Google's mapping systems (Google Maps, Google Earth, plus anything else in the skunworks) will soon have extra detail down to the half-meter / 1.5 feet mark thanks to an exclusive deal with the company launching a new geo-imagery satellite later this week:

• Google signed an exclusivity deal with GeoEye

This will be good for me trying to map out my favorite haunts back home. What's your take?

Amusingly the satellite will support data down to 0.41m but the US government only allows the satellite provider to go as far as 0.5m - those 0.09m / 3 inches make all the difference, don't you know.