Google Earth 4 beta

Some of Google Earth 4 beta's imagery, drawn from photos shot from satellites and airplanes, looks clearer than in the last version. By comparison, MSN Virtual Earth seems even slower and less vivid than it did upon its initial release last year. Google has updated its pictures and says that Google Earth allows one-third of the planet's inhabitants to view a high-resolution image of their own home. Cities now look more realistic, as Google has coloured in buildings with textures to reflect brick, glass and metal. The Options dialogue box now lets you fine-tune views, such as choosing from three levels to exaggerate the displayed elevation. This takes some tinkering to achieve the desired effect, as the third level can distort buildings significantly.

You can flesh out such views further by dropping your own 3D models -- whether photorealistic or cartoon-like -- from SketchUp or 3D Warehouse into Google Earth. An architect, for example, could draft a model of a project within SketchUp, and then load it into Google Earth to show clients a preview of the finished site. Overlays allow you to blanket a chosen area with the data of your choice. This could be helpful for showing, say, weather patterns around a camping site or changes to a construction site over a period of time. We dropped Google's sample model of the Transamerica Building into Google Earth's San Francisco within a minute. Then, just for fun, we grabbed a model of a giant PC monitor from Google's 3DWarehouse site and opened it on a rooftop in Boulder, Colorado, within a matter of seconds. However, we found it tricky to work out how to add and place our own SketchUp drawings into exact locations within Google Earth.

Google Earth is currently ad-free, although we expect to see commercial uses cropping up in the future. If you run a company, you can add a business listing to Google Earth at no charge. Members of any profession that deals with geography, whether it's selling real estate or managing ecological resources, could rely on Google Earth's unique abilities to map locations and display models of developments in progress.

Google Earth offers thorough Web-based support, including a getting-started guide and a searchable knowledge base. Although limited technical help is normal for a free download, we find that Google does a better job organising its instructions than other makers of online applications do. That said, Google's directions weren't newcomer-friendly when it came to integrating images and SketchUp models. For example, we'd appreciate better explanations of the options to Open, Import or Add content as well as a clearer walk-through of the difference between vector data, images and KMZ content. Only the paid Plus version allows you to contact the company via email.

Google Earth is the most innovative and powerful free mapping tool available. We like the fact that this beta version not only shows off 3D views of the globe, but lets you tell your own story and design your own environments, whether for personal or professional gain. How people choose to use such capabilities remains to be seen.