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by Martin Brinkmann on April 18, 2017 in Companies, Google - Last Update: January 04, 2018 - 43 comments
Google unveiled a redesigned version of Google Earth today which, unlike its predecessor, is a web application. While that sounds good on first glance, as you may run Google Earth now without having to install software or an application first, the new version is limited to Google Chrome currently on the desktop.
The desktop version of Google Earth is still offered on the official site though, so that non-Chrome users may download and use the application in its older form.
Google notes that the new Google Earth works in Chrome on the desktop only. While that means support on Chromebook devices, and also better support on Linux, it also means that the new version of Google Earth is not available for users who run non-Chrome desktop browsers.
Changing the user agent does not help right now to get the new Google Earth to work in other browsers.
The company published a new application for Android which replicates the functionality of the new Google Earth.
Google Earth for Chrome
The new version of Google Earth does not replicate all the functionality of the desktop version yet. The interface and functionality has close resemblance to Google Maps, but you will notice that a lot of features and tools are missing from the implementation.
You may use the mouse and mouse wheel to rotate the globe, zoom in or out, and use the various controls offered on the web page.
The start page lists a handful of options on the left:
- Search -- jump directly to a location. Simply type the name of a location, get a list of suggestions, and click on any to jump directly to the location on Google Earth.
- Voyager -- features 'interesting places and locations' on Earth.
- I'm feeling lucky -- takes you to a random location on Earth.
- My Places -- an option to add places, KLM or KMZ files. You may need to enable KML importing in the settings.
- Share -- Share the current location on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or as a direct link for other services and messaging formats.
The new Google Earth is a work in progress, and it shows. You may get error messages when you use certain features on the site. I could not get the Voyager feature to run at all after the initial screen that is displayed when you click on the icon.
Google Earth would always throw a 404. That's an error, error message stating that balloon.html was not found on the server.
You may run into other issues. KML support is not fully implemented yet for instance. Google acknowledges that most 'creation tools' are missing that users of classic Google Earth have at their disposal.
Features that Google mentions specifically are:
- Measuring distances.
- Historical imagery.
- GPS tracking.
- Flight simulator.
While Google plans to implement many of the missing features in the future, it is unclear whether some features will not make the cut.
Closing Words
The new Google Earth is not a replacement yet for the classic desktop application. It is fine for some basic searching, browsing, and looking around though. The experience that the new Google Earth web application offers is quite good, at least from a usability point of view.
It is easy to use, and the performance is good as well.
Major downside, apart from the features that it does not support, is that it is Chrome exclusive currently. This, like many other things, will probably change in the future.
For now though, you can only use the new Google Earth if you use Chrome or Android.
Now You: What's your take on the new Google Earth?
Google makes the new Google Earth Chrome exclusive
Description
Google unveiled a redesigned version of Google Earth today which can be run only in the Google Chrome web browser and no other browser.
Author
Ghacks Technology News
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Advertisement Google Earth has received so much press coverage that many users will appreciate that it is one of the coolest applications to download. In brief, it is a feature-laden 3D virtual globe, map and geography browser which lets users zoom in on their world with fantastic detail. View satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings and even explore galaxies in the sky. This application allows the exploration of rich geographical content, save toured places and share with others. The software maps the earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite imagery, aerial photography and GIS 3D globe.
Google Earth is undoubtedly a very impressive application, and it is extremely hard not to admire the wealth of features that it offers. Its satellite images are unrivalled, it provides useful and accurate statistical information, and the software has many practical benefits, such as helping to find locations and give driving directions. In terms of functionality, this application earns our highest praise. We use the software on a regular basis on both desktop and mobile devices (the latter under Android). However, whilst Google Earth is available to download without charge, Google do not release the software under an open source license.
In the past there have been attempts to reverse engineer Google Earth and implement its features in an open and extensible way. However, these actions have understandably been frowned upon by Google. Instead we prefer to see the development of open source virtual globe software which uses freely licensed or public domain data. Whilst the development of open source virtual globe applications may not, in itself, encourage Google to release its application or data under a similar license, it does give users the option to be able to have the freedom to do what they want. This route also helps to foster greater user community support to drive development often in the form of add-ons and plug-ins.
There are a number of applications which are credible open source alternatives to Google Earth. While none of the software applications featured in this article have all of the features offered by Google Earth (although some offer some different features), and they are not exactly comparable, they are all worthy of investigating.
So, let’s explore the 6 alternatives to Google Earth. For each application we have compiled its own portal page, providing a screenshot of the software in action, a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, together with links to relevant resources and reviews.
Virtual Globes | |
---|---|
World Wind | Virtual globe initially developed by NASA's Learning Technologies project |
Marble | Combination atlas/virtual globe |
Virtual Ocean | Integrates the GeoMapApp tool suite with the NASA World Wind 3-D earth browser |
ossimPlanet | Accurate 3D global geo-spatial viewer |
GeoMapApp | Earth science exploration, global topography database, and visualization |
OpenStreetMap | A copyright free alternative to Google Maps |
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