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It looks like Microsoft and GlobeXplorer have reached and agreement to supply new imagery to Virtual Earth.

As part of the deal, more than 400,000 square miles of U.S. aerial imagery will be enhanced with high-resolution coverage. Microsoft and GlobeXplorer plan to integrate the new imagery into Virtual Earth over the next several months.

Finally I will be able to see Tempe, AZ in color imagery! I didn’t see any mention of world imagery so I’m not sure if that is included. I’m sure we’ll hear more over the next few days.

Frankly I see no upside to this. As a consumer of aerial photography I just see this as one less option out there. Frankly I’m glad I have at least one independent choice in Aerials Express.

Spin this however you wish, but this is bad for consumers.

Looks like 3Dconnexion would like to get their product working with ArcGIS.

An update from 3Dconnexion? our devices do not work today with ArcGIS or other ESRI products. That being said, we would love to integrate support into these applications and are willing to do the work. We will be supporting NASA World Wind and expect to ship that solution within the next three months.

Sincerely,

Ziva Nissan
Sr. Product Marketing Manager
3Dconnexion, Inc.

I’d buy one in a heartbeat if I could use it with ArcScene and ArcGlobe (let along ArcGIS Explorer).

Looks like World Wind users won’t have to wait long though.

Go ahead and grab what might be the last release candidate before World Wind 1.4 goes final. Daniel Baker created a “What’s new in 1.4” so you can see all the new features and eye candy that NASA World Wind 1.4 has in store.

Chad says NASA World Wind 1.3.6 has been indefinitely delayed. The result is that if you want to use the latest WW features, you’ll have to take the plunge and upgrade to .NET 2.0. I suspect those who can’t go that route will just use WW Java.

Looks like there is a new version of ArcGIS Explorer available (Build 350).

New Features:

• Keyboard navigation while using track line or track polygon in the measure and create notes tasks
• Vertical altitude (elevator) navigation has been added.
• New Unit options for the Position Status bar: MGRS and U.S. National Grid
• Improved functionality for Go To Location: support for MGRS, USNG and decimal degrees. In addition, the ability to Create Results of the location
• Clouds, stars, atmospheric halo are map properties of each map and are stored in the .NMF rather than properties of the application
• Set Home Server restarts ArcGIS Explorer automatically

Fixes:

• Once the globe is pivoted and flying has started, the zoom in key functions correctly
• When the most recent click is on the application’s title bar or is not on the map, focus remains on the map
• Scale thresholds are honored for local shapefiles
• Add Content for KML can be added via URL
• Once added to the map, KML files are listed in the correct order in the Contents
• ArcGIS Explorer can open a .NMF file containing a globe service with group layers
• The application disables the “->” button when the “custom tasks” heading is selected
• LayerResult appears in the correct layer order
• Polyline and polygon length properties have been corrected

Fixes to the ArcGIS Explorer SDK for .NET (Build 350):

• Calling GetSymbolNames(esriE2SymbolType.Unknown) no longer gives the error ‘Value does not fall within the expected range’

Believe me it is still in alpha stage, but if you’d like to see what PGS 2.0 will look like click below:

http://zhun.pair.com/spatiall/planetgs/

Believe me it needs some work. I still need to get the cron working so that it builds automatically, but when that gets figure out, the old site goes away. You’ll notice ALL the old feeds that were removed are now back in and it seems impervious to the Blogger spam attacks. Plus it has a nice Archive page so you can see what happened in the past.

I know it is slow because of all the feeds in it as it is dynamic as opposed to the previous static html page. I’ll get that squared away over the weekend.

**Update: **Sean has an updated scrubber Greasemonkey script ready to go.

A reader named Mike writes in the 3DConnexion post to say that the SpaceNavigator does not work with ArcGIS.

I have not been able to get the SpaceNavigator to work in any ArcGIS Software (ArcScene, ArcGlobe)

Bummer, but I guess it saves us from buying one.

Chad has some details over at his blog. I’m still waiting to get my hands on it, but it looks like I’ll have to wait a little bit longer.

Since I know most of the people reading this site are on windows, you’ll be happy to know that Quantum GIS 0.8 now has the Windows package built and ready to be downloaded. Make sure you use the torrent if possible. The Mac OS X Universal build is also available (torrent).

Boy, after almost two weeks of vacation I’m exhausted and ready to go back to work. OK, maybe not. 😉

Might be a good time for an open thread. Mark Fennell sent me a link to a project he’s working on called Wings. Simply put, it is a Flash game built on Google Maps imagery. You are an eagle, soaring over the world. You can also use lat/longs to pick any area you wish by using the following URL:

http://www.markfennell.com/flash/wings/index.php?latitude=33.4253&longitude=-111.9352&zoomlevel=0

Oh and how about Boise State? My wife is still in shock (she’s a Sooner). I couldn’t be happier as I love to see West Coast teams beat up on the eastern teams.