You are familiar with your current mapping services when it comes to Google Maps, Bing Maps or Google Earth, But a new technology will let you get beyond that and the Swedish company behind it thinks you actually deserve more and… seriously.
Enter mind-blowing 3D mapping technology from Swedish startup C3 Technologies, the company that showcased their 3D maps on iPad at the CES show. Unlike your Ma and Pa’s maps, C3 Technologies calculates the terrain and buildings directly from aerial images. The approach takes into account the positions and angles of the cameras that took aerial images in order to give each pixel its geographical position with very high accuracy.
When we say high precision, we mean it hundred percent because C3 maps incorporate recently declassified missile targeting technology by Saab, a well-known Swedish aerospace company. As a result of all this, you get military-grade, pixel-perfect realistic representation of the terrain that can be rotated and paned around to a stunning effect. And at CES, they showed off 3D view of San Francisco running surprisingly smoothly on an iPad, see above
In addition to 3D maps, C3 also makes awesome street level imagery captured using “an advanced multiple camera system with overlapping viewing angles to capture the entire surroundings in stereo.” Topping it all off are incredible interior views of restaurants, hotels and other points of interest that can be found along the street.
Don’t you think that would be amazing if this was chosen as the maps to power the upcoming iPhone 5?!
Update:
C3 Technologies was acquired in July and the buyer is a western company and currently kept secret. Certainly the big players such as Apple, Microsoft and Google are the prime candidates.
As noted by macrumors, Apple is a good fit for the company, as they have already admitted to be working on their own turn-by-turn direction GPS service, and we’ve also found evidence that they have licensed map data from a number of companies. It would also reduce their dependance on Google’s mapping solution which presently is used on iOS devices. Apple previously purchased mapping company Placebase and has been aggressively hiring for their Geo Team to take Maps to the “next level”.
Facebook has acquired Push Pop Press, the company behind iPad app “Our Choice,†based on a book by Al Gore. The company was co-founded by former Apple designer Mike Matas who was a lead designer of both the original iPhone and iPad interfaces. Facebook does not plan to sell interactive iPad books, but the technology and design talent will be used in Facebook’s future.
Mike Matas demoed “Our Choice†at the TED conference this year to rave reviews.
Statement from Facebook:
We’re thrilled to confirm that we’ve acquired Push Pop Press, a startup whose groundbreaking software changes the way people publish and consume digital content. We can’t wait for co-founders Mike Matas and Kimon Tsinteris to get started, and for some of the technology, ideas and inspiration behind Push Pop Press to become part of how millions of people connect and share with each other on Facebook.
Skype has finally released their iPad version. The app isn’t a universal update for the iPhone version, meaning you’ll have to download it as a separate app on your iPad. The application brings everything you love from the iPhone version to the iPad’s larger display. This includes instant messaging, audio chatting, and video conferencing. The app can do video and audio calling both on WiFi and 3G. The same Skype for iPad, first “leaked†online back in late June.
A list of features from the iTunes page:
Talk face-to-face or show what you’re seeing with front and back-facing cameras.
Use Skype for iPad to call anyone else on Skype – and enjoy near CD quality (SILK) sound.
Instant message and add emoticons to personalize your messages.
Make cheap calls to landlines or mobiles from your iPad.
Get an Online Number from Skype so people can call you on your iPad.
Pay As You Go with Skype Credit – great for when you’re using Skype every now and again.
Pay monthly with a subscription – best if you use Skype a lot.
