Colorado-based satellite-imagery company DigitalGlobe will supply digital pictures to three Chinese companies for their consumer navigation devices. DigitalGlobe will be paid by the number of digital imagery subscriptions the companies get from their customers.
The three companies are China Mobile, the telephone operator with more than 500 million subscribers, YF International, which makes a consumer navigation device, and Hazens, which makes personal computers for cars.
Senior vice president of commercial sales Rafay Khan said imagery from DigitalGlobe "can help China Mobile subscribers get a clearer view of where they are and what is around them." The imagery will be used with map content from China’s largest navigation map provider, NavInfo.
Boulder County Business Report said DigitalGlobe imagery is used in a wide variety of defense and intelligence applications, as well as by civil agencies and those involved in environmental monitoring, oil and gas exploration, infrastructure management, Internet portals and navigation technology.