DeLorme Publishing Company was a producer of personal satellite tracking, messaging, and navigation technology. In 2016, Garmin acquired the company's products and the DeLorme trademark. The company's main product, inReach, integrates GPS and satellite technologies.[1]inReach provides the ability to send and receive text messages anywhere in the world (including when beyond cell phone range) by using the Iridium satellite constellation. By pairing with a smart phone, navigation is possible with access to free downloadable topographic maps and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) charts. On February 11, 2016, the company announced that it had been purchased by Garmin, a multinational producer of GPS products and services.[2][3]
DeLorme also produces printed atlas and topographic software products. The company combines digital technologies with human editors to verify travel information and map details. DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer is a complement to a vehicle’s GPS or online mapping site, allowing a traveller to browse and highlight the anticipated route and the possible activities or excursions along the way or at the destination. DeLorme’s Topo software is one of the sources of North American trail, logging road and terrain data for outdoor enthusiasts. Topo 10 has US and Canada topographic maps and elevation data with more than four million places of interest. Topo includes comprehensive park, lake, river and stream data for all 50 states. DeLorme continues to sell paper atlases, with more than 20 million copies sold to date.
Founded in 1976, DeLorme was headquartered in Yarmouth, Maine, and was home to Eartha, the world's largest revolving globe.[4]
History
The company was founded in 1976 by David DeLorme, who, being frustrated with obsolete back-country maps of the Moosehead Lake region of Maine, vowed to create a better map of Maine.
DeLorme combined state highway, county, and town maps as well as federal surveys to produce the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer which was printed in a large-format book with an initial printing of 10,000, which he marketed out of his car. The Gazetteer, which listed bicycle trails, canoeing and kayaking trips, and museum and historic sites, proved quite successful.
In 1987, the company produced a CD with detailed topographic map data of the entire world.[citation needed]
In 1991, DeLorme began vending Street Atlas USA on a single CD-ROM, becoming the most popular street-map CD in the United States, as well as one of the first mass consumer CD-ROM software products of any kind.[6]
By 1995, DeLorme had 44 percent of the market share for CD maps. The same year the company partnered with the American Automobile Association (AAA) to produce the AAA Map 'n Go, the first mapping product to generate automatic routing.[citation needed] They also introduced the DeLorme GPS receiver to work with its maps.[5]
In 1997, the company relocated to a new corporate campus in Yarmouth, Maine, that features a giant model of the world, named Eartha, the largest rotating globe in the world. The company has provided complimentary geographic educational sessions for thousands of school children over the years and the public is welcome to visit and see Eartha from the three-story balconies.[citation needed]
In 1999, DeLorme introduced 3D TopoQuad DVD and CD products, which include digitized U.S. topographic maps.[citation needed]
In 2001, XMap professional GIS map program was produced on CD, and an expanded XMap was released in 2002, modified to provide GPS functionality to Palm OS and Pocket PC.
In 2004, DeLorme became the first company to sell a USB GPS device, the Earthmate GPS LT-20. At the same time, it began offering downloadable satellite and USGS 7.5-minute quads that could be overlaid on its maps using a new NetLink feature. Earlier models of Earthmate were among the first GPS receivers tethered to laptops.[citation needed]
In 2006/2007, the firm introduced its first full-featured GPS standalone receiver, the Earthmate GPS PN-20. During 2008, the company continued expanding its handheld GPS line with the Earthmate GPS PN-40 model. DeLorme also began selling OEM GPS modules allowing other manufacturers to add GPS to their products. In addition, the company began selling data to businesses.[citation needed]
In 2009, DeLorme released D.A.E. (Digital Atlas of the Earth). It is the first worldwide GPS accurate topographical map with a scale of 1 to 50,000. D.A.E. is the official world map for the US and Australian militaries. It is a virtual globe of the earth that is almost 1,000 feet in diameter.[citation needed]
Acquisition
On February 11, 2016, GPS products and services company Garmin announced it had agreed to purchase DeLorme.[3] The announcement stated operations at DeLorme's Yarmouth facility would continue. Another announcement (March 3, 2016) confirmed the acquisition was complete.[7]
Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps.
Traffic Message Channel (TMC) is a technology for delivering traffic and travel information to motor vehicle drivers. It is digitally coded using the ALERT C or TPEG protocol into Radio Data System (RDS) carried via conventional FM radio broadcasts. It can also be transmitted on Digital Audio Broadcasting or satellite radio. TMC allows silent delivery of dynamic information suitable for reproduction or display in the user's language without interrupting audio broadcast services. Both public and commercial services are operational in many countries. When data is integrated directly into a navigation system, traffic information can be used in the system's route calculation.
Garmin Ltd. is an American, Swiss-domiciled multinational technology company founded in 1989 by Gary Burrell and Min Kao in Lenexa, Kansas, United States, with headquarters in Olathe, Kansas. Since 2010, the company is legally incorporated in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.
Tele Atlas is a Netherlands-based company founded in 1984 which delivers digital maps and other dynamic content for navigation and location-based services, including personal and in-car navigation systems, and provides data used in a wide range of mobile and Internet map applications. Since 30 July 2008, the company has been a wholly owned subsidiary of automotive navigation system manufacturer TomTom.
Eartha is the world's largest rotating and revolving globe, located within the former headquarters of the DeLorme mapping corporation in Yarmouth, Maine. Garmin purchased the company and the building in 2016. The globe weighs approximately 5,600 pounds (2,500 kg), and has a diameter of over 41 feet (12.5 m).
An automotive navigation system is part of the automobile controls or a third party add-on used to find direction in an automobile. It typically uses a satellite navigation device to get its position data which is then correlated to a position on a road. When directions are needed routing can be calculated. On the fly traffic information can be used to adjust the route.
Microsoft Streets & Trips, known in other countries as Microsoft AutoRoute, is a discontinued mapping program developed and distributed by Microsoft. Functionally, the last version is a subset of Microsoft MapPoint targeted at the average consumer to do a variety of map related tasks in the North American region including the United States, Canada, and Mexico, such as route planning.
Mio Technology Corporation, a subsidiary of MiTAC International Corporation, is a Taiwanese electronics maker that manufactures and markets pocket PCs, personal digital assistants (PDAs), smartphones and personal navigation devices (PNDs). It sells products under the "Navman" and "Mio" brands.
Navteq was an American Chicago-based provider of geographic information system (GIS) data and a major provider of base electronic navigable maps. The company was acquired by Nokia in 2007–2008, and fully merged into Nokia in 2011 to form part of the Here business unit. The unit was subsequently sold to a consortium of German auto makers in 2016.
iQue was a line personal digital assistants (PDA) with integrated Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers sold by Garmin. It was introduced in 2003 and discontinued in mid-2008.
The Little River is a tributary of the St. Francis River, about 148 miles (238 km) long, in southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas in the United States. Via the St. Francis, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River.
Traffic reporting is the near real-time distribution of information about road conditions such as traffic congestion, detours, and traffic collisions. The reports help drivers anticipate and avoid traffic problems. Traffic reports, especially in cities, may also report on major delays to mass transit that does not necessarily involve roads. In addition to periodic broadcast reports, traffic information can be transmitted to GPS units, smartphones, and personal computers.
The Ararat River is a tributary of the Yadkin River in southwestern Virginia and northwestern North Carolina in the United States. Via the Yadkin it is part of the watershed of the Pee Dee River, which flows to the Atlantic Ocean.
Magellan Navigation, Inc. is an American producer of consumer and professional grade global positioning system receivers, named after Ferdinand Magellan, the first explorer to circumnavigate the globe. Headquartered in San Dimas, California, with European sales and engineering centres in Nantes, France and Moscow, Russia, Magellan also produces aftermarket automotive GPS units, including the Hertz Neverlost system found in Hertz rental cars. The Maestro, RoadMate, Triton, and eXplorist lines are Magellan's current consumer offerings. The company also produces proprietary road maps (DirectRoute), topographic maps (Topo), and marine charts (BlueNav) for use with its consumer GPS receivers.
Etak, Inc. was an independent US-based vendor of automotive navigation system equipment, digital maps, and mapping software. It was founded in 1983.
Satellite navigation software or GPS navigation software usually falls into one of the following two categories:
Navigation with route calculation and directions from the software to the user of the route to take, based on a vector-based map, normally for motorized vehicles with some motorized forms added on as an afterthought.
Navigation tracking, often with a map "picture" in the background, but showing where you have been, and allowing "routes" to be preprogrammed, giving a line you can follow on the screen. This type can also be used for geocaching.
A satellite navigation device is a user equipment that uses one or more of several global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) to calculate the device's geographical position and provide navigational advice. Depending on the software used, the satnav device may display the position on a map, as geographic coordinates, or may offer routing directions.
Digital mapping is the process by which a collection of spatial data is compiled and formatted into a virtual image on a computer. The primary function of this technology is to produce maps that give accurate representations of a particular area, detailing major road arteries and other points of interest. The technology also allows the calculation of distances from one place to another.
Ansonia is an unincorporated community in Shippen Township, Tioga County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It lies along U.S. Route 6, near its junction with Pennsylvania Route 362, between Galeton and Wellsboro.
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