Garmin® Launches BirdsEye™ Satellite and Aerial Imagery

[Miroslav Pragl]

http://garmin.blogs.com/pr/2010/01/garm ... agery.html:

Garmin® Launches BirdsEye™ Satellite and Aerial Imagery
Posted January 18, 2010 | 06:58 AM in Outdoor/Fitness | Permalink
OLATHE, Kan./January 18, 2010/Business Wire — Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation, announced today that it will begin offering BirdsEye Satellite and Aerial Imagery, an annual subscription service that gives users the option of loading highly-detailed photo-based maps to select Garmin handheld navigators.


“Without a doubt, BirdsEye Satellite Imagery reinforces Garmin as the leader in outdoor cartography,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “Whatever the occasion, outdoor explorers can find the ideal Garmin handheld and accompanying maps to complement their specific requirements.”

BirdsEye Imagery is raster-based, meaning it is compiled using actual aerial photos and images that are scanned, geo-referenced and overlaid onto the handheld GPS receiver’s display. Unlike vector cartography, the resulting images depict actual buildings, vehicles, roads, trails, and land features found nearby – giving explorers a unique understanding of their surroundings.

The images are among the most highly-detailed available – offering 0.5 meter per pixel resolution in many areas of the United States. Users can also view imagery at every zoom level – from 12 miles to 20 feet – unlike other offerings that force users to stay at pre-determined zoom levels. BirdsEye Satellite Imagery also lets users overlay vector maps, to get a better idea of terrain contours and points of interest. The data is collected by DigitalGlobe, a leading global provider of commercial high-resolution world-imagery products and services.

“With today’s innovations in geospatial technology, having a true sense of ‘place’ is no longer a guessing game but a reality,” said Jill Smith, chairman and chief executive officer of DigitalGlobe. “Our industry-leading satellite constellation and aerial network allow us to collect the most current imagery that, when combined with Garmin’s devices, offers users an accurate picture of their environment wherever they are. We are excited about the possibilities that this opens up for users.”

In practice, BirdsEye Satellite Imagery can help make time afield more productive and enjoyable. Hunters can easily identify potential tree stand locations, draws, and natural game funnels. Hikers can quickly locate trailheads, campsites, and scenic vistas. Geocachers can better assess terrain difficulty and parking areas close to caches. Even tourists and travelers can navigate amusement parks or historical battlefields like never before.

This imagery can be displayed on Garmin’s Oregon®, Dakota™, and Colorado® series of outdoor navigators. An annual subscription is $29.99, and it allows the user to unlimited downloads for a single Garmin device. Customers use Garmin’s free BaseCamp™ application (http://www.garmin.com/basecamp) for the PC or Mac to quickly load and easily manage BirdsEye data. For armchair trip planning and review, subscribers can view the same BirdsEye imagery on their PC or Mac when their applicable device is connected.

BirdsEye Imagery is only the latest cartographic advancement from Garmin. In addition, Garmin Custom Maps is a free and simple utility that transforms paper and electronic maps into customized downloadable maps for Oregon, Dakota, or Colorado handhelds. The power of Custom Maps is exemplified through paper and digital maps labeled for specific events and purposes, such as a college graduation invitation that lists campus buildings; a roadmap of a parade, marathon, 5K or bike race; a park pamphlet showing trailheads; land-management maps of wildlife and game areas; or a historic illustration of an area as it once stood. For more information, visit http://www.garmin.com/CustomMaps.

BirdsEye Satellite and Aerial Imagery will be available in March 2010. For more information, visit www.garmin.com/birdseyesatimagery.



MP

[eidz]

Být moderátorem, tak ten příspěvek smažu, neboť takto je to SPAM. Aneb - co tím chtěl básník říct? Ti, co čtou zahraniční weby se k informaci dostanou. Ti, co čtou česky toto fórum vědí, že umíš kopírovat.

[Path]

Výjimečně to mazat nebudu - i když stačil jen odkaz a pár obrázků - protože se jedná o celkem zajímavou informaci, resp. službu s byť pro nás nezajímavou cenou, chcete-li ročními poplatky. Vzhledem k dostupnosti a nulové ceně google maps jsem na vážkách, jak to celé ohodnotit.

[Miroslav Pragl]

Myslim ze se jednalo o zpravu na kterou se docela dlouho cekalo (minimalne od prvnich betaverzi FW s podporou rastrovych map), nyni je alespon pevny termin a cena.

Garmin se evidentne snazi dohnat vlak ktery mu ujizdi s tim jak se rozsiruji mobilni zarizeni s GPS a mapami dostupnymi jen za cenu prenesenych dat (Nokia, Google...). Samozrejme online mapy jsou dost na nic v miste kde neni (levne) pripojeni takze jejich offline stazeni ma neco do sebe. Navic outdoor GPS je prece jen o neco malo vhodnejsi na machani ve vode a pady na zem nez mobilni telefon :)


Bohuzel zatim nevim o SW ktery dokaze at uz z google maps nebo jineho mapoveho zdroje stahnout rastrove mapy v pozadovanem rozliseni "nakachlickovane" do pozadovane plochy :(

Navic by bylo super moci si vybrat poskytovatele s aktualnimi mapami - napr. na maps.ovi.com (navteq) jsou misty o dobry rok novejsi mapy nez na google a urcite naopak

MP

[Jarous1]

Těch programů už je pěkná řádka, bohužel ale v drtivé většině placených...
Z těch volných by to měl umět např. MapTiler nebo SAS.Planet.
Z českých vím jen o jednom, ale vynikajícím MapGen

[Miroslav Pragl]

Diky, testnu!

Naposledy jsem *.kmz musel vytvaret polorucne. MapGen jsem pouzival s TrekBuddy, znam, nenapadlo me ze umi ukladat do kmz.

//edit: tak cesky MapGen umi stale jen OziExplorer format. Vis jak jej prinutit vytvorit kmz ktery proste ulozim do Garmina a pouziji?

MP

[Path]

Vida, zase výzva na další utilitu Kdyby tak byl čas...

[Miroslav Pragl]

Jestli si mam vybrat zda poslat US$ 29.99 garminu nebo zaponzorovat vyvojare opensource je volba jasna

MP

P.S. Pokud by ti helfly nejake nastroje od firmy Microsoft mozna by se neco dalo zaridit. MS ac se to malo vi celkem fest podporuje OpenSource - samozrejme pokud to neni alternativa k jejich komercnim produktum.

[bogi]

Free nastrojov na tvorbu Garmin Custom Maps je cela kopa.
Zatial je to v 2 krokoch:
1. Z online mapy vytvorim mapu vo formate OziExplorera
2. Mapu z bodu 1. prekonvertujem do Garmin KMZ formatu

Programy pre bod 1 su napr.:
- TrekBuddy Atlas Creator
- SAS Planet
- Googleak

Najlepsim programom pre bod 2 je MAPC2MAPC, ktory podporuje projekciu Mercator online map a umoznuje tiez volit, ktore kachlicky vstupnej rastrovej mapy chcete mat v Colorade, Oregone ci Dakote. Sikovne napr. ak chcete pokryt pohorie konkretneho tvaru.

Par liniek ku teme:
Oficialne forum ku Garmin Custom Maps: https://forums.garmin.com/forumdisplay.php?f=205
Custom Maps na gpsforum.sk: http://www.gpsforum.sk/index.php/topic,2712.0.html
Programy z bodu 1 na gpsforum.sk: http://www.gpsforum.sk/index.php/board,40.0.html
Diskusia ku TrekBuddy Atlas Creator na TrekBuddy fore: http://www.trekbuddy.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3755
Diskusia ku Googleak na TrekBuddy fore: http://www.trekbuddy.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3772
SAS Planet home anglicky http://sasgis.com/sasplanet/ rusky http://sasgis.ru/sasplaneta/

MAPC2MAPC:
na Garmin fore https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?t=3659
na TrekBuddy fore: http://www.trekbuddy.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3389
Home Page: http://www.the-thorns.org.uk/mapping/

[Miroslav Pragl]

Diky, MAPC2MAPC je presne to co jsem hledal, jdu testovat

MP