[Marble-devel] Marble SPECIAL Video Review

Tue Mar 26 07:48:02 UTC 2013

Hello!

My name is Jake Carter and I represent FindMySoft.

I know you may be tired of receiving countless automated messages regarding your products but I assure you this one is different. To keep the introduction as short as possible, on 26 Mar 2013 we actually tested Marble and after that we did two things:

1. We created a Quick Look Video showcasing Marble's menus and features
2. We wrote a review highlighting important elements of your application

Marble Quick Look Video

This was not intended to be a full video review of Marble but just a quick way of highlighting the way the application looks and works, what the main menus are and how to perform basic tasks with it.
We believe this to be just a fast first contact with Marble for our visitors so they can better understand the program's interface and how it operates.

The Review

After analysing the application, Frederick Barton, one of our editors, wrote a short review, focusing on the strong points of Marble:

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Marble - Advanced virtual globe application
Maps serve many purposes and thanks to the Internet and modern day computers, you can find and download any type of map, without any difficulties. Marble provides a complete set of tools for anything that involves a map. You can use it for navigation, education, for scientific purposes or use it to explore the world and indulge your personal curiosity. 

 The installed application takes up 62.5 MB of disk space, which is not a problem even for older computers. You just need to specify a destination path and click a button to install Marble. The software is free and it is available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, as well as certain Nokia smart phones. Furthermore, Android and tablet versions are under development. 

 The user interface presents a 3D globe. You can rotate the globe in any direction and zoom in or out. A tabbed panel, located on the left side of the window, provides you with navigation options, as well as the means to view, enable and disable specific legend elements, switch between various map types, calculate routes and more. You can also switch from the 3D globe to a flat map. 

 One of the best parts about Marble is the fact that it comes with a large number of map types. By default, the software will show you an atlas map, but you can select other map types, on the left side of the interface, such as temperature or precipitation maps, road maps, historical maps and others. Furthermore, you can load other celestial bodies, like the moon or certain planes and download additional maps from the developer's web site or create your own maps.

 You can right click anywhere on the map and select various options, to copy coordinates to the clipboard, retrieve address details, measure the distance between two points or place navigational waypoints. If you place more than one waypoint on the map, the software will highlight the shortest route automatically and you can export it as a GPX file. On certain map types, you may click mostly any label, to retrieve information about places, from Wikipedia. You can activate other online services as well, located in the View menu, if you want to view earthquakes, photos, postal codes, weather information or satellites. Additionally, you can access a series of time controls and make the loaded planet move in real time, slower or faster. 

 Pros:
 The software provides you with a huge number of interesting features. You can load various map types and celestial bodies, retrieve information from Wikipedia and more. It is also possible to calculate routes, export them and use them on a GPS device. 

 Cons:
 There are no serious issues to mention.

 Thanks to Marble's smart functionality, you can plan and calculate your trips, view weather information and perform any other action that involves a map.

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In our ongoing effort to promote the reviews our editors write we would love to see a reference to our Quick Look Video or review on your website. This would also benefit your users as they could better understand how the application looks and works.

Here's the location of the review and video:
http://marble.findmysoft.com/

Should you chose to promote the Quick Look Video or Review, our editors could make video previews and reviews to any other software you may suggest.

Please consider using the attached images.

Any other opinions or suggestions will be highly appreciated.

With respect!
Jake Carter
jakecarter at findmysoft.com

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