In This Issue:
Announcements:
Introducing Google Earth 4.3
The Sun is here
More, faster 3D buildings
New navigation
Street View
Image Dates
New Layers
New York Times
Global Awareness
New Sky Layers
New Imagery and Terrain
KML Now an International Standard
Explore Further:
Eco Everest Expedition
Placemarks of the Month
May Calendar
Want More?
Please note that Google Earth 4.3 was released on April 16th. Make
sure you download the latest version. Some of the content mentioned in
this issue of the newsletter will only work properly on Google Earth
4.3.
Where in the world is this beautiful lake? Be the first to submit the
correct answer here.
Announcements
Each month we highlight the newest additions to Google Earth content
and features. If you haven't been subscribing to Sightseer for long,
check the forum for previous editions. There were many new
announcements for Google Earth in April including a new version of GE
itself. Read on to learn more!
Introducing Google Earth 4.3 On April 16th we announced the latest
version of Google Earth version 4.3. This release advances our vision
of offering a realistic, 3D model of the world by giving users a
higher quality, more immersive experience. Watch a short video
demonstration of 4.3.
Here are highlights of the significant new features in 4.3
The sun is here - If you've gotten tired of seeing everything lit with
the mid-day sun, then we have just the trick for you. Click on the new
sunlight button on the toolbar in Google Earth, click the play button
on the time slider, and watch the sun as it circles around the globe.
Try getting close to the ground and look up at the eastern sky to see
the sun rise. We've added new lighting models to help the experience
look more real. See more about this fun new feature.
More, faster 3D buildings - With 4.3 we've significantly enhanced our
approach to rendering 3D data and have greatly improved performance
and realism. We've also added tens of thousands of new photorealistic
buildings for cities around the world. Read more about the details of
the new buildings, and to learn where to find them.
New navigation - The most visible changes in 4.3 are the new
navigational gadgets. Google Earth is a 3D application, but we
realized that a lot of our users never quite got the hang of using the
tilt feature to navigate around 3D features like mountains and
buildings. So, we spent a lot of time rethinking how users interact
with 3D data and realized that when in outer space and far above the
ground, you really want standard map-like controls that allow you to
pan and zoom smoothly. However, if you want to get down to the ground
and check out a city street, you really want a street-level navigation
mode like you'd typically find in a video game. The new features
address these issues, and include other mouse-based controls as well.
Read more here and here.
Street View - Ever since we introduced Street View in Google Maps back
in May 2007, people have been asking us when the same data would be
available in Google Earth. Well, that feature is now available in GE
4.3! Using the PhotoOverlay feature available in KML 2.2, we have made
all of the Street View panorama photos available as a layer in Google
Earth. Double-click on an icon to fly into a photo, and navigate from
photo to photo. Read more.
Image dates - Probably the most frequently asked questions related to
Google Earth have been - when was this or that satellite or aerial
photo taken? Now with 4.3, you can easily find the answer to these
questions. While looking at a particular image, point your mouse over
it and look in the status bar on the lower right. If we have
information on the date the image was taken, you'll see the date
appear. Although we don't have all imagery dates, we still have a
great amount of coverage. Have fun exploring!
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