
Finally, the guys at Virgle know where they're going!
http://www.google.com/virgle/
Google earlier this week annnounced the release of Google Earth 5 - now with added bells and whistles including a detailed look at Mars: Mars as seen on Google Earth Google has availed itself of NASA mapping and imagery to create what the latter calls a "rich, immersive 3D view" of the Red Planet, packed with detail such as …
Okay, it's pretty crude (but what Gware isn't in its first iteration?) but last night I spent three hours piloting an F-16 over Olympus Mons and buzzing the Mars Exploration Rovers before doing a perfect takeoff at McCarran Airport, a few loop-the-loops over the Las Vegas Strip and a low-level strafing run over the Hoover Dam before flying up-country to make a few passes over San Francisco and perform a re-enactment of the final scenes of The Rock (including a reasonably illegal fly-under of the Golden Gate Bridge), then capped it all with a blast from Heathrow, a quick spin over London and a crash-landing in my own front garden. Maybe all those guys sacked from MS Flight Simulator can find a new home?
All the new stuff is hugely impressive, and subjectively the whole app feels a good deal snappier on my Mac.
The downside, however, is the persistent Google Update application that insists on installing and running before you can install Earth, and apparently manages all other Google Apps the same way, although deleting it from my Login Items doesn't seem to have caused any ructions.
I'm quite keen to try the new GE, but for some unexplained reason you can now only get it via their updater tool, which doesn't support authenticated proxies.
WTF? I can only imagine the number of people in offices or universities currently swearing at Google and going and downloading the Microsoft jobbie instead.
Bunch of idiots.