Digital Earth Blog

According to the Google Earth Blog (via USA Today), there is a great new 3D version of Disney World coming to Google Earth.  It’s due to come out as soon as next Tuesday (May 20).

It will include 3D models of items in Epcot Center, Animal Kingdom, Disney Hollywood Studios and 22 hotels and resorts.  There will also be interactive features on the map, such as videos and the ability to make reservations.

We’ll post more info about it once it is released.

We already know nine of the areas updated a few days ago — our answers were correct.  However, Google has just released a full list of the updated imagery.  Here you go:

New high resolution:
We have added a significant amount of new satellite imagery in Ecuador, Peru, Senegal, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, India, Iran, Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and The Philippines. Additionally, we have new 2.5m imagery for part of Western Australia

Updated Imagery:

USA:

• Los Angeles, CA
• San Diego, CA
• Houston, TX
• Miami, FL
• Chicago, IL
• Milwaukee area suburbs
• New York City area suburbs
• Much of coastal New Jersey
• Harney County (Oregon).

Europe, Middle East & Africa:

• England: Isle of Man, Suffolk
• Spain: Madrid
• Portugal: Lisbon, Guimaraes, Porto, Sevilla, Coimbra, Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca
• Italy: Milan
• France: Toulon, Montbeliard
• The Netherlands: Assen

Asia & Oceania:

• Armenia: Yerevan
• Australia: Melbourne, Darwin

Updated Terrain:

• Westport, Ireland
• Hawaii
• Puerto Rico

Google has updated some imagery in Google Earth, and once again they’re revealing it in the form of a quiz. Frank Taylor has already posted a few answers, so I’ll add those to our list. If you know any others, post your response in the comments and we’ll try to get them all figured out.

None of these answers have been verified yet, so some might be wrong. Remember that Google Maps still has the old imagery, so if you think something is new in Google Earth, compare it to Google Maps to find out for sure.

1) This city is home to over 300 museums. Its flower is the bird of paradise and its tree is the coral tree.
Los Angeles

2) An historic landmark, this all wood luxury hotel was built in 1888.
Coronado Island near San Diego

3) This city’s namesake was the Governor of Tennessee.
Houston, Texas

4) Many believe the Greek King Ulysses founded this modern day capitol city.
Lisbon, Portugal

5) Towering above many, this city is the 2nd highest capital on its continent.
Madrid, Spain

6) Considered the fashion capitol of the world, you can now visit this city with high-res imagery.
Milan, Italy

7) This is the city where Vegemite was invented and is now exclusively produced.
Melbourne, Australia

The cruise ship capitol of the world has gotten a fresh set of pixels.
Miami, Florida

9) The currency of this island is known as Manx.
Isle of Man

Other updated areas:
Derry, Ireland

Two days ago we told you it’d be here this month, and it’s out already!  As reported by Ogle Earth and the Virtual Earth Developer Blog, you can go download it right now.

Some initial thoughts:

• It really is a stunning tool.
• It has SpaceNavigator support (sort of), but it tends to freak out as soon as you touch it.  Not sure if it’s a driver issue with the SpaceNavigator or a bug in WWTS.
• You can via the earth (or any other planet) inside of the application.  However, you don’t get 3D buildings or anything like that — just imagery.  Still, it’s a neat feature to have.

Enough talking — this is one of those things you really need to experience for yourself.  Go get it!

In just “a few hours” Manhattan will receive a fresh set of StreetView imagery.  I’ve checked it out, and I’m still seeing the old data.  To see which data you’re looking at head to the arch in Washington Square Park and see if it looks like this sample of the new imagery:

Based on their post, it seems that the Manhattan refresh is the only new imagery for now — no Italy or Atlanta yet. Along with fresh, sharper imagery, you’ll now be able to look upward as well.

In addition, Google has implemented some automatic face-blurring technology.  If it works as well for everyone as it does in the screenshots, it’ll be pretty nice.  It blurs the faces, but doesn’t detract too much from the imagery.

If you find anything interesting in the new imagery, be sure to submit it to Google Earth Hacks’ StreetView section.

According to a few sources, Microsoft’s WorldWide Telescope is due to release sometime this month.  During a speech in Jakarta, Indonesia, Bill Gates summarized WWTS in one sentence:

“This is taking data that’s very complex, gathered over many years from many telescopes, and making it accessible.”

Given the great previews that people have reported, I’m looking forward to seeing this product once it’s released.

As reported by the Google OS blog, Google Maps is getting a minor facelift.  They are replacing the tabbed search boxes at the top with a single search box that knows what you’re looking for.

I’m still seeing the old version (as are many other people), but the new one is apparently being rolled out.  Here is a comparison of the old and new search boxes.

Google has just released a layer for Google Earth which shows some data about the path of the cyclone in Myanmar, along with some maps to display the extent of the flooding. They were built by UNOSAT, an organization working to help the people of Myanmar.

Also, NASA has created a simple KML that shows a powerful satellite image of the storm as it was charging toward the coast.

Update, May 7: NASA has added an image showing the current aerial view of the country.  Extensive flooding is quite visible.  Get the file here.

Here are a few screenshots from the files:

City8, a Chinese StreetView-like site, boasts a total of 30 cities in their database. Their interface is not nearly as nice as Google’s, and the coverage area is hard to determine (the blue lines in StreetView are very handy), but it’s not a bad little product.

The site is only available in Chinese, but StreetViewFun reports that there will be an English version “soon”. If you just want to try out a city, here’s a decent place to start.

City8 has produced a short video to explain their product. It’s narrated in Chinese, but includes English sub-titles.

As posted on the Google Maps API Blog, the Maps API now can geocode addresses right to the rooftop.  In particular, it will now drop the pushpin on the proper side of the street for any given location.

It seems to work quite well.  I tried a variety of addresses (family members) around the country, and it put it right on each of them.

Oddly enough, this feature isn’t in Google Maps yet.  If you search Google Maps for your address, it still shows it in the middle of the road.  Is there a logical reason to leave it that way, or do they just need to get around to adding the feature over there?