Higher Res Metro Manila Aerial Images Available From Google Maps
Saturday
Sep 9, 2006
Wow! I didn’t realize this until I tried looking for our new apartment via satellite imagery. Previously, only the client-version of Google’s geo service, “Google Earth”:http://earth.google.com , had higher res aerial imagery of Metro Manila. now, even the online version, “Google Maps”:http://maps.google.com does! I say “higher” because this is definitely better than what Maps had to offer before. Still, it’s not as good as Google Earth, and it’s definitely not up to par with the aerial photos or “Ikonos”:http://spaceimaging.com / “Quickbird”:http://digitalglobe.com satellite images that the surveying companies will give you for a few million Pesos.
Some Snapshots
Here are some screencaps of imagery of my beloved Quezon City.
Both our old and new apartments “are in this area.”:http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=quezon+city+philippines&ie=UTF8&z=18&ll=14.647047,121.057706&spn=0.002263,0.004576&t=k&om=1
Here’s the “University of the Philippines Admin building, where the Oblation is located.”:http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=quezon+city+philippines&ie=UTF8&z=18&ll=14.654821,121.064937&spn=0.002263,0.004576&t=k&om=1
“Here’s the Gateway Mall and the Araneta Colliseum in Cubao.”:http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=quezon+city+philippines&ie=UTF8&z=18&ll=14.621224,121.053023&spn=0.002263,0.004576&t=k&om=1
“Here’s SM North EDSA, sans the new ‘Block’ mall.”:http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=quezon+city+philippines&ie=UTF8&z=18&ll=14.656518,121.031892&spn=0.002263,0.004576&t=k&om=1 This means the aerial photos were probably taken pre-2006, when SM was still using the area as a parking lot.
This could open up a lot of new business opportunities for people who do web apps! This was exactly what I was looking for back when I worked with i.PH–location-based services and geotagging were the hot thing back then. I wonder if it’s still a good idea to do this today. Joel was right. Google’s going to put those aerial photo and satellite imagery companies out of business (at least for the consumer/low-end market, and not those requiring millimiter-level accuracy). Google is giving this stuff away for free!
Web apps, anyone? I hope we beat you guys to it! 
Comments
j4s0n
September 9th, 2006 at 9:58 pm
oh unbelievable!
ade
September 9th, 2006 at 10:36 pm
nice!
J. Angelo Racoma
September 10th, 2006 at 9:24 am
Crazy, eh? Does anyone have vector data we can overlay here?
vance
September 10th, 2006 at 10:26 am
wow coool! kailan kaya ilalagay yung mga street names???
j4s0n
September 14th, 2006 at 10:30 am
ok here it goes: PinoyLocator.com
seav
October 7th, 2006 at 3:17 am
There’s a recent update (October 3) to the satellite imagery. I’m sure you’ve noticed before that Makati CBD is covered in clouds. This recent update fixed that and we now have most of Metro Manila without clouds!
I’ve blogged about this update: Cloudless Makati in Google Maps! and “Google Maps/Earth Updated Coverage”. Enjoy “roof-surfing”!
J. Angelo Racoma
October 7th, 2006 at 12:26 pm
Thanks for the update, Seav. There’s a lot of stuff one can do with Google Maps’ API, especially now that Makati’s clearer.
Herbert
October 12th, 2006 at 2:51 pm
I noticed the resemblance last Monday on the Inquirer frontpage.
A map of the Mactan Channel from Google Map was labeled as CDNGraphics. Know more about this in
http://blog.hcarigma.net/?p=45
bianca
April 15th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
hey… i need a little help here… i’m moving to qc this school year and i was wondering if you know any clean, preferrably new, apartments in the area. sana near diliman. anyways, if you can help me thanks a lot.