Google Earth 5 Video

Google Earth 5 Video Transcript

[ Music ] ^M00:00:02

>> Until now, Google Earth has been limited to the portions of our planet that haven't been covered by water. In the new version, Google includes the seven seas as well as layers for historical maps and even scientific data from the red planet Mars. Hi, I'm Seth Rosenblatt for CNET Download.com. And in this First Look video, we are checking out what's new in Google Earth 5. Heralded by nobody less prestigious than green guru Al Gore, Google Earth makes a bid for the most comprehensive mapping program around, but is it really as cool as they say? The answer might surprise you. Google Earth's Maps are incredible. I doubt this much cartographic information has been made available to the public in one place before -- ever. With oceans, you can now explore the other final frontier, from shipwrecks to tracking tagged marine animals. Go over to the layers and having click on Oceans to activate the Ocean Maps. You can customize which Ocean Maps you want to look at the same way as any other Google Map layer by checking off the box next to the layer you want. There are tours you can take courtesy of National Geographic and BBC World and using the record feature you can make your own. Just like with Google Earth 4, you can download Ocean's Pacific map layers to add another dimension to your navigation. Here's the Marie Tharp World Ocean Floor Map for example. Using the toolbar, you can take a look at historical maps and even watch urban destinations grow. The data is limited, but that's a function of when aerial maps become available and not a slide against Google. Here's Las Vegas, which you can see progressing from the 1950's through to today. It's a bit frustrating that some of the maps like the Vegas ones require you to advance one map at a time instead of progressing like a movie, but the feature is a great public resource and hopefully can be expanded to include things like aerial shots from the military campaigns long since over. If you've had enough of this planet, you can go to Mars. Click on the planet icon on the toolbar and you're whisked to a view of our neighbor -- thanks to data provided by NASA. The Mars maps include more than mere place's name. Sure, there's the Olympus Mons, but the scientific data also includes up to date facts and scientific speculation. The presence of water is discussed and key geographic elements on Mars are highlighted using excerpts from the book "A travelers Guide to Mars." These new features mesh seamlessly with previous Google Earth navigation habits. That's good news for those who like continuity or bad when you consider the Google Earth search feature doesn't ever been up to par with the publishers signature product. Key in Titanic, for example and you might be given a list of shops that have the same word in their name with hardly a shipwreck in sight. Don't expect this version to fly through render neither. Some users will notice improvements, but not all. Now there are reports of the Google Updater for Macs, not allowing users to uninstall individual programs, such as getting rid of only Google Earth. Consider yourselves warned. Even with these rough spots, Google Earth remains a must have for cartographic exploration because of the sheer volume of incredible things. You can both learn from it and use it to teach others. For Download.com, I'm Seth Rosenblatt with a First Look at Google Earth 5. ^M00:03:27 [ Music ]