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STORIES
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EU to consider taking over Galileo Satellite System
The concession contract for Galileo remains unsigned as the firms squabble over who will do what and EU transport ministers have set them a May 10 deadline to work out their differences...
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China, Pakistan to cooperate in space
Following Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz's official visit to China, both sides said they are determined to elevate their friendship and strategic partnership...
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Seoul Urban Information System provides 3D GIS capabilities to its users
The key features of 3D Geographic Information System (GIS) engine include High performance real time 3D rendering, data quality for gaining a sense of location and place, comprehensive search with location editing capability , handling level of detail for seamless operation...
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GITA announces Annual Conference Speaker Award Recipients
The Geospatial Information & Technology Association (GITA) has announced the 2007 Speaker Award winners from its recent Annual Conference 30 in San Antonio ...
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WORLD THIS WEEK
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Greece selects Trimble to build GNSS Infrastructure Network
Trimble has been selected by the Greek National Cadastre, KTIMATOLOGIO S.A., to implement its Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) infrastructure network...
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Brunei E-Map Project worth BND 9.5 million given to Powertech
A BND9.5 million project for the delivery of the country's NSDI was contracted on April 21st during a signing ceremony between the Ministry of Development and Selective Powertech Consulting...
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New Gravity Survey Data added to the Australian National Gravity Database
New gravity data from surveys in Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia have recently (April 2007) been incorporated into the Australian National Gravity Database...
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Curbs put on foreign hydrological activities from China
The latest regulation states that hydrological organizations should report to local governments as soon as they detect changes in water quality that could potentially indicate instances of water pollution...
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Tele Atlas delivers key European Cities in 3D
The newly released 3D city maps help enrich navigation devices and LBS applications with realistic views of cities and building structures...
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EDITORIAL
Last week witnessed a windfall in the number of new products for the geospatial-professional's arsenal. A few interesting and noteworthy ones were the patent for the next generation hyper spectral imager – OmniProbe from Earth Search Sciences Inc. based on nanotechnology and microelectronics. After the success of Probe-1 and the concerted efforts by ESSI towards educating exploration-geologists in the application of hyperspectral remote sensing, OmniProbe is sure to be a harbinger of success in geoexploration. Another product in the sensors domain, released last week was the Leica – ALS corridor mapper. Designed for smaller projects and for lower budgets, with rather specific requirements, this Airborne Laser Scanner can be considered to be a no-frills-no-thrills version of the full blown ALS 50-II system . Keeping to the century old tradition of 'total upwards compatibility' first introduced in the legendary Leica cameras, the ALS- corridor mapper too can be upgraded to the full ALS 50-II system with the Multiple Pulses in Air (MPiA) technology. On the data storage technology front, Intergraph has released the Airborne Solid State Disc for data storage from its DMC.
Almost a fortnight ago GIOVE-A transmitted its first navigation message and it appeared that all is well in on the Galileo front till the news last week that EU is seriously considering options about the entire project – the most drastic being 'just dump it'. It hopefully shouldn't come to that and pray that the consortium of companies see sense and resolve issues. In the past, we've discussed the advantages that the USA's Navstar programme has had in the form of direct governmental funding, as against the fund raising model followed by the Galileo program. With commercial interests in mind (and also defence), the commissioning of more and more GPS block IIR satellites by the US will further increase the lead that the GPS program always had. It has always been that projects of strategic importance with added commercial benefits are completely controlled financially by the governments. The formation of a consortium of private companies to fund and deliver the Galileo program, though sounds rather good business, the delays and squabbles has forced the EU to reconsider taking over the project and use taxpayers money to get it going. The delays from the past have now escalated the cost of the project to 3.5billion €. Russia's - GLONASS, China's -Beidou, India's - GAGAN and quite a few others are also in the race for the GNSS pie..
 Dr. Hrishikesh Samant
hrishikesh@gisdevelopment.net
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NEW PRODUCTS
PCI Geomatics releases upgrade to Geomatica software
PCI Geomatics released Geomatica 10.1 with new features and enhancements in reliability, performance, usability and functionality of existing technology... 
BAE SYSTEMS introduces Automation Technology for map creation
NGATE released by BAE SYSTEMS uses a hybrid matching process to create precise elevation data for 3D terrain and surface models...
Leica Geosystems introduces Leica ALS Corridor Mapper LIDAR System
Leica Geosystems announced the introduction of a new airborne LIDAR system designed specifically for corridor mapping and other large-scale mapping applications...
Intergraph introduces Airborne Solid State Disc to enhance its Airborne Digital Imagery Acquisition System
Solid State Disc is a flash memory that will enable aerial mapping operators to increase image storage flexibility, flight duration and thereby increasing productivity...
ER Mapper Image Web Server 8.1 released
ER Mapper Image Web Server has enhanced web 2.0 functionality and additional ESRI compatibility...
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INTERVIEW
Gaw Seng Suan on Singaporean Land Information System...
Gaw Seng Suan
Director, Land Data Division,
Singapore Land Authority
GAW_Seng_Suan@sla.gov.sg
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CORPORATE
Bentley acquires TDV GmbH, Analysis and Design Software provider for bridge engineering
"Bentley Systems announced the acquisition of TDV GmbH of Austria, a provider of structural modeling, analysis, and design software for bridge engineering...
Hexagon acquires Allen Precision Equipment
Hexagon has entered into an agreement to acquire all the shares of Allen Precision Equipment, a survey instrument providing company ...
Benefon acquires GeoSolutions
Benefon Oyj announced that it has acquired GeoSolutions B.V., a developer of location-based technologies, products, and services for mobile and Internet connected devices...
Pictometry announces agreement with MDA to provide Oblique Aerial Imaging Technology to Canada
Pictometry's patented aerial imaging technology captures and catalogues image libraries of entire cities, counties, and states...
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