MoreDue to requests by leading Geographic Information System (GIS) software vendors, including Intergraph, Trimble, MapInfo and autodesk, Lizardtech Software, a company that makes large images and documents usable over networks by greatly reducing file size without losing any data, is offering a Windows CE software development kit (SDK) for creating Pocket PC viewers for MrSID files. Part of Lizardtech's GeoExpress family of products, the SDK makes it easy for GIS developers to create applications that enable customers to view large graphical images on Pocket PC devices on wireless networks.
The MrSID Windows CE SDK is a specialized update to the popular MrSID SDK, successfully integrated as an industry-first on mobile applications such as ESRI's ArcPad and Trimble's TerraExplorer. With MrSID file formats available on Pocket PC devices, users in the field can pan and zoom through accurate and large images to more effectively interpret or acquire location data or overlay GPS data on maps, [j1]with near real time panning and zooming. For example, by utilizing a high-resolution MrSID image, a utility worker could use a Pocket PC device to quickly locate and log the condition of lampposts, or a railroad company could more efficiently notify repair teams if a tree falls on the track, by relaying precise locational information of the damaged equipment. Before the availability of widely used MrSID file format on Windows CE devices, displaying raster imagery was virtually impossible due to large file sizes and limited computing and storage capabilities of portable devices.
With the WinCE SDK, the GIS industry can create GIS applications that can:
- obtain real time information over the Internet,
- offer Pocket PC users location-based services, or
- provide graphical information on a wireless handheld.
MrSID files encode image files to many times smaller than the original, with no loss of accuracy or data. With the SDK, GIS vendors can easily add MrSID file viewing capability on the Pocket PC so that a 60MB image becomes 3MB image, with no visual loss of data.
The GeoExpress WinCE SDK is available now. For more information, go to www.lizardtech.com.
