a video game", and that's a very accurate way of putting it.

They offer some sample downloads to show you how it works. They take some good looking SketchUp models, and turn them into incredible looking "LiveCubes".

The software sells for $195, but that seems like a small price to pay if you often develop 3D models for clients, as it gives you a tremendous new way to show them off.

Have you tried LumenRT yet? If so, what did you think of it?

Tweet
Posted by mickmel at 6:51 AM | Comments (1)

August 16, 2011

Using maps to help with famine relief in the Horn of Africa

Google Earth is continuing to be used as a great resource for aiding in humanitarian efforts.
From the 2007 Crisis in Darfur map to the Sudan mapping earlier this year, more and more people are finding ways to use geospatial technologies to aid others around the world.

There is currently a severe famine in the Horn of Africa, and it's predicted to get worse in the coming months. To help reach people with the greatest need, Google is trying to assemble more data in the hardest hit areas. To start, GeoEye has been capturing high resolution imagery of various areas that have the greatest need, and the imagery can be explored with this KML file. Google Earth File. You must have GE installed.

Going further, Google is asking users to contribute local data if they are familiar with any of the stricken areas. Any data that can be added, such as roads, schools and hospitals, would be very beneficial. If you're able to help, consider joining their Africa mailing list or check out the Horn of Africa community mapping site.

UPDATE: GEB reader 'Virender' has built a very cool map that shows recent famine-related tweets from around the world, to show how far reaching the concerns are. You can placemark they provided to a view of the bridge in Google Earth. Watch the short video below to see 10 steps I took to learn more about this place in GE:

You can watch the steps I took in the video above.

First I found something interesting through a blog post at GoogleSightseeing.com. Alex posted some details in his post, but I find it more interesting to discover with Google Earth.
So, I followed the link to view the location in Google Earth.
The first thing I do in Google Earth is turn on the "Places", "Photos" and "More" layers in Google Earth.
The blue icons represent photos taken by many people around the world found at Panoramio (millions of photos are mapped into Google Earth).
I quickly found a ground level photo which showed the bridge (there were even aerial photos in this case).
Found a nice photo from the bridge itself as well.
The white icon from "More" layer represents a Wikipedia story. Here you get a good description of the Magdeburg Water Bridge and a link to the full article with even more details.
You can use the Google Earth navigation gadget in the upper right to turn and tilt your view to get other perspectives of any site.
Zoom out a bit and turn on the Roads layer to get a handy map of the area.
Zoom out even more and turn on the Borders and Labels layer (you might want to turn off the other layers at this point). This gives you a broader perspective. (Tip: you can also turn on the "View->Overview Map" - or hit "CTRL-M" to get a fast broad perspective map).

These are just some really basic steps I often take when trying to learn about a place. Another useful layer is the Google Earth Community layer, found inside of the "Gallery" layer. Although, for some popular places you may find dozens of placemarks by people who have posted about their favorite places - almost too much information. There are many other collections and tools (written about on this blog) for learning all kinds of things like weather, conditions of the environment, real estate prices, history, etc.

The world is a big place, and these techniques won't work for every single place on the planet. But, if you try them out, you will probably be surprised just how much you can learn (and how many hours you can spend learning about places you've always wanted to visit).

Tweet
Posted by mickmel at 6:58 AM | Comments (1)

August 13, 2011

New Google Earth Imagery - August 13

Thanks to sharp-eyed GEB reader 'Andreas', it seems that Google has just pushed out a fresh imagery update. The full extent of the update is still unknown, but it appears to be quite sizable.

[UPDATED - 13-August, 1:52pm EST]

China: Beijing, Shenzhen -- thanks 'drone' and 'hongxz'
Ethiopia: Gode -- thanks 'Snakeye'
United States: Arizona (Buckeye, Camp Verde, Casa Grande), California (Bakersfield, Coalinga, Huron, Sacramento, Visalia), Illinois (Harrisburg), Iowa (Des Moines, Sioux City), Missouri (Columbia, Jefferson City, Joplin), Nebraska (Lincoln, Omaha), New Mexico (Carlsbad, Farmington), New York (Rochester), Ohio (Dayton), Oklahoma (Tulsa), Texas (Abilene, Big Spring, Dalhart, Junction, Monahams) -- thanks 'Alex', 'Andreas', 'Munden' and 'Steven'

As 'Munden' points out in the comments, the imagery from the tornado that struck Joplin, MO is stunning:

If you find any other updated areas, please leave a comment and let us know!

Tweet
Posted by mickmel at 11:34 AM | Comments (26)

August 12, 2011

50th anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall

Last November, we showed you the impressive 3D Virtual City Model of the Berlin Wall, which was developed in honor of the 21 year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall.

We bring it up again, because tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of the construction of the wall, and the virtual city has seen some nice upgrades and has added more buildings. In addition, they've created a nice video to show off some of the highlights of the site:

To see it for yourself, simply visit their site Google Earth PLUGIN required. and browse around.

Tweet
Posted by mickmel at 6:35 AM | Comments (1)

August 11, 2011

"Drive the A-Team Van" lives on, plus some new features

Last May, we showed you Paul van Dinther's very cool "Drive the A-Team Van" game that he created using the Google Earth plug-in.

The game was originally posted on the Twentieth Centry Fox YouTube channel, but it has since been taken down. Paul has now posted the game on his own site Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. , and added a few new features along with it! The new features include full-screen mode and a 4x4 drive to help you up those steep hills.

Here's a brief video of the game if you're not familiar with it:

The game is quite fun to play, and has some impressive features such as collision detection with the 3D buildings. While you're on his site, be sure to check out "Ships" and "Helicopters", two other excellent games that Paul has created.

I can't wait to see what he comes up with next!

Tweet
Posted by mickmel at 7:47 AM | Comments (1)

August 10, 2011

The Japanese Tsunami created some massive icebergs

When the earthquake (and subsequent tsunami) struck Japan earlier this year, we provided as much data as possible about the disaster. What many people didn't realize was that the tsunami continued to travel across the ocean, eventually striking Antarctica with a great deal of force. This caused some flexing and breaking of the Sulzberger Ice Shelf, which resulted in two large icebergs being released, reminicient of the chunk of the Wilkins Ice Shelf that broke off a few years ago. Combined, the icebergs cover an area of 125 square kilometers, or more than twice the size of New York's Manhattan Island!

You can find the Sulzberger Ice Shelf in Google Earth using this KML file Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. , though I was unable to overlay the high-res images from NASA due to the poor imagery quality in that area of Google Earth. If you're able to align it properly, send us your file and we'll update this post.

NASA has also put together a brief video showing how all of this occurred:

[UPDATE: User 'McMaster_de" was able to put together the image overlay, and it looks great!]

You can download the KMZ file here. Google Earth File. You must have GE installed.

If you turn on the "Borders and Labels" layer in Google Earth, you'll see the yellow outlines match up quite well with the dark patches in the overlay, as seen here:

Great work, McMaster_de!

Tweet
Posted by mickmel at 8:22 AM | Comments (1)

August 9, 2011

The Basics of Google Earth

Ever since the early days of this blog, Frank has maintained a "Basics" page with info for new users. It's just been refreshed with a lot of great info, including relatively new items such as:

• What the imagery dates in the corner of Google Earth really mean
• Using the Google Earth 6 "ground-level view" feature
• Why historical imagery is sometimes newer than the base imagery

Spend a few minutes on the basics page and you're likely to discover something new about Google Earth that you weren't aware of before. If you know anyone that is just getting started with Google Earth, send them over that way and it should be a nice resource for them.

If there are any tips that you think we're missing, leave a comment and we'll get it updated further. Thanks!

Tweet
Posted by mickmel at 8:26 AM | Comments (3)

August 8, 2011

The excellent 3D models from Guillaume Godin

Every so often we like to feature excellent 3D modelers on the blog, and today's example is certainly worthy of being showcased. In the past few months we've shown you amazing examples from people like Peter Olson, Darian Robbins, jgago93 and others, and today we'll be showing you the work of Guillaume Godin.

As pointed out on the Google Sketchup Blog last week, Guillaume has built some truly great models. Below is his model of le marché Bonsecours in Montreal, showing some sharp architecture with high quality textures on it.

Another great example is the Shell gas station shown below. A gas station might be an odd choice for us to show off, but it's a great example of 3D models helping to make the world more realistic. By including details such as the sign, light poles and individual gas pumps, Guillaume is making that area much more true to life for people that browse it in Google Earth.

As of now, Guillaume has uploaded 157 models to the 3D Warehouse and 72 of them have been accepted into Google Earth. As you can see from the images above, his models are incredibly well-done and are a great addition to Google Earth!

Tweet
Posted by mickmel at 7:44 AM | Comments (1)

August 5, 2011

Staying connected with Google Earth Blog

Google recently introduced Google+ to the world, and both Frank and I have been playing with it quite a bit. While Google doesn't have the business profile system in place yet, and therefore we can't add GEB to it, you're certainly welcome to connect with him and I on there.

+Frank Taylor | +Mickey Mellen

It remains to be seen if Google+ becomes a formidable social media platform, but it is certainly heading in the right direction. We'll continue to be active on there, and we'll add a proper "Google Earth Blog" profile as soon as Google allows them. If you're not familiar with Google+, here is a quick intro to it:

Beyond that, of course, we provide a wide variety of ways for you to get the latest Google Earth news and ask us any questions that you might have.

Facebook: Our Facebook Page is continuing to grow, now with more than 6,500 members. We post all of our content over there, and we're happy to answer any questions that you post on our wall.

RSS Feed: I personally follow hundreds of feeds, as its a great way to keep up with sites that you enjoy. I use Google Reader to manage the feeds, as it's a pretty slick system. With more than 19,000 subscribers, our RSS feed is by far the most popular way that people use to keep up with our site. Here's a quick look at how Google Reader works:

Twitter: To keep up with us via Twitter, just follow @gearthblog. All of the new blog entries get posted there, along with a few other tidbits. In addition, I monitor that account very closely and will respond to any messages sent our way. You can also choose to follow me (@mickmel), Frank (@FrankTaylor), or Frank's Tahina account (@GoTahina) if you want. In addition, the Geo list now has 64 people on it that you can follow to really keep up with everything geo-related.

Email: Last but not least, we have email. You can simply sign up to get our latest posts sent to you via email if none of the other options appeal to you.

Is there some other way that you'd like to receive our info? We're always open to suggestions. If there's a new tool that you're using and you have no good way to get GEB content on there, let us know and we'll see what we can do.

Not only are we trying to make it easy for you to access our content, but we love to hear from you. Write on our wall, send us a tweet -- let us know what's on your mind. Also, if you'd like an invite for Google+, just reach us using any means on our contact page and we'll hook you up.

Tweet
Posted by mickmel at 8:54 AM | Comments (2)

August 4, 2011

Using hotkeys in Google Earth

David Tryse has written a variety of useful tools for Google Earth in the past few years. His latest is quite simple, but very useful -- Google Earth Hotkeys.

It does exactly what the name describes; you can set various hotkeys to show/hide any of the built-in players, as well as any customer layers that you have inside of your "Places" folder.

From his site:

You can configure F1 - F12 (and shift F1 - F12) to show or hide any list of layers you want. Layer names are case sensitive, and to hide a layer start the layer name with a minus sign. To change several layers at once separate the layer names with a pipe character (|). It actually works for My Places custom layers as well as built-in content under Layers.

By default F6/shift-F6 shows/hides Borders and Labels and 3D Buildings, F7 hides all layers and F8 shows nearly all layers. F12 opens the window to edit the hotkeys.

The one downside, of course, is that it's Windows only. However, if you find yourself often toggling various layers on and off as you work in Google Earth this could be a very useful time-saver.

You can find it on his site here, or download the exe here. Great work David!

Tweet
Posted by mickmel at 8:58 AM | Comments (4)

August 3, 2011

Exploring the Rhythms of Life; massive artwork in Google Earth

We've shown you a variety of geoglyphs in Google Earth in the past, such as new ones being discovered as a result of deforestation in the Amazon.

Over the past 13 years sculptor Andrew Rogers, with the help of over 6,700 volunteers, has created 47 structures in 13 different countries.

The structures are large enough to be seen using Google Earth, which is why Andrew put together a Google Earth tour to show them all off. You can download the tour here Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. and see all of his great works of art. One great feature of the tour is that it is designed to automatically switch to historical imagery when it provides a better view of the art work, showing each piece off in the best possible imagery.

For those that would rather not load the tour file, here is a video to show everything you'll want to see.

Tweet
Posted by mickmel at 8:53 AM | Comments (2)

August 2, 2011

The Kansas airspace awareness tool

Back in February, the Kansas Department of Transportation announced its new Airspace Awareness tool Google Earth PLUGIN required. , which they recently launched.

The software, funded by a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration, allows pilots to visualize data that is normally only presented in 2D charts or apps, rather than the 3D data available here.

According to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, there were more than 2,000 airspace analyses performed in Kansas in 2010, some of which resulted in conflicts with local airspace. With this application in place, the system will alert users to contact the FAA in the event of any potential aispace conflicts with tall structures, such as wind turbines.

As of right now, Kansas is the only state with this kind of system in place, but if things go well I expect we'll see other states introduce similar applications in the near future.

(via @ManoMarks)

Tweet
Posted by mickmel at 8:15 AM | Comments (0)

August 1, 2011

Tahina Expedition in Fiji

Frank Taylor here, the founder and publisher of Google Earth Blog. Many of you who are regular readers of Google Earth Blog know that since November of 2009 my wife and I have been traveling by sailboat on a round-the-world trip we call the Tahina Expedition. Tahina is the name of our boat which we bought in 2008. We sold our house, cars and most of our belongings to have this opportunity to see many of the most remote parts of the Earth that we had only visited in Google Earth before. We have already crossed the Pacific Ocean leaving our home state of North Carolina to the Caribbean sea, to San Blas, the Panama Canal, Galapagos, French Polynesia, the Cook Islands, Niue, Tonga, and New Zealand.

In early May of this year, we left New Zealand and sailed for seven days up to Fiji. Since that time, we have had some amazing experiences in Fiji. We have enjoyed visiting with people in remote villages of eastern Fiji - many who have rarely seen foreigners and have little contact with the modern world. We have had some amazing underwater experiences on some of the liveliest coral we have ever seen. We have had remarkable encounters with marine life such as dolphin, sea turtles, lionfish, shark, sea snakes, eels, manta ray and more. We have also seen some pretty unique locations such as underwater caves, uninhabited islands, white sand beaches, and huge island resorts.

Today we published a Google Earth file of our Fiji experiences Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. . It includes GPS tracks of our routes as we sailed between anchorages. It also has tracks of dinghy trips to various places, hikes, kayaking trips, and even some taxi trips. There are placemarks of our anchorages, dive sites, and other points of interest along the way. And, finally, the file includes links to all the geo-tagged photos from albums we have published to Picasa. You can read more about the file in the post at the Tahina blog.

For those of you who don't want to wade through 3 months of blog posts about our stay in Fiji, here are a few of the more interesting stories from Fiji with lots of photos:

Tweet
Posted by FrankTaylor at 4:35 PM | Comments (5)

SAP adds Google Earth and Google Maps integration

SAP is planning to add some new tools in the coming months to help integrate their business analytics software with Google Earth and Google Maps. With tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue, SAP is a massive company and this kind of integration will be incredibly useful for thousands of businesses around the world to get a better understanding of their data.

Given the widespread use of SAP and the volumes of data that companies have stored in it, the possiblities for geo-related use cases are incredible. Here are a few that SAP mentioned:

A telecom operator could use Google Earth to perform dropped-call analysis and pinpoint the geo-coordinates of faulty towers.
A state department of revenue could overlay household tax information on a map of the state and group it at the county level to track the highest and lowest tax bases.
A mortgage bank could perform risk assessment of its mortgage portfolio by overlaying foreclosure and default data with the location of loans on Google Maps.
A team of customer support representatives in a consumer packaged goods company could collaborate and pinpoint the location of consumer complaints within specific geographies and make a decision regarding how to address and prioritize resolution.
A theme park operator could use the Google Maps API Premier and get real-time traffic information on attractions to send rerouting messages to customers in order to improve satisfaction rates.
U.S. census data could be overlaid on a Google map of the country, grouped by state and drilled down on at the county level.

The new software isn't due out until later this year with the release of SAP's Business Objects 4.1, but they've already produced a video showing some of the features that will be included.

(via TechCrunch)

Tweet
Posted by mickmel at 7:36 AM | Comments (0)