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Google Releases Earth to Beta

Posted by Zonk on from the earth-to-go-live-in-2000-years dept.

Cros13 writes "Google has released a beta of it's Google Earth software to subscribers of the existing Keyhole service. New features include 3D models of buildings in selected cities, input from your gps receiver and a better search system. I have posted screenshots here and here." This product is in competition with Microsoft's Virtual Earth, as we reported earlier.

8 of 310 comments (clear)

  1. What would you use Keyhole / Google Earth for? by Enigma_Man · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Other than the "wow neat" factor, and nifty interface, what are some actual uses/features in Keyhole/Google Earth that aren't covered by things like Google Maps.

    -Jesse

    --
    Nothing says "unprofessional job" like wrinkles in your duct tape.
    1. Re:What would you use Keyhole / Google Earth for? by VAXcat · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I'm a pilot, and it's durned handy to be able to get a satellite eye's view of an airport I haven't been to before, so's I can pick out some landmarks. It's not that easy spotting a weedpatch airstrip from the air the first time over it, and the aerial photos in Keyhole help, especially the slant view feature.

      --
      There is no God, and Dirac is his prophet.
    2. Re:What would you use Keyhole / Google Earth for? by rsborg · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Other than the "wow neat" factor, and nifty interface, what are some actual uses/features in Keyhole/Google Earth that aren't covered by things like Google Maps.

      • don't discount the "wow neat" factor... it's great at parties :-)
      • Real Estate. I use it to look at open homes I am interested in, and to see if there are any things like trailer parks, railroads, cemetaries or other things nearby which might detract from the value/comfort of the potential location.
      Well worth $29/yr.
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    3. Re:What would you use Keyhole / Google Earth for? by kouhoutek · · Score: 2, Interesting
      I signed up for Keyhole in January, and was a little bummed when Google Maps came out, thinking I had wasted my money.

      Google Earth sure made up for it:
      • Maps is plenty slick, but Earth's interface is still better if you want to have a look around an area
      • you can take driving directions, and actually replay the whole route, isometrically, in 3D, looking down and where your car would be
      • you get your custom push pins, so places of interest become a permanent fixtures to your application
      • you have a greater variety of layers you can apply to your images
      • you can display maps with any conceivable orientation, and can set the altitude of your POV
      • GPS aware
      • $29/year is cheap cheap cheap
      And don't understimate wow neat. I was on a customer site, and the software I was training them on flaked out. I fired up Keyhole to look for a restuarant, "forgetting" my computer was still hooked to the projector. The class took the next hour or so looking for their houses, while I quietly worked the issue with support.
  2. Big Diffence by joschm0 · · Score: 2, Interesting
    This product is in competition with Microsoft's Virtual Earth, as we reported earlier.

    Note: Google now has screenshots and Microsoft has only stated that MSN Virtual Earth service is to debut in the summer.

    --
    01/20/09
  3. Re:It's its not it's! by ScentCone · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The funny thing is that "it's" takes an extra keystroke and reflects a deliberate placement of a character. And that means that the typist thinks it should be there. I'm rarely one to bitch about typos here, and I've certainly made my share of them (no question!), but that sort of thing in the headline or summary is just sort of embarassing, and contributes to the further poor use of it by more monkey-see-monkey-do people. I mean, the apostrophe has a system! Slashdotters are all about systematic nuances, and certainly love to kvetch about things like code syntax... so, here's a bit of code that's continually misused. Let's kvetch, I say.

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    Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
  4. Nasa has one also by thr2k · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Nasa has a pretty cool mapping program as well.
    World Wind 1.3
    http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/

    The servers are a little slow but its still a handy program.

  5. Open Source by gr8_phk · · Score: 2, Interesting
    For those wishing there was an open source equivalent, the flightgear simulator has worldwide scenery produced by the terragear project. Currently the terrain is based on the SRTM stuff from NASA, but I think there are some areas with higher resolution DEMs. Not sure, check it out. I'm also not sure how much geopolitical stuff or roads have been incorporated - their main purpose has been to feed the flight sim. Anyway, people interested a Free Software implementation have something to build on.

    Oh, and the guy over at vterrain.org has some ambitious goals related to this type of thing too with lots of links to sources etc...