Any DC Software out there that allows an internet connection to give you sreaming Google Earth Background imagery? My Droid does it just fine with integrated kml navigation, so I can't imagine its much of a stretch and the update speed is spectacular.
Sure would be nice to have OTF background imagery.
Another option might be using the base maps available through ArcGIS.com. This is free web service that provides a large range of basemaps and custom ArcGIS web 'services' (an ArcGIS service is a digital map definition file that can be consumed in a web browser or application interface - more on that in just a bit). For example, I'm testing my iPhone and iPad an ArcGIS.com web map that I built on the ESRI site that brings together US topo quad coverage, Bing Maps and the USNG overlay for first responder use on our airport.
Although ArcGIS.com is a website and works well in just about any browser there are iPhone/iPad and Android apps available from ESRI that provide a smoother interface for those specific platforms. Performance is not as snappy as Google Earth, but it is more flexible and if you work for a company or government that runs ArcGIS Server you can create custom ArcGIS services and host them out to the web either locally or through ArcGIS.com.
Earlier this month ESRI announced that all of the basemaps available through ArcGIS.com are now free for unlimited personal and business use. These maps include Bing maps & imagery, image hybrid products, the full USGS 7.5 & 15 minute quad series, DeLorme topo coverage and more.
And for you AutoCAD users there is a free plug-in available from ESRI called "ArcGIS for AutoCAD". This plug-in turns your CAD project window into a dynamic viewer for ArcGIS map services, so you can pull any of these basemaps (and any other available ArcGIS service) into your CAD environment and display it against your CAD data. This is primarily a display-only function, although you can query the data running in the ArcGIS service (but you can't edit it or even snap to it in the CAD environment). This plug-in is also coordinate system neutral. As long as there is a compatible ESRI coordinate system definition available (.prj file) it will move the GIS data on-the-fly to whatever coordinate system you are using in CAD. For example, all of our design and construction work is done in a local coordinate system, but all of our GIS data is maintained in State Plane. We developed an accurate GIS projection file that defines our local coordinate system so when our CAD users bring in the GIS data they just assign the viewer the local coordinate system projection and the ArcGIS for AutoCAD tool moves the State Plane GIS data OTF to the local coordinate system. Our CAD guys have come to really depend on this tool.
If you are a surveyor or CAD person who is interested in learning more about GIS you need to spend some time reading up on the concept of the ArcGIS Service. Keep in mind that everything I've talked about here is just a content delivery system, but for spatial data it is extremely powerful and flexible and much of it is free.
Sorry if I sound like an ESRI acolyte here (cuz' Lord knows, ESRI and the GIS profession have their own 'issues'), but the ArcGIS Service concept is really something everyone should be familiar with and leverage if possible.
Not likely to happen in the Surveying program itself because the licensing for Google imagery gets expensive pretty quick at that level. You can install Google maps on most of the latest generation dc's since most have built-in nav grade GPS.
