Google Maps update brings sharper satellite imagery

Google Maps satellite imagery has received a major boost in quality. Thanks to the new Landsat 8 satellite, the images are now sharper with better color.
Landsat 8 was launched into orbit in 2013 by USGS and NASA to replace Landsat 7. The satellite imagery we had before was from Landsat 7, which served us well over the years but the image quality wasn't good enough anymore and a hardware failure caused it to produce large diagonal lines across images.
 
 
Before
 
 
After Landsat 8, in comparison, captures images with greater detail, truer color and over twice the frequency of Landsat 7. Google then had to sift through millions of images to combine the cloud free ones and create the mosaic that you see on your screen. The result is visible through Google Maps on every device once you switch to the satellite view and Google Earth.
The Landsat data is free and available to everyone through Google's Earth Engine.
Source

Comments

Post a Comment

Kindly Comment Only related to Post

Popular posts from this blog

Checkout the new time-lapse mode in iOS 8

Image
One of the new features in iOS 8 is time-lapse mode in the Camera app. For those who don’t know, time-lapse mode takes a series of photographs with a few second interval and in the end combines all the images into a video, which when played looks like a fast-forwarded video. It’s not something you’d use often but it’s a cool thing to have and definitely gives some cool results as we will see now. The following video was shot on an iPhone 5s running iOS 8 beta. There currently are no options regarding the time-lapse mode in typical Apple fashion and you just swipe left in the Camera app until you reach the time-lapse setting and then start recording.
Read more

Call of Duty: Ghosts Gets Wolf Skin DLC

Jon Snow, eat your heart out. Call of Duty: Ghosts has received a new bit of DLC that turns your Guard Dog killstreak's loveable warmongrel into a ravenous wolf. Infinity Ward revealed on Instagram  that the DLC costs $1.99 and be available on Xbox platforms from today, December 12, though it will hit other consoles down the line. The accompany text reads, "Lead your pack to victory. Get The Wolf, a custom #CODGhosts Guard Dog Killstreak skin from 12/12 on Xbox for $1.99 USD." If you're on the look out for more sizeable DLC packs for the game, while we don't know everything just yet, the names of the packs did leak recently .  
Read more

YouTube for Android gets a design update

Image
YouTube for Android has received a new design-related update. It's a server-side update that relocates the navigation bar to the bottom of the application. The bar was earlier at the top (the leftmost screenshot in the image below). Not only this, the color scheme has also been reversed - the navigation bar in the updated app has white background with red-colored tab indicators. The order in which the tabs are arranged, however, remains the same. Via
Read more

Nougat update starts hitting Nexus 9 LTE

Image
If you recall, last month, Google said that the Nexus 6 and LTE Nexus 9 will get Android 7.0 in a few weeks. Inline with that, the Nexus 6 started receiving the update earlier this week. The good news is that now the HTC-manufactured tablet has also officially started getting Nougat. The update bumps the build number to NRD90R, and also includes Android security patch for the month of September - the security level, post update, shows a date of September 6. For comparison, the Nexus 6 Nougat update brought along a security patch dated October 5. It's worth mentioning that Factory and OTA images aren't yet available from Google. Via | Google
Read more

iPhone 5c fails to make impact in China, 5s compensates

Image
The iPhone 5c isn't doing all that good in China. According to CTechCN , who first reported Apple's cutting iPhone 5c production , Apple is still reducing orders of the plastic iPhone. Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory, which once churned out 50 thousand units weekly is now down to 8 to 9 thousand. Protek, component manufacturer for iPhone 5c, has seen an order cut of 75%. Retailer Dixons reports 78.6% of iPhone sales come from the premier 5s and just 21.4% are due to the iPhone 5c. The smartphone's price is also falling on retailer Taobao, which imported units from Hong-Kong at prices between 3000 to 3500 Chinese Yuan a month ago, now down to between 2500 to 3000 (around $400 to $500). Some retailers are reportedly selling their iPhone 5c units at a loss just to clear stock. Still there's no threat to Apple's financial health in hindsight as the iPhone 5s is selling handsomely. The question is whether Apple will keep making plastic iPhones wi...
Read more

Sony PS4 users get access to another 40+ PS3 titles on Playstation Now

Sony has announced that 40+ PS3 exclusives have joined the available titles in the PlayStation Now library and can now be played on the PS4. Sony PlayStation Now is a service available on PS4, select Sony Bravia TVs and Samsung Smart TVs. It allows you to stream play more than 150 PS3 exclusives and 300+ games from the PlayStation Now library - this is the way Sony is handling the backward compatibility demand. PlayStation Now requires a compatible PS4, PS Vita or just a smart TV, a DualShock 4 controller and $20 per month. It has an offer for $99 for 12 months, but it is a Christmas special and will expire on January 11, so if you are interested, now is your last chance for this promotion. Anyway, some of the new titles available in the PlayStation Now library are Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty, God of War: Chains of Olympus, God of War: Ghosts of Sparta, Heavenly Sword, Journey, Flower, and Flow. The last three g...
Read more