主题：【IT新闻】Google的新举措 -- 收购了一家3D mapping公司 -- Highway

这家公司名字叫Keyhole，是一个只有20多人的小公司。但是他们的软件比较有特色，可以让我们在一个三维环境中观察地图，所谓的 users can view a street corner around the world, find a local hospital, map a road trip or measure the distance between two points

这笔交易多少钱我们不知道。但对于Google来说肯定是小意思了。Google上市两个多月来，股价暴涨2倍之多，在现在美国这种经济情况下无疑是天方夜谭了。真后悔我当初没买了点Google的股票。

这里是英文消息，有兴趣地可以看看

[SIZE=3]Google Grabs 3-D Mapping Startup[/SIZE]

Google Inc. on Wednesday branched out into 3-D digital mapping with the acquisition of Keyhole Corp.

In its second acquisition this year, Google has bought a startup company that connects consumers, businesses and public agencies to a multi-terabyte database of mapping data and images gathered from satellites and airplanes.

Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.

Keyhole, founded in 2001, sells software for viewing 3-D maps and images from as far away as space and as close as street level.

With the software and an Internet connection, users can view a street corner around the world, find a local hospital, map a road trip or measure the distance between two points, Jonathan Rosenberg, vice president of product marketing at Google, said in a statement.

"Keyhole is a valuable addition to Google's efforts to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," Rosenberg said.

A Google spokesman declined to elaborate on how the search company plans to integrate the mapping technology into its search products.

Keyhole's 29 employees all are joining Google, the spokesman said, and they won't have to travel far. Both companies are based in Mountain View, Calif.

Keyhole offers its client software in two editions, consumer and professional. It also sells an enterprise suite with client and server software for organizations wanting to publish geospatial data.

The software connects through the Internet to Keyhole's mapping and image database.

In one of Google's first steps, it reduced the price of the consumer version, Keyhole 2 LT, to $29.95 from $69.95. Google said the service will continue without interruption for current users.

In July, just before its IPO, Google also entered the digital photo management market with its acquisition of Pasadena, Calif.-based Picasa Inc.

The company has been largely mum about its plans for the acquisitions, but Google is facing increased competition in the Web search market. Yahoo Inc. early this year launched its own search technology, and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN division is developing its own algorithmic search engine.