Want to see what the earth would look like in your iPhone? Watch the video below, which was shot by Frank Taylor of the Google Earth Blog. It shows a demo of the “coolest thing” he saw at the recent Where 2.0 conference from a Boulder-Colorado startup called Earthscape..
The demo is of a mobile application (Earthscape Mobile) in development that puts virtual earth software on the iPhone. When the iPhone is tilted, the earth begins to rotate and you can navigate to another part of the globe. Taylor notes that the app was running locally on the phone, and that ideally you’d would want real geo-spatial information downloaded over WiFi or 3G, which would take a ton of bandwidth and effect performance. But perhaps his fellow Googlers will be inspired enough to create a mobile version of Google Earth for the iPhone or Android with just such features. (We can dream).
Note that what you see in the video is not Google Earth, although it looks very similar. Earthscape has created its own virtual earth program that it describes as a social geobrowser. As with Google Earth, it allows you to tag places with text, photos, restaurant reviews, and Wikipedia articles. It also lets you see different image overlays of the same spot during different seasons and different times in history. The software is available only in private beta for Windows (sign up here). Mac and Linux are coming soon.
thats great
the earth on the palm of your hand
not bad at all
That would make a great flight sim.
Its amazing how much difference a (conceptually) simple interface innovation makes to an idea that’s more or less already been done.
That would make a great flight sim.
Its amazing how much difference a (conceptually) simple interface innovation makes to an idea that’s more or less already been done
Another entry for the “Google <3 Start-ups” business school - you build it, we’ll buy it
Amazing stuff - I am already thinking of 10 other applications of this interface.
I like how he keeps hammering on the iPhone’s display
… nice … I think
Effect: Downloading the geo-spatial information over Wi-Fi would have a negative effect on performance.
Affect: Downloading the geo-spatial information over Wi-Fi would negatively affect performance.
Get it?
(Sorry, pet peeve!)
I can’t wait for the 3G Iphone to come out!
looks like he was having some trouble there. But still pretty darn kool.
Ya, that was pretty cool. I feel sorry for the iPhone though. He was beating the crap out of it to get it to do stuff. I wonder if it was his iPhone or the app?
why do i need this?
That’s amazing, really nice, I just wish they could get iPhones on more networks like Verizon which is where I’m stuck at. Come on’ apple, what’s going on.
nice. now if could just zoom into the ladies shower at the gym…
hey crazyglues, just buy the phone, and pick your network form that … they will figure it out in a couple of years
As many viewers have noted, Earthscape Mobile for the iPhone had some issues detecting a “double tap” event when the video was taken — folks should keep in mind that this is software under development. The good news is that we’ve resolved this issue, and are currently adding native UI controls to allow the user to control what data is displayed on the globe, take geotagged photos that appear on the earth and are automatically synchronized with our Desktop application, etc. The information you will be able to overlay — whether it is houses for sale, flickr photos, or data you or your friends author (or import using common file formats), will be viewable using Earthscape on your desktop as well — in this sense, Earthscape on your PC will play a similar role as iTunes plays — allowing you to manage the content that is important to you on the go, while the UI on the iPhone will be as simple as possible — more similar to an iPod, for example.
While we have also ported our application to WinCE phones (the O2 was the first), the iPhone absolutely rocks from both a development standpoint as well as providing a consistent, high-quality hardware platform to target.
–Tom Churchill
CEO, Earthscape
@Tom Neat Apps. I had no idea the iphone accelerometer can be used like that. Well done! It sounds like your main business plan is advertising with overlays. That is going to be tough. On the mobile phone, in most cases, I would be more interested in the information than being wow-ed by graphics. Even if 3G is super fast, there would be bandwidth caps. I wouldn’t want to use up few mb each time i want to fine a coffee shop.
The “effect” mistake annoyed me too.
Can someone please tell me why I would use this?
Sure, it’s cool to spin around the globe and all that, but after a few minutes the novelty wears off. Then what, Tom? The whole geo-based social networking idea has been tried and failed every time. Looks like Tom thinks they failed because they lacked a slick interface.
If the purpose of this is to show some interesting gadgetry then mission accomplished. If the purpose of this is to somehow drive a business model, then it’s going to be an epic failure.
what would be really cool is if it orientated the view on the screen to your actual N/S/E/W position, does the iPhone have a compass yet?
That’s cool.
iPhone is more fun than just a phone.
Kudos to Steve !
Whewww..that’s very cool dude.
Better have it and show it to our friend before this hot stuff becomes cold.
@Mogilny: Thanks for the kinds words. While we believe relevant advertising may play a role in the future, we think there are a variety of ways to create value for everyone (customers and ourselves) in the short term without ads.
Something that should be noted is that Earthscape was designed from the ground up to work in an intermittently connected environment: This means you will be able to download aerial imagery using your home broadband connection of a metropolitan area and never hit the network at all except for the overlay data. (Which can also be synchronized with your iPhone in the same manner as your MP3s) Granted, this may use several GB of your storage, but most users who opt to do this will be able to view the areas they are likely to travel to 95% of the time without any network delays at all. If the imagery isn’t available, we can get it transparently over the network as needed, and cache it for the future. This also means maps in areas without cell coverage — such as the Ski resorts & hiking trails near us!
–Tom
I saw this at a meetup in Boulder a couple months ago and it’s waaaaay cool. This highlights the iPhone angle, but the PC version that I saw was mind blowing all by itself.
Maybe Google, Yahoo or Microsoft will buy their iPhone app. Doesn’t Android already have this? Well seems cool but could be a profitable business?
@kevin, yes it does. Android will be a very nice platform, already looks polished and solid; Bonus points for being an open platform and used across many phones/carriers
Tom, it seemed like the double-tap was indeed working correctly, the guy giving the demo just wasn’t tapping the screen nearly hard enough.
Now how easy my life is going to be?
Wait..I just can’t guess how advanced Android is going to be.
This is good stuff, but I’d have to say the most shocking/best thing I saw in the Where2.0 videos was this one on matching the sounds of the environment to the location (i.e. soundscapes). Too intense.
http://blip.tv/file/318951
With apps like the above, and Everyblock presenting, Where2.0 had the feel of a TED conference. Hippie + Tech. Good stuff.
http://earth.wildsanctuary.com/
iPhone is greet
Cool as a demo material but as some here have already asked: why would I need this? What’s the practical use for this?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/goodspeed/1499539072/
This is similar to a protoype at the Singapore Science Museum. Tilt the circular table and it moves side to side. Turn the table like a wheel to make it zoom in and out.
This is a very cool demo. Android had a neat demo today also. Seeing more and more of these apps give us some idea of how the space is going to shape up in the future. More here: http://www.zintin.com/blog/200.....htc-dream/
@DaveQ: That was Earthscape software you saw running at the Singapore Science Museum, too!