Google Earth 5.0 takes you to new places
Posted by Jacque on February 3rd, 2009
Google Earth’s latest update – 5.0 — offers a number of reasons to download it. Whether you want to explore the oceans, Mars, or 3D views of Vancouver, or New York City, you are in for a treat.
Wired Blog Network says the “most exciting of the new features are the oceanography details. Google Earth has long offered minor, 2D topographical sketches of the Earth’s oceans, but the latest version adds the sort of details that Jacques Cousteau would have flipped for — you can now dive under the ocean and fly over undersea landmarks — mountains, trenches, shipwrecks and more.” The post shows some impressive screen shots, or you can find your own once you install the GE 5.
On the other hand, Google Earth Blog poster Frank Taylor says that one of his favorite new major features is the new Mars mode. The feature isn’t obvious when you first open Google Earth 5 — after loading look for the little planet icon at the top center of the view. Click on it and you will see a menu. You now can switch between Earth, Sky, AND Mars. This is not just an image overlay on top of Earth, he points out, it is a complete simulation of the planet Mars just like Google Earth. You use the same controls, and there is a set of very useful layers just like in Google Earth
The Google Earth Blog is a good place to find links to all the new features (including new historical imagery) of GE 5 beta.
