ArcGIS Explorer build 480 released

A new release of ArcGIS Explorer (AGX) in now available for download from AGX Resource Centre.

This release has plenty of new and improved features. Here are some that sound interesting:

• Enhanced Tile Fetching
  Tile fetching and tile management have been improved resulting in significant drawing speed increases. On machines with dual-core processors ArcGIS Explorer fetches tiles using multiple threads. Tile fetching now occurs while navigating.

 

• Find Telephone Task
  Find Telephone creates a point result that is the geographic location of a landline telephone. The telephone subscriber, if public, is also displayed in the Results window. You can find this task in the Task Manager.

 

• Add Photo Task
  Add Photo imports geotagged photos to create results. The photo appears in the Results pop-up window. You can find this task at the ArcGIS Explorer Resource Center.

 

• GeoRSS Support
  Geographically Encoded Objects for RSS feeds (GeoRSS) is an emerging standard for including location as part of an RSS feed. GeoRSS feeds can be connected to directly from the Open Content dialog box.

 

• Enterprise Geodatabase Support
  Enterprise (RDBMS-based) geodatabases (ArcSDE geodatabase via ArcGIS Server) are now supported. All feature types except raster catalogs are supported.

 

• GPX File Import
  GPS Exchange Format (GPX) is a lightweight XML data format for the transfer of GPS data between applications. ArcGIS Explorer now supports GPX format files via its File Import capability and supports importing waypoints, tracks, and routes.

 

• KML/KMZ Improvements
  The display of KML/KMZ pop-ups has been enhanced. KML contents display has been improved. Time series animation is supported.

 

Graticules and Reference Grids

A graticule or reference grid can be added to any map and is specified by choosing Tools, then Options and clicking Units. You can display a graticule of latitude and longitude lines if you choose geographic coordinates or a reference grid if you choose the U.S. National Grid (USNG) or Military Grid Reference System (MGRS). MGRS or USNG grid zone designations can be used in Go To Location.

E-mail

ArcGIS Explorer now includes direct e-mail support for the map and map contents as well as for individual features in feature layers, enabling collaboration.

• Maps, Results, and Layers
  Maps, results, and layers can now be shared via e-mail directly from ArcGIS Explorer. If multiple results or layers are selected, they will be combined into a single file.
• Features
  Individual features in a feature layer can be e-mailed via their pop-up windows. This capability is supported for all data sources with the exception of KML features and features from cached services disconnected from their source.

There are some other tasks and enhancements but these ones sound interesting to me. There is one odd thing - I can't install it on my laptop. I'm running Vista Ultimate on HP nw9440 mobile workstation. To see if it will run check the requirements on ESRI support page. Hopefully they will add more graphic cards or Vista versions.