Google have released a new beta of Google Earth, featuring a host of great new features including:
- Improved, user-friendly UI.
- 3D buildings can now feature textures.
- Linux support (nice one Google!).
- French, Italian, German, and Spanish versions now available for download.
- Better GPS support (Google Earth Plus only).
- More realistic peaks and valleys.
The addition of textures to 3D buildings adds a great deal of realism to Google Earth:
A Google Earth Scene with no textures
A Google Earth scene with textured buildings
Google are encouraging users to create and submit textured buildings created in Google Sketchup, which is a clever way of promoting another application from their stable of downloadable applications.
