DeLorme is the producer of personal satellite tracking, messaging, and navigation technology. The company’s main product, ''inReach'', integrates GPS and satellite technologies. ''inReach'' provides the ability to send and receive text messages anywhere in the world (including when beyond cell phone range) by using the Iridium satellite constellation. By pairing with a smart phone, navigation is possible with access to free downloadable topographic maps and NOAA charts. On February 11, 2016, the company announced that it had been purchased by

Garmin Garmin Ltd. (shortened to Garmin, stylized as GARMIN, and formerly known as ProNav) is an American, Swiss-domiciled multinational technology company founded in 1989 by Gary Burrell and Min Kao in Lenexa, Kansas, United States, with headquarte ...

, a multinational producer of GPS products and services.Garmin® Signs Purchase Agreement to Acquire DeLorme®
11 February 2016 DeLorme also produces printed atlas and topographic software products. The company combines digital technologies with human editors to verify travel information and map details. ''DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer'' is a complement to a vehicle’s GPS or online mapping site, allowing a traveller to browse and highlight the anticipated route and the possible activities or excursions along the way or at the destination. DeLorme’s ''Topo'' software is one of the sources of North American trail, logging road and terrain data for outdoor enthusiasts. ''Topo 10'' has US and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

topographic maps and elevation data with more than four million places of interest. ''Topo'' includes comprehensive park, lake, river and stream data for all 50 states. DeLorme continues to sell paper atlases, with more than 20 million copies sold to date. Founded in 1976, DeLorme is headquartered in Yarmouth,

Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...

, and is home to Eartha, the world's largest revolving

globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model glo ...

History

The company was founded in 1976 by David DeLorme, who, being frustrated with obsolete back-country maps of the Moosehead Lake region of

, vowed to create a better map of Maine. DeLorme combined state highway, county, and town maps as well as federal surveys to produce the ''Maine Atlas and Gazetteer'' which was printed in a large-format book with an initial printing of 10,000, which he marketed out of his car. ''The Gazetteer'', which listed bicycle trails, canoeing and kayaking trips, and museum and historic sites, proved quite successful. The company expanded to 75 employees in 1986, working from a

Quonset hut A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel having a semi cylindrical cross-section. The design was developed in the United States, based on the Nissen hut introduced by the British during World War ...

in Freeport, Maine, producing maps for

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian province ...

and upstate New York.International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 53. St. James Press, 2003 (via Fundinguniverse.com)
/ref> In 1987, the company produced a CD with detailed topographic map data of the entire world. In 1991, DeLorme began vending ''Street Atlas USA'' on a single CD-ROM, becoming the most popular street-map CD in the United States, as well as one of the first mass consumer CD-ROM software products of any kind. By 1995, DeLorme had 44 percent of the market share for CD maps. The same year the company partnered with the

American Automobile Association American Automobile Association (AAA – commonly pronounced as "Triple A") is a federation of motor clubs throughout North America. AAA is a privately held not-for-profit national member association and service organization with over 60 m ...

(AAA) to produce the ''AAA Map 'n Go'', the first mapping product to generate automatic routing. They also introduced the DeLorme GPS receiver to work with its maps. In 1996, it introduced its maps into the PDA environment via Palm. In 1997, the company relocated to a new corporate campus in Yarmouth, Maine, that features a giant model of the world, named Eartha, the largest rotating globe in the world. The company has provided complimentary geographic educational sessions for thousands of school children over the years and the public is welcome to visit and see Eartha from the three-story balconies. In 1999, DeLorme introduced ''3D TopoQuad'' DVD and CD products, which include digitized U.S. topographic maps. In 2001, ''XMap'' professional GIS map program was produced on CD, and an expanded ''XMap'' was released in 2002, modified to provide GPS functionality to Palm OS and Pocket PC. In 2004, DeLorme became the first company to sell a USB GPS device, the Earthmate GPS LT-20. At the same time, it began offering downloadable satellite and USGS 7.5-minute quads that could be overlaid on its maps using a new NetLink feature. Earlier models of Earthmate were among the first GPS receivers tethered to laptops. In 2006/2007, the firm introduced its first full-featured GPS standalone receiver, the Earthmate GPS PN-20. During 2008, the company continued expanding its handheld GPS line with the Earthmate GPS PN-40 model. DeLorme also began selling OEM GPS modules allowing other manufacturers to add GPS to their products. In addition, the company began selling data to businesses. In 2009, DeLorme released D.A.E. (Digital Atlas of the Earth). It is the first worldwide GPS accurate topographical map with a scale of 1 to 50,000. D.A.E. is the official world map for the US and Australian militaries. It is a virtual globe of the earth that is almost 1,000 feet in diameter.

Acquisition

On February 11, 2016, GPS products and services company

announced it had agreed to purchase DeLorme. The announcement stated operations at DeLorme's Yarmouth facility would continue. Another announcement (March 3, 2016) confirmed the acquisition was complete.

References

External links

DeLorme website

inReach website

Facebook: DeLormeGPS

Twitter: DeLormeGPS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delorme Map companies of the United States Software companies based in Maine Atlases Cartography GIS companies GIS software Global Positioning System Navigation system companies Route planning software Companies based in Yarmouth, Maine American companies established in 1976 Publishing companies established in 1976 Software companies established in 1976 1976 establishments in Maine 2016 mergers and acquisitions Garmin Software companies of the United States

History

Acquisition

See also

References

External links