The new Google Earth has landed

This glowing orb is your home.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Article updated at 8:05 p.m. PST.

Greetings, Earthlings. There's big, round news in the world of software, and its name is Google Earth. Hot on the heels of major improvements to Microsoft Virtual Earth, Google Earth has had a few big announcements of its own. On Monday, KML, the markup language behind Google Earth, was approved as the international standard by the Open Geospatial Consortium. The Google Earth Blog also announced a research project to simplify placing images into precise locations within Google Earth. Anyone who's tried this knows it requires some advanced photo-matching techniques, so we can all look forward to a more streamlined process.

But today comes the biggest news--a brave new Google Earth 4.3 for Windows and Mac that received a passel of new features, including some ported over from other Google products.

New features

One of the more exciting additions to Google Earth 4.3 is the capability to switch on day and night views. I'm thinking this is a good way to see the Eiffel Tower at sunrise and peek in on the countries that sleep when I'm awake. Also noteworthy is the news that Street View, which you may remember from Google Maps, will be woven into the version update, complete with the familiar photo viewer.

Speed is another theme with this new release. 3D buildings will render faster, and Google Earth accelerates the switch between Earth and Sky modes (this is a really neat feature; if you haven't checked it out, do.)

Where possible, images will be getting time stamps for easily seeing when they were created. Since so many photo sources populate Google Earth, not every image will bear a born-on date, but those that do will add another layer of information to this simulated world. Finally, Google is updating the look of the app's navigational controls to complement mouse and keyboard-scrolling. I don't know, maybe a Google-branded joystick and shooter games are the next evolution, though I highly doubt it.

What kinds of mash-ups and integrations would you like to see in the next iteration of Google Earth? Share your creativity in the comments.

In the meantime, making models with Google SketchUp is a good way to populate Google Earth, or your own personal version of it. If you prefer to create your own 3D landscapes, Bryce is the freeware application to beat. DAZ Studio, Bryce's sister software, offers the same extensive range of modeling freedom with human subjects in mind.