Centamap

Infobox Website
name = Centamap



caption = English version of the Centralmap service
url = http://www.centamap.com
commercial = Yes
type = Web Map Service
language = Chinese, English
registration =
owner = Centaline Property Agency
author =
launch date = 19 November 1999
current status = Operational
revenue =

Centamap is a free web map service that displays maps of Hong Kong, launched in 1999. It obtains licensed map data from the Survey and Mapping Office of the Hong Kong Government. [cite news | title = Sites deliver geographical data in accessible format | date = 19 December 2003 | publisher = South China Morning Post]

History

Centamap was developed by Centaline Property Agency at a cost of HK$6 million. The website was launched on 19 November 1999; within its first four days it had attracted 100,000 page views per day. [cite news | title = Centaline spends $6m to make Internet digital map, HONGKONG STANDARD | author = Amy Tse | date = 9 November 1999 | publisher = Hong Kong iMail] At the time, it was one of two digital maps of Hong Kong that had been developed using map data from the government, the other being PCCW's YPmap. [cite news | title = HK Develops Web Sites on Community Facilities | date = 19 November 1999 | publisher = Xinhua News Agency] Centaline had intended to make money from the website using banner advertising, expecting revenue of $1–1.5 million a year.cite news | title = Home pages become focus for spending and saving in hi-tech effort to attract customers - Agents step up pace of Web property wars | author = Sandy Li | date = 24 November 1999 | publisher = South China Morning Post]

Features

The website shows a single, seamless map of Hong Kong, the Community Map on Internet. The data for the Community Map is obtained from the Survey and Mapping Office of the Hong Kong Government's Lands Department, and it is jointly built by Cable & Wireless HKT's Telecom Directories Limited (TDL), Centaline Property Agency, and a Canadian software house.cite news | title = Net maps offer clearer view of Hong Kong | date = 25 April 2000 | publisher = South China Morning Post] The website shows the locations of various landmarks, places of interest, and property listings. Standard digital map functions are provided, such as searching by address, building name, street intersection and geographic co-ordinates, as well as panning and zooming the map. The map can be zoomed to an aspect ratio as low as 1:500 or as high as 1:10,000. [cite news | title = 三大電子地圖置業盲公竹 | date = 16 November 2000 | publisher = 星島日報 zh icon] The search function utilised data from the Geographic Information System (GIS). [cite news | title = 全球地理資訊獨家嚮導　用GIS方圓萬里盡掌握 | date = 21 September 2000 | publisher = 星島日報 zh icon] The website also showed census data and photographs of scenic places.cite news | title = Web maps set to give true picture, HONGKONG STANDARD | date = 14 February 2000 | publisher = Hong Kong iMail]

An April 2000 review of several digital maps of Hong Kong and Macau in "The Asian Wall Street Journal" complimented Centamap for having a search facility that allowed users to display, for example, a map showing a hotel by typing the hotel's name. The service was the only one that allowed maps to be easily copied and pasted into other documents. However, the reviewer lamented that the map lacked transport information and displayed only "the income and educational levels of the residents in [an] area", which was probably not useful to a visitor of Hong Kong. [cite news | title = Technology Journal --- Asian Technology: Lost in Macau? Skip the E-Maps | author = Gren Manuel | date = 24 April 2000 | publisher = The Asian Wall Street Journal | page = T8] Another review in the "South China Morning Post" that month noted that Centamap's website had a "no-frills" design, worked better in Netscape Navigator than Internet Explorer, and had less features than TDL's HKCityMap, which used the same Community Map data. By July 2001, Centamap had added links to government air pollution indexes across the city, the meteorological department's weather predictions and the government department responsible for selling aerial photographs; a review in the "International Herald Tribune" commented that the site was a good example of how online maps can provide information that is impossible to present on printed maps. [cite news | title = Uncharted Asia: Interactive Maps Are Few | author = Thomas Crampton | publisher = International Herald Tribune | date = 16 July 2001 | page = Finance/Business 13]

tatistics

From the website's launch in 1999 to 2003, the average number of monthly page views for its maps increased from 0.1 million to 4 million. [cite web | url = http://www.fig.net/pub/athens/papers/ts10/TS10_1_Shiu.pdf|title=Internet Maps for the Community in Hong Kong | author = Winnie Shiu | publisher = International Federation of Surveyors | month = May | year = 2004 | accessdate = 2007-06-02 | format = PDF] In November 2003, Centamap was the first mapping service licensed by the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department to disseminate census data at the building group level in addition to other GIS functions. [cite web | url = http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/press_release/other_press_releases/index.jsp?sID=-2688&sSUBID=-2687&displayMode=D | title = Statistics Advisory Board reviews government statistical work | publisher = Census and Statistics Department, Government of Hong Kong SAR | date = 2003-11-25 | accessdate = 2007-06-02] In March 2007, Centamap was the top website in Hong Kong's online travel market, capturing 16.5% of all website visits in the tourism industry. [cite web | url = http://www.etcnewmedia.com/review/default.asp?SectionID=11&CountryID=58 | title = Markets By Country - Hong Kong | publisher = European Travel Commission | date = 2007-05-31 | accessdate = 2007-06-02]

References

External links

* [http://www.centamap.com/ Official website]