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New Google Earth Dives Into the Ocean

by Terrence O'Brien on February 4, 2009 at 12:32 PM



Google Earth is one of our favorite toys (time-wasters) here at Switched, and on Monday Google unveiled its updated version 5.0 (beta, of course) of the software. It's packed with so much new content that we're amazed we've managed to get anything done this week.

One of the features that has everyone "ooo"ing and "ah"ing is the new underwater imagery. Instead of merely flying overhead, you can plunge into the oceanic depths (by zooming in past the surface) and explore mountains and valleys of the sea floor. Links to information from National Geographic, Cousteau Ocean World, Wikipedia, and even animal tracking data can be layered onto these underwater maps.

The oceans aren't the only place in Google Earth getting a big upgrade, though. Many locations now offer historical imagery -- a slider at the top of the screen lets you travel back in time to see what locations looked like several years, or, in some cases, several decades ago. We're sure that this feature will continue to be upgraded as Google acquires new data and imagery.


Also, clicking the new camera icon will open a small dialog box with a record button and a microphone icon. Press record and all of your movements around the globe will be saved into a video tour -- you can even record your own narration. This is great in theory, especially if you're using Google Earth to give the same presentation several times. Sadly, your tour must be created in one take -- there is no pausing, no editing. There is also no way to share tours by exporting them to videos or files you could share with other Google Earth users.

The new features are all welcome additions to one of Google's most popular properties, and we're sure they'll only get better as Google expands its vast library of data. But we hope that the 'record a tour' feature gets some fixes sooner rather than later -- it's a great idea, but currently very limited in its usefulness. [From: Google]

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Tags: google earth, GoogleEarth, new products, NewProducts, updates

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