Top Stories
Britain redrawn in the most detailed map ever made
Around 400 million features of the British landscape appear on a revolutionary digital map which goes live today, showing the whole country redrawn in unprecedented detail. National mapping agency Ordnance Survey is taking the wraps off OS MasterMap after a huge two-year project to digitally reference not just every building and field, but detail as fine as railway signal lights and free-standing letter boxes. It is like an enormous national jigsaw made up of 400 million pieces, with each one 'barcoded' with a unique 16-digit reference number known as a topographic identifier or TOID. TOIDs offer a higher level of detail than postcodes or individual addresses as they identify millions of non-addressable properties and natural landscape features such as small waterways and areas of woodland. As well as telling you where a feature is, a TOID is also a direct link to a description of what it is. Best of all, a TOID can be loaded with extra detail within a user's computer system and shared between users, so acting as an unambiguous and electronically mobile package of information. This breakthrough opens up a host of possibilities in easier data sharing and management for utilities, local and central government, and any business supporting a branch network, customer base, or other geographic infrastructure. The associations created by TOIDs could even foster closer cooperation between government and business.
Visit:
www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk
LuraWave integrated into SICAD Spatial Desktop
SICAD GEOMATICS, Munich, and LuraTech GmbH, Berlin, have signed a contract to incorporate the high-performance Lura-Wave® compression process into SICAD. LuraWave® gives excellent image quality combined with small file sizes, significantly reducing the amount of memory required. It is being integrated into the new version V5.0 of the SICAD Spatial Desktop GIS application. Because of its high compression rates, LuraWave® is also being increasingly used by providers and users of areawide and high-resolution aerial and satellite photos. LuraWave® is currently being integrated into SICAD Spatial Desktop (SICAD/SD). LuraWave® compression is used directly in dbr format. This permits full access to data, which is turn is compressed using the high-performance Lura-Wave® process. This combination means the two technologies mutually enhance one another during access and compression. Optimum use is made of memory resources thanks to LuraWave® compression and rapid raster data display, for example in the form of overview maps or image section enlargements using the optimized dbr format.
Visit:
http://www.sicad.com
Navigation Technologies joins Team GeoMedia Program as first registered solutions center
Intergraph Mapping and GIS Solutions continues to expand its Team GeoMedia program with Navigation Technologies Europe joining as the first Team GeoMedia Registered Solutions Center (RSC). The two companies announced a partnership earlier this year making Navigation Technologies a preferred European data supplier. As a Team GeoMedia RSC partner, Navigation Technologies will optimize its NAVTECH(r) mapping data for the GeoMedia(r) environment and ensure that it integrates seamlessly with GeoMedia-based solutions. These efforts will be backed by the Team GeoMedia program infrastructure, including Intergraph's superior software and technical support. The Team GeoMedia RSC program specifically targets data providers, system integrators, and consulting companies who are not resellers. It enables RSC program partners to build long-term relationships with Intergraph and also with Team GeoMedia Registered Solutions Providers for the delivery of geospatial-based solutions that meet a broad range of customer needs.
Visit:
www.teamgeomedia.com &
http://www.navtech.com
Maporama partners with Ubitalk to develop vocal LBS
Maporama, European leader in online mapping and geocentric information services, and Ubitalk, the VoiceWeb company, a leading provider of automated voice services, have announce their partnership to provide geocentric information services on automated voice platforms. Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies are working together to develop applications designed specifically for call centre management, integrating Maporama¹s unique geocentric capabilities with Ubitalk's automated voice services. Maporama's geocentric information services enable call centre operators to act upon a caller's request for the location of nearest relevant outlet or point of sales and once located, the directions are provided by Maporama for the caller, through Ubitalk's automated voice service. Maporama's geocentric engine finds the closest outlet to the location provided by the caller, which can be stored for as long as the caller requires, enabling him to call back and access the automated vocal directions again, as many times as required. Maporama and UbiTalk's joint collaboration is designed for multi-lingual international usage covering both Europe and the Americas.
Visit:
www.maporama.com &
www.ubitalk.com
Sanborn chosen for Portugal project
Sanborn has announced that it has signed a two-part contract with EDINFOR Sistemas Informáticos, S.A. to assist with land base planning efforts in Portugal. A photogrammetric mapping and GIS-industry leader based in Pelham, New York, Sanborn was contracted by EDINFOR, a provider of systems/applications outsourcing, on behalf of Electricidade de Portugal (EDP), the electric utility in Portugal, to assist Portugal with their its land-based program and data activities. Sanborn's work with EDINFOR consists of two components. The initial component includes a review of land base data, an audit of the land base program, a refinement of the technical specifications, and a review of new photogrammetric technologies. The second component involves creating a plan for mobile database development, data distribution, and data licensing.
Visit:
www.sanbornmap.com
Miles Martin appointed as Laser Scan's Mobile Navigation Data Content Manager.
Laser-Scan has announced the appointment of Miles Martin as its Mobile Navigation Data Content Manager. Miles returns to Laser-Scan after a year's absence; he'll be responsible for managing third party data and for optimising data transfer flowlines into YEOMAN's mobile navigation system. Miles originally joined Laser-Scan in 1988 and worked his way through the ranks to become Deputy Customer Services Manager. His extensive knowledge of Laser-Scan's technology will enable him to evaluate third party data effectively to ensure that YEOMAN delivers a first class service. Laser-Scan's Gothic environment allows different datasets to be integrated with the primary route information. The YEOMAN system includes accurate records of the entire road network, a complete database of every single residential and business address, and traffic information from thousands of roadside sensors, which update our central servers every few minutes.
Visit:
www.laser-scan.com
Nathan King: Manager of Sales, Western Region, ISTAR Americas Inc
ISTAR Americas Inc. has hired Nathan King as Manager of Sales, Western Region. He will manage the development of markets for ISTAR high-resolution TrueOrtho(tm) images and 3D elevation data in the western region of the ISTAR Americas territory. He reports to Mark Eustis, ISTAR America's Vice President of Sales & Marketing. King specialises in providing geospatial information solutions that meet the unique needs of clients in large urban and metropolitan areas. Most recently, he served as Southwest Regional Sales Manager for Space Imaging of Thornton, Colo. Prior to that, he worked for nine years at Intergraph Corp. of Huntsville, Ala., selling mapping projects and related hardware/software products to utilities, cities, counties and state governments. In addition to his extensive sales background, King has technical experience in the production of maps and imagery. After graduating from Southwest Missouri State with a degree in Geography and Cartography, he worked as a photogrammetrist for the U.S. Geological Survey in Rolla, Missouri, compiling topographic map products.
Visit:
www.istar.com
EU GPS Alternative Faces Money Woes
Tight budgets and the gloomy economic outlook may ground the European Union's ambitious plan for a satellite navigation network to rival the U.S.-run Global Positioning System. The 15 EU finance ministers gathering for their monthly session Tuesday will scrutinize an independent report that casts doubt on the likelihood of finding private investors to share the project's launch costs. Britain and the Netherlands are pushing for a statement questioning the wisdom of cash-strapped governments moving forward with the multibillion-dollar project on their own, EU diplomats said. Germany, which is facing especially dire forecasts for its 2002 budget deficit, is also worried about the costs, while France and Italy, whose aerospace industries stand to benefit, are strongly in favour of moving forward, diplomats said. EU transport ministers meet Friday to decide whether to release $490 million in funding for the development phase of the satellite network, called Galileo. Planners hope to have Galileo operational in 2008. They argue it will reduce Europe's reliance on U.S. technology and provide a lucrative competitor to GPS - now the de facto global standard. GPS is used by millions of people worldwide for everything from navigating in traffic to oil exploration. Although GPS is available to foreign governments and consumers, some worry that the U.S. Defence Department, which operates the system, could restrict access in a crisis. EU leaders backed Galileo in principle at a summit last March, but balked at committing money without assurances that private investors could also be found.
Visit:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com &
http://www.galileo-pgm.org/
Asia News
Geological Work Should Serve Economy: Chinese Vice Premier
BEIJING, November 30 -- Chinese Vice Premier Wen Jiabao said that measures should be taken to make geological work in China contribute to economic developments and social progress.
Wen's remark was included in his recent written instructions on improving and standardizing the work of the China Geological Survey Bureau.
A move towards connecting geological work more closely with economic developments and social progress should be accelerated, Wen said.
The China Geological Survey Bureau was established in 1999 as part of the country's effort to reform the administration of its geological work.
The bureau's main aim is to organize and coordinate basic geological surveys which are of benefit to the public as well as strategic prospectings throughout the country.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
Japan Satellite Falls to Earth
A Japanese observation satellite re-entered the atmosphere Monday off the South Atlantic coast of Antarctica, the government space agency announced.
Most of the JERS-1 was thought to have burned up as it fell toward the Earth after nine years in space, but there was a possibility that two small heat-resistant titanium tanks could withstand the fiery plunge, said Hiroshi Inoue, spokesman for Japan's National Space Development Agency.
It was not known if the tanks - which each weighed 15 pounds and measured 22 inches across - or other debris splashed down in the ocean, he said. The agency had predicted that the probability of injury resulting from the re-entry was one in 263 trillion.
The Japan Earth Resource Satellite was launched in 1992 and used until 1998 for such tasks as searching for oil and observing the Amazon rain forest (news - web sites). Its orbit had been deteriorating over the last three years.
Tracking data provided by NASA showed that JERS-1 re-entered the atmosphere at 10:28 p.m. Japan time (8:28 a.m. EST) Monday at 67 degrees south latitude and 20 degrees west longitude, the Japanese agency said.
Read complete article at:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011203/sc/japan_satellite_2.html
Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd., has announced a new relationship with BMW Motorcycles, a division of BMW of North America LLC, that promises to give motorcyclists the ultimate in satellite navigation. BMW will soon market a derivative of Garmin's popular StreetPilot III satellite navigation system as the BMW Motorcycles Navigator and offer it as standard equipment on the K 1200 LTE. The BMW Motorcycles Navigator takes the best of GARMIN GPS technology and offers BMW riders exclusive value-packed features -- including an internal database of all BMW Motorcycle retailers across the country, a unique audio interface, a customized mounting system and a 64-MB datacard. This portable satellite navigation system pinpoints the rider's location on a high-resolution, color map and delivers the added benefits of turn-by-turn directions and voice guidance. After the rider selects a destination, the system calculates the best route, develops a directory of turn instructions and audibly notifies him when he is approaching his next turn or final destination. Motorcyclists will also appreciate the fact that the Navigator is waterproof, so adventures are not limited to fair weather. And when they get the itch to ride, they can personalize their road trip using the Navigator's built-in routable basemap or downloadable data from GARMIN's MapSource City Navigator or MetroGuide CD-ROMs. The standard accessory package gives riders everything they need to plan their next odyssey.
