The download isn’t available yet, but Google Earth version 4.3 will be out later today. We’ll let you know when it starts to become available. Some of the notable features:

• StreetView – As we predicted a few weeks ago, StreetView will finally arrive in Google Earth. The images will be shown using the “Photo Viewer”.
• New navigation system – The way you navigate in Google Earth has been changed to better support a 3D environment. The view will automatically tilt to horizontal as you zoom in, and your speed will be based on absolute height rather than relative height.
• Image acquisition dates – The bottom of the screen will now show how old a particular piece of imagery is. Some will be accurate to the day, others to the month and some will simply show the year. This is a feature that a lot of people have wanted, so it’s great to see it coming.
• Revamped 3D rendering system – They’ve updated the way 3D cities are rendered and added many more of them. It sounds like it will work similar to Virtual Earth, where low-res buildings load first, and they gradually become higher quality as you zoom toward them.
• Flash support for the Mac – This means things like the YouTube layer, the Google Earth MMORPG and other Flash-based items will now work on a Mac!
• Sunlight – You can now turn the sun on and off, and use the time-lapse feature to move it around. Hills and mountains will cast shadows on the ground, though 3D buildings will not.
• New languages – Google Earth will now be available in 12 new languages — Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, English (UK), Spanish, Finnish, Hebrew, Indonesian, Portuguese, Romanian, Thai and Turkish.

It sounds like it will be an awesome update. We can’t wait to get our hands on it!

For more about this coming release, check out the Google Earth Blog and Ogle Earth.

Post from: Digital Earth Blog

Google Earth 4.3 coming later today