Expert’s Rating
Our Verdict
In the ubiquitous“Lazy Sunday”video — now officially over - saturated since it ’s being quoted in software reviews — Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg are moved by Google’smap featuresto observe , “ Google Maps is the best / True dat / Double true ! ” One wonders whatGoogle Earth()—a 3 - D chromosome mapping tool that made its Mac debut last month — would inspire them to say . The covering ’s Macworld Expo - week release plausibly engender the most buzz of any non - Apple - made product during Expo , and for unspoiled reason — it ’s a visually hint - pickings and unusually habit-forming tool .
Google Earth is a detached , stand - alone earth simulation program that integrate maps and satellite imagery with Google hunt capability . In a sense , it ’s not all that different from the satellite aspect option you get with the on-line version of Google Maps . Then again , that ’s like saying the notepad doodle you sketched during your last office coming together is not all that dissimilar from a Rembrandt . sure enough , both are artist renderings , but one is just a wee bit more full - featured than the other .
For starters , Google Earth resides on your background . You do n’t need to have a web browser receptive to run it , though you will need an Internet connection . ( Otherwise , the app will stall when it tries to login to the Google Earth host after launching . ) Also , this is not just a flat , overhead scene — Google Earth features a crook , horizontal eyeshot that ’s more like what you would see looking out an plane windowpane . you may zoom in and out as you would with a compressed function , but you may also tilt the sensible horizon up and down and rotate the pic for a more panoramic view . look for a metropolis or an computer address or a landmark , and Google Earth will zoom in ; do another search , and the covering zooms out and pan over with the globe tilting fitly all the while . It ’s an arresting effect .
Graphical tumbling aside , you basically use Google Earth for the same reason you expend any of Google ’s on-line mapping shaft — to discover out where things are , what ’s nearby them , and how to drive there . ( Or , at least , you expend Google Earth to do that once you get over the featherbrained thrill of checking out what your house looks like from space courtesy of the satellite imagery the lotion relies on . )
Say you ’re in Detroit for this week’sSuper Bowl , and you ’d care to grab a bite to eat around the bowl . Just typeFord Field , Detroitinto Google Earth ’s hunt streak — once you ’ve zoomed in to the neighbourhood , click the curb mark box next to Dining ( locate in both the navigation bar on the bottom of the main window as well as the Layers pane on the left side ) . Google Earth will exhibit the restaurants in the area by name and with a fork - and - tongue picture ; come home on that image to get an address , earphone number , or driving direction .
Restaurants are n’t the only thing Google display . you’re able to select everything from gas stations to golf course to ATM locales . Other layers expose commuter train runway rail line , congressional districts , and even crime stats . One of the more interesting layer is one for construction — snap on that will expose 3 - five hundred images of cityscape for 38 U.S. cities , like the ikon of downtown Baltimore below . It ’s optic - catching , although the 3 - D building images are merely gray shapes and not semblance - renderings , give your map an early Sim City form of feel .
you’re able to augment the data layer that arrive with Google Earth by download ones produce by other Google Earth drug user in KML geographical markup spoken language . I trieda few that Google makes availableafter you download Google Earth — a layer that demo hotels , another exhibit connexion to Wikipedia article , and so off . I find them to be of varying degree of usefulness , but you ’ll want to explore them on your own .
It ’s drive directions where Google Earth really shine . After take the Directions yellow journalism , type in your starting point in time and your goal . The pane below the tab will list step - by - step direction on how to get from Point A to Point B , with total space and estimated traveling time . The main artificial satellite function will draw a purple line from your green start point to your red name and address — yellow visual cues along the road key to the written direction show you when and where to bend .
Ah , but it get even better . press the Play button at the bottom of the written way , and Google Earth will begin to repel the road for you , giving you a hoot ’s oculus view of all the twist and turns you ’ll take . As the satellite image motility from power point to manoeuvre on the route , the appropriate direction are highlighted in the dot on the left wing .
As you might have guessed , features like this require some processing sex appeal . Google Earth requires machine with at least a 500MHz processor and 256 MB of RAM running group O hug drug 10.4 — but that really is abareminimum . I did most of my testing on a 1.5GHz PowerBook G4 with 1.25 GB of RAM , and I still comment the periodic singultus — not enough to diminish my enjoyment of Google Earth but enough to notice it was happening . Running the app on a dual - magnetic core 2GHz Power Mac G5 produced more consistent results .
There are more annoying quirks than the periodic stammer . As your tent-fly To searches grow , the My Places and Layers panes get compact — I’d like more control over how those panes extend and break . Also , Google Earth can now and again get stick in certain venue . After doing aerial searches of the Orlando , Florida region grow tiresome — so that ’s what Epcot Center looks like from 3,000 foot — I settle to startle over to Lihue on the island of Kauai . problem was , just typingLihuemade Google Earth think I was looking for things named “ Lihue ” in and around Orlando . Typing the city nameplusthe state name finally did the magic trick . ( look for by airport codes or zip code also seems to exploit . )
These minor frustration aside , Google Earth is a great searching and info tool . Doubtlessly , we can look forward to someone knock its extolment in the next over - exposedSaturday Night Livevideo to come along .
