Google remakes the earth

No, Google hasn’t become some sort of all-knowing, all-seeing online deity, but it has introduced some snazzy changes to improve the look of the Google Earth application.

Information Week reports that the new Google Earth 4.3 beta introduces a new degree of graphical detail at the street level by integrating with Google Maps Street View. That means in major areas in some big cities you will be able to zoom down to walking down at street level and look around you using computer game-like controls.

The beta will allow users to submit their own 3D models for inclusion in Google Earth via the Google 3D Warehouse – handy for businesses or institutions that want to increase their profile on Google Earth.

The new Google Earth beta also introduces photo-realistic images of dozens of cities around the world and also includes a new sunlight button so you can see how daylight differs in various parts of the world at different times.

And all Google Earth images now include the date they were taken, a change that will greatly improve its ability to work as a kind of verifiable real time snapshot of the state of the world.