Honda's Electro Gyrocator and other projects, but hadn't created a successful product. It's been argued that the Japanese government shielded its own manufacturers, and Etak might have been shut out in its mapping efforts even after having been allowed in. As reported in Fortune magazine in 1992: "[Etak] was the first to begin electronic mapping of Japanese cities in 1987, hoping to enable ambulance services and others to find addresses on computer screens. But a year later the government decided that Etak needed a license. By the time it came through, the company's head start was gone and a Japanese competitor had moved in." Etak's acquisition (for a reported $25 million) by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation marked a decisive change in emphasis. Murdoch had been persuaded that digital maps would be a major advertising medium, and Etak was arguably the leader in mapping the markets of major nations. Sony Corporation in 1995 announced the Sony NVX-F160 system using Etak's digital mapping software. In April 1997, after Sony acquired Etak, Sony launched the "SkyMap" portable GPS system. Originally marketed to business travelers, SkyMap included two CD-ROMs (Eastern and Western US), a remote control, dashboard GPS antenna, and a PCMCIA card for laptops. Recreational vehicle owners became a surprise market for the SkyMap product. Etak was involved in many web and mobile initiatives during the dotcom boom, and partnered in the release of the first consumer internet-enabled Location-Based mobile applications. Expansion and Consolidation In 1995 News Corp expanded Etak's field operations unit to more quickly create accurate maps of major US cities. The majority of a second building at 1605 Adams Drive in Menlo Park (around the corner from the first building) was leased by Etak to house a map library, Sun SPARC digitizing stations, and field operations in early 1995. Prior to this, all national field operations were out of the Menlo Park office. Field offices, staffed by between 6-16 personnel, were opened in (in order of opening): Detroit, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Miami, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta and Orlando. Starting in 1996, a highways project was started to capture geometry, geo-location, services, and navigation attributes along the interstate and federal and state highway systems. Under Sony's ownership, urban core projects were started in 1997 in Portland, Sacramento, Boston, New York, Las Vegas, San Diego, Dallas, San Antonio, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, and Kokomo, Indiana,