GPS

GPS + Video + Google Earth = Pretty awesome

November 30, 2012

GPS4Sport has just released a new product that combines GPS track data with action cam movies, then overlays the movie on top of the Google Earth plug-in while it all runs. It sounds complicated, and I’m sure it is on the back end, but the result for the end user is really quite cool.

You can watch a great example of one here.

It also supports flight activities, such as this one,

shown here:

The flight mode supports video as well, though they don’t have any examples of that yet. Check it all out for yourself at GPS4Sport.com.

Google Earth A to Z: Measurements, Mobile, Mars and Moon

August 1, 2012

Measurements
The measurement tools in Google Earth can be quite handy. I’ve used them a few times to map out the length of a run, or grab a rough estimate of the width of my yard.
To get started, simply click on [Tools] and then [Ruler] and start clicking. You can measure a single line or a complex path, and you can see the distance in a variety of formats: Meters, Inches, Miles or even Smoots!
To learn more about measuring distances in Google Earth, you can read this detailed post from last year.

Mobile
Google Earth first hit mobile devices nearly four years ago when it was released for the iPhone. In early 2010 we saw the first Android version released, and the software has continued to improve.
The release of Google Earth 2.0 on Android brought us 3D buildings and the recently released version 7.0 includes a few cities with the brand new “3D imagery”. The future of Google Earth on mobile devices will be amazing.
Mars and the Moon
While Google Earth is obviously built for looking at our home planet, it also allows you to view our moon and Mars in remarkable detail.
Released in 2009 as part of Google Earth 5, Mars mode is just what you’d expect. By clicking the planet icon at the top of the screen and choosing “Mars”, the blue and green of earth changes out to the red and orange of Mars. It includes 3D terrain, and a selection of layers to highlight noteworthy areas.

A few months later, Google released a very similar feature for our moon. As we mentioned a few weeks ago, the moon features some excellent layers including tremendous models and details related to the Apollo 11 mission.
Look for both the moon and Mars by clicking the planet icon at the top of your screen, as shown here:

My Tracks 2.0, now with mobile Google Earth support

July 16, 2012

“My Tracks” is an Android application that doesn’t tend to get a lot of press. The initial version is more than three years old, and there are a bunch of other apps that do roughly the same thing. Now Google has released My Tracks 2.0, and it comes with a bunch of nice upgrades.

The list of improvements includes:
• The ability to play back your tour directly on Google Earth for Android
• Aggregation of statistics over time to show trends in your performance
• Simpler, faster user interface
• Improved charts and stats tables that are easier to read
For now, the app remains available only on Android. We’re not sure if this is a limitation on iOS, a strategic move, or simply a lack of manpower to build the application for other operating systems. In any case, it’s a great Android app and a nice one to keep around.
There are a lot of fun uses of it. For example, here is a track I did a few years ago when we went on a trolley tour of Savannah, GA:

You can download it for free on Google Play.

Google Earth A to Z: GPS and the Google Earth Gallery

July 9, 2012

GPS
Because of the open nature of Google Earth and the KML format, it’s easy to import GPS data in a variety of unique ways. You can use it to hunt for great places to go geocaching, or share runs from your ski trip with your friends.
Taking it further, you can use the excellent “track” feature that was introduced in Google Earth 5.2 for even more robust visualizations.
Of course, Google Earth on mobile devices is a different animal. Thanks to the introduction of mobile KML support and the native GPS on most mobile devices, there are a lot of great ways to make use of that while on the go.
Google Earth Gallery
If you’re looking for more great content to explore on Google Earth, their gallery is a great place to start. The Gallery includes over 600 items, including data, image overlays, tours and more. We’ve been discussing the gallery for more than five years, and it’s steadily improved over that time.
In addition, the Google Earth 6.2 update for Android and iOS that we mentioned above also includes full support for the Gallery. You can browse the entire selection of items on your device and load them right there.

Geocaching with Google Earth

January 31, 2012

We took our daughters (ages 5 and 8) on their first geocaching adventure this weekend and it was great! We used the very popular Geocaching.com website, which had quite a few Google Earth tools to make our adventure easier to plan.
In particular, they have a Geocache Google Earth Viewer that you can download and use. It’s essentially a network link that shows all of their geocache locations in Google Earth — over 1.6 million of them!

It was quite handy to fly around in Google Earth, find local caches, then click to see if they were worth checking out. We eventually stumbled upon a local “challenge” (10 locations to find, including this one) and had a good time.
While the icons are clickable, I would like to see them have a bit more info. In particular, the “last found” date would be helpful, so you could quickly see if a cache was likely to still be in place.
They also integrate Google Earth by allowing you to create “routes” that are generated by uploading KML files.
For all of you geocachers out there, what is your favorite way to search for new caches to find?