bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

AS an aid to executive decision making, the United States software company MapInfo has launched the latest version of its desktop mapping software.

 MapInfo Professional Version 4 for Windows is fully Windows 95 compliant, and allows data held in databases to be displayed in a geographical format.

   Typically, this is shown in the form of a map. However, the new version can also handle satellite pictures, and can interface with GPS (Global Positioning System) transmitters.

   The new version comes with its own built-in set of maps, although it is also possible to scan in paper maps, or download satellite pictures. These different images can also be overlaid on top of each other, giving a more detailed display, over which the data is plotted.

 As well as mapping, MapInfo Professional can also display data in the more common tabular and graph formats.

 The new version also fully supports OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) technology, allowing MapInfo displays to be dragged and dropped into traditional applications, like word processors and spreadsheets.

 Alternatively, when the software is used on a computer connected to a GPS receiver, it can be used for the real-time tracking of GPS transmitters, say, on board a company's fleet of vehicles. Another area the company was seeing a lot of interest in its product from was for use in customer information applications.

 'Customer information is a very important business, and we are seeing MapInfo being used very commonly in those applications,' Steve Weick, MapInfo's vice-president for product strategy, said. In order to promote the software in the Hong Kong and China markets, MapInfo has established MapInfo Hong Kong in partnership with the Pacific Technology Group.

 According to Gary Leung, chairman of the Pacific Technology Group, the new company was targeting key vertical markets, including banking, telecommunications, manufacturing and transport.

 Among the set of data maps included in the software is a map of China showing its provinces. China is expected to become a major market for the company. Mr Weick said a simplified Chinese version would be available at the end of next month, and a traditional Chinese version by the end of March.

 Meanwhile, Mr Weick also said the company had established strategic alliances with companies like Microsoft, Oracle, Intergraph and SPSS overseas, and that the new local company would be responsible for developing those relationships in this area.



MapInfo updates mapping software