Not content with its latest moon-bound mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has said that it will launch its own version of Google Earth in around six months. The project will be named Bhuvan - Sanskrit for 'Earth' - and is expected to provide satellite images that are newer and sharper than Google's popular 3D mapping tool.There's already considerable excitement surrounding the project. According to The Times, Isro's chairman, G Madhavan Nair, commented: "This will not be a mere browser, but the mechanism for providing satellite images and thematic maps for developmental planning."
But will it really be a Google Earth killer? Bhuvan will offer high resolution satellite images solely of India to begin with. If this is successful, the project could then start to roll out images for countries across the globe, which - like Google's offering - will be accessible at no cost online.
At first glance, Bhuvan has one touted feature that's certain to appeal to users. Unlike Mountain View's version - which only lets you zoom in to a 200 metre wide area - Isro claims that Bhuvan will let users zoom into geographical images to as small as 10 metres across. The Times relates that, if preliminary tests are successful, Isro could even incorporate a GPS system into the tool. What's more, Google Earth's images for India and South Asia are not as detailed as its North American and European counterparts, and Bhuvan could offer an excellent alternative to this.
However, it's as yet unclear as to whether Isro has the same resources at its disposal as the Mountain View giants, or whether it has the capabilities to rival the vast number of innovative features and layers available to Google Earth users. It's already come under criticism for the huge amounts of money that have been spent on Chandrayaan-1, its first moon probe, in the light of India's huge population, many of whom live below the poverty level.
Google Earth has garnered a solid user base since it first emerged and its imaginative features seem to have whetted users' appetites for greater advances in the fields of online mapping, a desire that could well see Bhuvan gain global popularity fairly quickly after launch. Moreover, Isro's base in Bangalore - South Asia's high tech capital - means that it's likely to be surrounded by great minds. As a result, Bhuvan could be the emerging rival that encourages Google to step up a gear and really blow us out of the water with new Google Earth tools - watch this space in six months to find out.
