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Monday, June 27, 2005 9:00 PM PT Posted by Harry McCracken
First Impressions: Google's Amazing Earth
On Tuesday morning, Google plans to officially announce Google Earth, a Windows satellite photo/mapping/driving directions/local information program. Some of us here at PC World have been playing with the software for the past few days, and it's a wonder we've gotten any work done. Google Earth is that spellbinding; it ranks among the best free downloads in the history of free downloads.But it's not unprecedented, Actually, it's an update to Keyhole, a mapping program which Google acquired last year. We loved Keyhole even back when an early version sold for $90. (A more recent "lite" edition has sold for a reasonable $30.) Google Earth knocks the price down to nothing and adds useful new features, including integration with other Google location-related services. There will also be two premium versions, Google Earth Plus and Google Earth Pro, which will offer additional tools (such as GPS integration) for $20 and $400, respectively.
How is Google going to make money from this freebie? As with some of the company's other offerings, it's currently vague on that point. But since the software's uses involve planning travel and searching for local information, you can certainly envision a version of the software with embedded ads that could be unobtrusive...and maybe even useful.
Launch Google Earth, and you start, appropriately enough, with an image of the entire planet. By typing in a location or simply using your mouse, you can fly around the world with breathtaking ease, and land wherever you please. (Well, maybe there are places that the program doesn't have data for, but I didn't find them--I even spent some time poking around North Korea.)
Click on the play button beneath the screenshot below to see Google Earth zoom into PC World's own San Francisco neighborhood. (I created this animated screen with Techsmith's Camtasia Studio; it gives a better feel for the program's wonders than a still image ever would, but I shrunk it down and reduced the color depth to keep it from hogging too much bandwidth. And it's not quite as smooth as Google Earth is in real life.)
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A few other things you need to know about Google Earth (which I'll call GE for short--apologies to General Electric, although this program certainly brings good things to life):
You don't need a super-powerful PC to roam the world at will. Google Earth ran remarkably well on my aging Athlon XP desktop, which sports a circa-early-2002 graphics card. The single most amazing thing about the program is its responsiveness: Type in an address anywhere on earth, and GE starts to navigate there almost the moment you press Enter.
You can swoop and circle as you please. Navigational tools let you zip around any locale, moving in and out, panning around, and circling. Even though GE's world is mainly based on flat satellite photos, it does some trickery with perspective that results in a surprisingly three-dimensional look, such as in this view of Wrigley Park:
The image resolution varies. Some locales are in a high-res mode that lets you zoom in with surprising clarity; others are in a lower-res form in which everything looks blobby at best. (If the neighborhood where you grew up is in the better-quality resolution, you'll be thrilled, but if it's not, you probably won't be able to recognize it.) Here are Los Angeles (crisp) and Mexico City (blurry):
Major US cies have 3D building models. These aren't turned on by default, and they look a little like matchboxes, since they're rudimentary shapes, not detailed recreations. And they render slowly, compared to the rest of Google Earth. But they're still neat. Here's the Vegas strip:
Some natural wonders are, indeed, wondrous. That's because they're recreated in 3D models. Unlike the 3D cityscapes, these are detailed, colorful renderings that are something close to photorealistic. And since they're truly three-dimensional, unlike GE's satellite photography, they give you a much better idea of what the real McCoys actually look like. Here's the Grand Canyon:
GE knows the U.S. really well. You can use it to get driving directions, and to look up local information such as where to get a pizza or attend a museum exhibit, thanks to tools that meld the data in Google Maps with Google Earth's flashy interface. For driving directions, you can watch an animated flyover in which GE shows you your route from above--a truly hypnotic effect that can give you new insight into humdrum journeys. (My 15-minute urban commute was never so captivating as it is when viewed as a GE flyover.)
For the rest of the world, its information is sketchier. I've spent a lot of time wandering around countries far from North America in GE, and I've had a blast doing so. But you can't do street-level searching outside of the states, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of far-flung local information. For example, here's Beijing's Forbidden City--which I was able to spot only because I've been there, not because there's any obvious way in Google Earth to track it down (if it was in New York City, I probably could have just typed "Forbidden City" to get there):
Google Earth is so spectacular, particularly for a free program, that my first impulse was to feel guilty about criticizing it. The really tough stuff it attempts, it gets resoundingly right--it lets you navigate a phenomenally rich recreation of the world in real time, with navigation controls that are (mostly) extremely intuitive. But compared to other Google products such as Picasa, GE is surprisingly rough around the edges. Ultimately, it doesn't quite have that brilliantly simple Google user interface.
A few examples of places where there's room for improvement:
The error messages can be cryptic. For instance, when Google Earth has trouble with the addresses I type in for driving directions, it gives me a generic "Your search returned no results" message...but doesn't say whether it's the starting point or the destination that is problematic.
The program doesn't always tell you what it knows. When I ask GE to find me restaurants in London, it comes up with an array of them; when I ask the same for Paris, it can't find any. From this, I intuit that it has local data for London but not for Paris. But I haven't found any definitive, obvious way of knowing what it does and doesn't know...other than seeing what does and doesn't work.
Some controls could be more intuitive. One of GE's coolest features is its ability to show an animated flythrough of driving directions. But you launch these using a tiny button that's not clearly marked and which isn't near the fields where you type in the addresses for your journey.
There are a number of other quirks. Like the fact that the program uses miles in most places, but gives me driving directions in kilometers. (I'm assuming that'll be fixed at some point; if there's a way to switch to miles in the current version of the software, it's not where I'd expect it to be.)
Oh, and where's Hong Kong? I can't figure out how GE wants me to enter the name of this locality, and it doesn't know what I'm asking for when I simply enter "Hong Kong." I was reduced to looking up its longitude and latitude (using Google, natch) and entering those. That got me there.
I'm sure that if I knew how to ask for Hong Kong in the way that Google Earth expects, it would take me there instantly. But a truly Google-esque program would know what I wanted when I entered "Hong Kong." In this instance and others, GE isn't as smart as I expect Googleware to be.
Most of the nits I'm picking here are small. If Google agrees that they're flaws, it can likely fix them relatively easily. In any case, the company isn't calling this a finished product--like many a Google effort before it, GE is a public beta. It'll evolve, maybe rapidly.
It will also have at least one potentially formidable competitor: MSN's upcoming Virtual Earth software. In classic Redmondian style, Bill Gates has already demoed Virtual Earth and touted its unique features...even though it'll show up after Google Earth does. Here's a screenshot of a potentially interesting feature that Microsoft's earth will have and which Google's doesn't: 45-degree photography that (in this example, at least) gives you a much better idea of what buildings look like:
You can get the Google Earth beta here. (It requires a broadband connection.) Warning: Don't download it if you've got any pressing deadlines. But do come back and share your thoughts on it.
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coming from a beta user of the product. I love it! The interface is great, and the entire app has a lovely polished feel to it.
I just had a look at the Google Earth beta and you were right. Best not to download it if you have any pressing deadlines! It's 12:36 in the morning and I am still playing with it! Where I live is not a high res pic which is a pity but the system is just brilliant! It will be interesting to compare to the Microsoft version whenever that is released.
THis crappy software should be called "Google USA" The rest of the world is mostly ignored!!
WOW! No wonder Mr. Gates has been having sleepless nights. If this is a precursor to things to come from Google, watch out Microsoft. I have been using this to map out my house, see the details around it, look at my parents house in Moscow - simply amazing.
This is an amazing piece of work. I would expand on what you said about the rest of the world being terra incognita. This is not to criticize... you've got to start somewhere, and it made sense for Google to start where their market is. But if you go to Kazakhstan, for example, there are virtual road and water boundaries (green / red / blue lines) that are blocks or miles away from the corresponding features on the satellite images. Also, some cities are labeled on the map twice, by two different spellings, and the locations are different (although both are in the actual city). No doubt this is a big job to sort out. I hope someday we'll be able to see street names in Almaty!
Its just great to have one more great product from Google ... its awesome!!
No need to travel around in US for vacations .... its all here in Google Earth.
Why doesn't a large company like Google put some peopel on this and port it to the Mac? With it's better graphics abilities, this would be really amazinand faster than on Windows.
Mac's SUCK.
Apple has crupted exceptionally. Throw a party!
I have been using Keyhole (the originators of this software) for almost a year now. Since I was a paying customer, Google "grandfathered" me in the Google Earth. I gave it a chance, but Keyhole was better. More concise, faster, and easier to use. Good job for Google from the rest of the world, but from me, Keyhole did a better job. I'm sticking with the original...
As a user of Keyhole Plus I was invited to take part in teh beta testing. I have since been e-mailed andinvited to download the new Google Earth and have had my subscription doubled to expire in Nov 2006. Great. Only thing is that the download and installer wont run. Have since uninstalled Keyhole Plus ... but now cant run either. Thanks for Nothin !
How large is the download size? It's not listd anywhere that I have found. I tried to download Google Earth and it went on forever so I quit.
Google Earth is an excellent example of a lightweight Geographic Information System (GIS) application. While somewhat rough around the edges, it is a decent product (excellent freeware) that will be a real player on the web. The satellite imagery is fairly low resolution and out of date though. I could not find any references to the update frequency. I found the searching convention to be inconsistent as some places where accessible by the city name only and some required provinces / states / countries.
As usual it's US centric but hopefully that will change when the product is officially released.
I installed Google Earth on a Win2k Desktop and I'm amazed: I just cannot stop using it!
I'm in Italy and I found that many our our main cities are available in great details: I was also able to see my house from the satellite.
Anyhow I have a whish list.... as I have a Linux laptop which I use when I travel (and is connected via bluetooth to a GPS mouse), I would love if:
- google earth is ported to Linux
- Google frees the API of GE sothat can be used by the great (free) GPS drive
- google allows to export maps not only to Garmin & Magellan units.
Wrigley Park? Wrigley Park?
lots of potential here... I am sure Microsoft will have something to say about this. I'm looking forward to this "Virtual Earth"
Imagine this puppy on a MAC OS X .... AWESOME!!!!!
Windows is a 32-bit extension to a 16-bit graphical shell for an 8-bit operating system originally coded for a 4-bit microprocessor by a 2-bit company that can't stand 1 bit of competition!
Jacque: You are a waste of life.
Jacque: You are a waste of life.
Google Earth looks really cool.
Geography teachers now have a remarkable free piece of software!
All I can say is Google Earth is Simply Amazing
Simply Amazing
how dose it work
I LOVE Goofle!!!!!!!!!
Awesome...Awesome...Awesome...Awesome...Awesome...Awesome...Awesome...Awesome...Awesome...Awesome...Awesome...Awesome...Awesome...Awesome...Awesome...Awesome... Google Earth needs to focus on the US Federal market, tons of awesome applications and uses there to better support for the warfighters and Homeland Security -- we would all be safer (and cooler)!
How about updating your review as Hong Kong search works!
I could find my cattle farm near Coffs Harbour, Australia. Can't wait for the full version. Go GooglE
On an earlier beta it showed my address as 1 house over.
Great Beta, but resoution is not fine enough. You can get down to about 1500 foot altitude over Macon, Georgia and Monrovia, Liberia but large areas such as Essex County New York are blobs. I hope this improves greatly. I would like to see .5 m resolution or better but that probably will not be either soon or free. Yes, I spent hours pouring over Monrovia identifying features including my Embassy provided home that my family lived in from 1978 to 1980.
All I can say is.... Neato Burrito
Where did they get such hi res pics? its crazy! my whole family was mesmerize for quite a while and my mom had to pull us away practically.
AWESOME! Spent hours just traveling to places I had been. The effect is unbelieveable. Once again ... THANK YOU, GOOGLE!
Google Earth is great fun. I've been using it for a few weeks now. Of course, some of the aerial photos had to be altered for security reasons (such as the White House), but otherwise they're the real deal.
England, especially the London area, is well documented.
Some US states do better than others in the resolution of their photographs. The entire states of Massachusetts and New Jersey are two that don't have any of the lower-res green in them.
Hey can someone help me. I opened the link from the google website to download and saved the file. However, after that when I tried to run it a message at the bottom said it is an "unknown publisher, are you sure you want to run", I clicked run and then nothing happens after that. Can someone please tell me how I can fix this. It would be greatly appreciated.
I found my office in Kabul, Afghanistan, as well as my house here. The resolution is remarkable for Kabul, but suffers for the provinces. Just imagine what kind of tech is available to DARPA, the CIA, and other government agencies if Google can give this to us for free.
Terrorist are going to love it!
I'll say same thing I said to google (I emailed them), I feel like superman! I can fly anywhere! the only thing I don't like is you can't really zoom in to street level in many places outside the US. So far it seems only major capital cities outside the US have street-level detail.
Maybe American Kids will be able to find their home state - that's if they can find the navigation buttons.
This is the first time I've really considered changing from dial-up. sounds like fun.
I it a man thing?
Used Keyhole earlier this year to focus in on Chiang Mai, Thailand, and could swear that it zeroed in with a superior resolution. - the zoom resolution is not nearly as clear and still using the same LCD screen at 1024 x 1280; sometimes 960 x 1280 appears clearer.
I downloaded before I read the reviews. I have dial up. The program is r e a l l y s l o w but the pictures are still great when they finally arrive. My only complaints so far are that my window says "browser is ready" while it is still downloading and my house in the middle of nowhere Iowa is unavailable at 300 metre or less zooms. Pretty cool.
Very Very nice...but the Pics are old...my truck that i got rid of two years ago is in my drive-way!
There was a cool program on googleearthhacks.com that lets you make models to put into google earth, making this awesome program even cooler
The review says its supposed to be realtime but eachtime i go to the same place i get the same image with the same vehicles at same places.I've tried deletin the cache still ain workin. Can someone plz help me?
You need to enter "Hong Kong, China" to go to Hong Kong. It's quite reasonable for it to require that information if you think about it.
Woohoo...now the terrorists can spot us so much easier and blow us up. Hey look, there's the americans hiding in the desert....
Google is gonna get us soldiers killed...
SGT M, U.S. Army
Its nor real time, the images are a few years old.
You can only zoom into about 2000 ft.
The program is to focused on america. Interesting places around the world is still missing. For example, the large field drawings in south america. Palmanova the starshaped city of italy...Lots others.
Big parts of the world is still a blur, even the second largest city of my country...Therefore not a good program for danes.
Beside of that, still good fun finding the pyramids and the great wall of china.
But it could be better, and hopefully it will. Personally i used it to look around for awhile, and now i will probably not use it again for month, or years. Depends on google
I love google earth, I think ArcGlobe will be thown out soon. Thanks to google.
I love google earth, I think ArcGlobe will be thrown out soon. Thanks to google.
HELLO ......... THIS IS EARTH CALLING GOGGLES I'AM WAITING 40 MIN. WITH 1 ITEM REMAING ? ? ?
Its RUBBISH dont get it get search google.com for NASA Worldwind and download that it's so much better its more has better features and 45degree photography like the up coming MS earth program GET NASA WORLDWIND!!!
i cant find nothing on this thing how thas it work
i cant see any thing cleerly how its work some places i want to see but i cant mmm show me how to do it
There are nearly 15 million active users of Mac OS X, the world?s most advanced operating system, and the number of Mac OS X applications has grown to more than 12,000, including Microsoft Office 2004, Adobe InDesign CS PageMaker Edition and LEGO Interactive games. Why ignore these people?
This is a truely amazing piece of work, Manchester UK is good as is Singapore. The res on some of the US locations are very good.
SGT M stop worrying, The other side know where you are Going before YOU get there.
The Grand Canyon Is Amazing. To say Everest is the highest mountain it doesnt make that much of a fuss
My daughter introduced me to you on memorial day holyday I was blowened away and could not wait to come home and enjoy you..I can travel to places in this world without leaving home..Thank you..and , It's Free Travel....Gas is too expensive and you saved me mucho dollars..I love it...can't get off it....norma
Awesome...amazing...fantastic...terrific....tool for terrorist....hee
I'm agog in google's earth. I'm amazed at the democracy of it all....a free program of this caliber? Knowing that the big news programs during Hurricaine Katrina went straight for Google Earth gives me a sense of just how technologically superior this program is....and its free - Amazing! Go Google!
When is the Mac Version coming? I mean it... I CAN'T WAIT!
Hurry up baby... faster, faster, now. Now. NOW!
Apple users are patiently waiting.
Signed: Impatient.
This program is awesome. Used it to help find my brother a different way out of Houston down dirt roads. I could zoom in and tell him to turn at the house with a green roof. It is amazing.
Your politics is a tool for terrorists, not this awesome software
does anyone know can i download the zip version
does anyone tell where i can download the zip version
My god this is it...its the best freeware ever made........Hats Off to GOOGLE.......all hail the new software giant......GOOGLE GOOGLE
Great program. And try to draw buildings with Sketchup and exporting as a kmz file for Google Earth... just dazzeling!
come on let google eart to mac.
Anybody tried running this under Virtual PC on the Mac ?
Truely google is amazing. how can we not applaud their very existance?
When's the Mac version comming?? Don't know why people think google is going to increase terrorism .. you've done a pretty good job of doing that yourselves, man! Maybe there will be less collerateral damage now..
What were the steps you took in Camtasia to be able to record the Google Earth window? My screen continues to go black, when I'm trying to record the earth....
Thanks in advance....
i want to get clear map on my city benghazi in libya please send to me how to git that,
mr adel
totally awesom...
Great!
OK does anyone have any good "intel" (hahaha) on when Google Earth will be released for OS X? I WEEEL PAY FOOR ZEE INFORMAYSHON.
FYI, NASA World Wind, the likely origin of the GE elevation data, requires your computer to have a separate 3D card or it won't run.
The fact that Google ignores Mac users, pisses me off!!
But that is just because google earth turns me on.
I like a lot of your version to look nearby at the world from. I thank all those people who have allowed to create this program.
I like a lot of your version to look nearby at the world from. I thank all those people who have allowed to create this program.
My God, Sgt M, are you really so dumb as to think that the Google worldwide images are in real time? Please retire from my military. We need intelligent people in the service--not you. Google Earth is great but it needs updating of most places.
Toy users, you'll get your OS X version when Google is ready to give it to you. Until then, please quit whining.
intelligent people would know that the Mac OSX version is out since 4 weeks - so much for that US army!
If it only worked on my computer without turning my screen off during initialization.
sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
necesito ver a callao en peru
i have a question.some countries or cities are not clear pictures why? and how can ı find clearly pictures when i zoom the places! sorry for bad english because i am not american :)