Google, Microsoft set to snap aerial photographs on Australia Day

If you were forced to be photographed by airplanes soaring over your homeland in a jovial time of celebration, would you rather Gates & Co. have the negatives, or the future dominator of planet Earth? Aussies will have the option to make their choice on January 26th, as both Microsoft and Google have separately announced flyovers to occur on Australia Day in which high-resolution photographs will be snapped. Microsoft's motive is one with cultural and artsy underpinnings, as the company hopes to arrange individuals in order to form objects, scenes, and colored patterns from above, while Google seeks to cover more of the country for use in Google Maps and is encouraging individuals to distinguish themselves to get a free ride right into its mapping software. So if you're a Down Under native, or you just so happen to be hanging out in Centennial or Moore Park on Friday morning, toss up an Engadget poster, will ya?

[aide @ Jan 24th 2007 12:13PM]

is that a real plane?

[Ayle @ Jan 24th 2007 12:36PM]

Yes it's real it's the google's foundators private plane and the company which made the interior amenagement has almost been sued because they leaked the plan...... But I didnt know they had already finished working on it....

[Max @ Jan 24th 2007 12:38PM]

I would totally dress up as Waldo.

[2Perfect @ Jan 25th 2007 12:51AM]

to Max:
that made my day lol

[CL @ Jan 24th 2007 12:47PM]

I doubt that's the real Google plane while the founders did spend a ton of $$ right after the IPO, the one in this pic looks awful lot like a photoshop job from a United or Delta bird.

[Miguel @ Jan 24th 2007 2:43PM]

@CL
Of course it looks like a Delta or United bird. There are only two--count 'em: two--major airliner manufacturers in the world. In lieu of a private jet (a la Leer), if these corporate big shots are flying jet aircraft, it's either a Boeing or an Airbus design anyway. So, pretty much all planes are going to look like Delta or United with a different paint job.

As to the article: as if Microsoft ISN'T going to use this for Live Local. Sure, they may make neat mosaic collages out of the pictures, but they'll serve a purpose just as practical as Google Earth...

[Frank @ Jan 24th 2007 2:14PM]

Who wants to bet there will be scumbag spammers (oops, that was redundant) out there with giant "BuY C1al1s C4EAP!" banners? Can't we just kill them?

[Lambert @ Jan 24th 2007 5:51PM]

"I doubt that's the real Google plane while the founders did spend a ton of $$ right after the IPO, the one in this pic looks awful lot like a photoshop job from a United or Delta bird."

And you worked all that out form a 400 x 164 pixel image? Wow!!! How can you be so sure that it's not a *paint* job, on a real plane? Why not include TWA, Jet Blue, BA, Quantas and all the other airlines in your speculation?

[mark @ Jan 24th 2007 2:03PM]

i sense the makings of a "who can write the biggest swear word" compitition

[Alex @ Jan 24th 2007 3:46PM]

Wow - Moore Park and Centennial Park references. Nice one.

I'll be at Clovelly beach - if you can get a poster to me in time I'd display it... :-)

[brad @ Jan 25th 2007 9:07AM]

Oh yes I forgot it's "Sydney Day" and not Australia Day. What about he 400,000 people that will be watching the country's biggest fireworks on the Swan River in Perth. We'll all be looking up!

[constantnormal @ Jan 24th 2007 4:00PM]

In response to the query "Who wold you rather have image you on the web?", I suggest that targeted Aussies write either a "G" or "M" in their lawns with lime, or something dark if their "lawns" tend toward the dry and dusty variety. Then we can all see the results.

My guess is that such letters should be about 5 meters from bottom to top, and the lines forming the letters should be maybe almost a meter wide. Ideally, letters that could be used as sidewalks should work fine.

[Aussie @ Jan 24th 2007 7:28PM]

No, most "Australians" won't get a chance to be photographed, only "Sydney residents".

20 million people across a country the size of the USA and they're flying over one city.

[capagotks @ Jan 25th 2007 5:05PM]

size of the us? na mate, where smaller

[Evan @ Jan 24th 2007 6:36PM]

no that is a photoshop job, the linkj below is the real plane

http://www.airliners.net/open.file?id=1166162&size=M&width=1200&height=812&sok=JURER%20%20%28ert%20%3D%20%27A2767%27%29%20%20BEQRE%20OL%20cubgb_vq%20QRFP&photo_nr=1&prev_id=&next_id=1162840

[AJH @ Jan 24th 2007 6:59PM]

the 767 in question was a old plane from the qantas fleet..(qantas has no U)
yes,im Australian(and in sydney)
will look out for any strange fly overs..

[applesucksLeo @ Jan 24th 2007 9:18PM]

MSFT 4 ME...Guggle will keep your records forever and tell the NSA what you have been doing forever.
Watch "Big Brother;Big Business" for explanation ;)

[Tom @ Jan 25th 2007 5:28AM]

Someone has gotta get an Engadget banner on those pics!Use the
rasterbator to turn the Engadget logo into a 20 foot
masterpiece:http://homokaasu.org/rasterbator/If only I lived there...

[ED @ Jan 25th 2007 5:45AM]

only Sydney? why don't they do somewhere that doesn't already have pretty good coverage?

[Eric @ Jan 25th 2007 6:00AM]

Howabout, the bot(anical gardens) or fed(eration) square?!?!?

Mite as well put something strange out on my roof for the photos =)

[Noa @ Jan 25th 2007 7:12AM]

come on fly over Canberra why don't you???

ya bastards.

[Artr @ Jan 25th 2007 8:43AM]

ENGADGET SYDNEY READERS, UNOFFICIAL MEETUP

11:30 Opera House steps. Somebody bring a Rasterbated printout, because i'm out of ink and toner.

actually i might not be there at all since my cousin is coming up from Canberra but that's beside the point.


Also here's the map of the Google plane's route
http://www.google.com/intl/en_au/events/australiaday2007/index.html

and here's the REAL plane which will be flying overhead
http://www.google.com/intl/en_au/events/australiaday2007/images/planephoto.jpg