A couple of quick links today:

Imagery update in Google Earth: Just two weeks since their last one, Google has pushed out another imagery update.  It’s not a huge one, but it covers small parts of many countries.

New 3D imagery in Google Earth: Google has started using StreetView imagery in some cities to create lifelike facades in the downtown areas.  The result is stunning.  Check out the video below to see how it looks:

Bing “StreetView” coming soon? It looks like Microsoft may be planning to bring a StreetView-like competitor to Bing Maps.  The image on the right (via StreetViewFun) shows a Bing-labeled van driving around Vancouver gathering street-level imagery.

Considering the Winter Olympics start in Vancouver in a few months, I’d expect we’ll see the results of the imagery before then.

Post from: Digital Earth Blog

New Google Earth imagery/3D, Bing StreetView coming soon

We’ve seen a couple of big imagery releases in the past few days:

Google Earth has updated various imagery all over the world.  You can read details on the Google Earth Blog, or view this page to see the updated areas via the Google Earth Plug-in.  Here are some neat things that users have already found in the fresh imagery.

Bing Maps has updated imagery in the US, UK and Canada.  In particular, they’ve added a ton of fresh imagery in Vancouver in anticipation of the 2010 Olympics, which begin in February.  You can use the Bing Maps World Tour application to see all of the updated areas.

Post from: Digital Earth Blog

Big imagery releases for Google Earth and Bing Maps

As reported by the Google Earth Blog, a ton of new 3D buildings have been released into Google Earth.  They include, among other things, thousands of building generated by people using their new “Building Maker” tool.

If you find any other major cities that have been updated as well, please let us know.

Post from: Digital Earth Blog

A ton more 3D buildings in Google Earth

Details are still coming in, but there’s been a significant imagery update for Google Earth.  The Google LatLong Blog has their usual quiz, and the Google Earth Blog is filling in the details.

So far, updated areas include Argentina, Canada, New Zealand, South Korea, Ukraine and various parts of the United States.  Stay updated to the GEB post for the latest.

Post from: Digital Earth Blog

Major imagery update for Google Earth

Google has just released Google Earth version 5.1.  According to the LatLong blog, the focus of this update was speed.

According to Google:

We’ve made a lot of adjustments under the hood, like improving memory utilization so we can show more buildings, layers, and user content. We improved our shaders (that’s graphics-speak for small programs that run inside your graphics processor) to make the atmosphere draw faster. We also worked to reduce stuttering (known as frame drops) to provide an even smoother experience as you fly around the globe. When we draw imagery, we now use compression technology to use less memory and graphics resources. We know that waiting for a program to start-up can be really frustrating, so we improved our start-up time by 25%. In our Google Earth API (which allows developers to include Google Earth right in their websites), we have made API calls significantly faster, which means that our developers can now do even more.

You can download version 5.1 here.  In addition, the Windows version of 5.1 automatically loads the browser plug-in for those users, which should signifianctly increase the number of users that have the plug-in installed.

Post from: Digital Earth Blog

Google Earth just got faster: Version 5.1 released

A handful of cool things today:

College Football Stadiums: The Google LatLong blog has posted a KML that flies you to all of the NCAA football stadiums — 246 in all!  You can read about the file on their site, or download the KML here.  I did something similar on EarthSwoop last year and built a “swo0p” for all of the stadiums in each major conference:  ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, PAC 10 and SEC.  The majority of them are rendered in 3D and look pretty sweet.

Google Maps Monopoly: Starting on September 9, Hasbro is launching a giant Google Maps-based game of Monopoly.  The folks at Wired got a sneak peek of the game, and they’re cautiously optimistic.  The rules don’t seem to explain what the goal is (buy stuff near you, and maybe sell it later?), but the concept has potential.

Map of Towson University: Towson University has built a slick custom Google Map of their campus, thanks to their Geospatial Research and Education Lab.  There are shaded polygons of each building, which click to reveal more information/links about that building.  You can select building types (Academic, Dining, etc), parking areas, and other transportation information.  It’s very well done.  (via Google Maps Mania)

Post from: Digital Earth Blog

College Football, Monopoly and Towson University

Google has just released two new 3D cities into Google Earth — Dublin, Ireland and Cardiff, Wales.

Make sure your “3D Buildings” layer is turned on inside of Google Earth, then fly over and check them out.  Below is a short video showing them off.  They look great!

Post from: Digital Earth Blog

Two new 3D cities added to Google Earth

The Google Earth Blog is reporting new imagery arriving in Google Earth.  The extent of the update isn’t yet known, but people have found new images in Argentina, Poland, Germany, Chile, France and the USA.

As with most updates, this one is live in Google Earth but not in Google Maps.  This means you can compare the two to decide if a given location is fresh or not.

Keep an eye on the GEB post for more updates as people discover other areas with new imagery.

Post from: Digital Earth Blog

New imagery in Google Earth

The Sun is at it again.  First they claimed to have found the lost city of Atlantis in Google Earth, now they think they’ve found the Loch Ness Monster.  Or maybe it’s a boat.

It’s obvious they’re just trying to (successfully) draw attention to their site, but they sure look stupid.  I love the response that Keir at GoogleMapsMania gave – he posted a bunch of UFOs found in StreetView, then a time traveling dinosaur!

You can view the image to the right, check it out on Google Maps, or in the Google Earth Plug-in via EarthURL.org.

Post from: Digital Earth Blog

Nessie found in Google Earth?

Earth is Square has a neat post today about viewing Centralia, Pennsylanvia using fresh Bird’s Eye imagery on Bing Maps.  Centralia was an active town of about 1000 residents back in the early 1980’s, but now is home to only nine people.  The reason is due to an underground coal fire that’s been burning since the 60’s, and will continue burning for as many as 250 more years.

In 1984, congress provided $42 million to relocate residents out of town.  Once gone, most of the buildings were demolished.  A recent episode of Life After People (an excellent series on the History Channel) featured Centralia as an example of what happens 25 years after humans leave a city (building decay, etc).

I was hoping that Google’s Historical Imagery feature would show aerial footage from a time when the city was populated, but it only goes back to 1993.   Below are some before and after photos.  Check it out on Google Maps (with StreetView imagery) or Bing Maps to explore further.

Before the evacuation

Then and now

Centralia 1993, as seen in Google Earth using the Historical Imagery slider

Centralia today, in Bing Maps Bird’s Eye

Centralia today, in Google Maps Street View.  The fog makes it even creepier.

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A ghost town from space