Today I have been reading up on the Google I/O Conference. I came across a really good article at oreilly.com written by Brady Forrest about the new Google Earth plugin and API. Google Earth is no longer held by its client application and has jumped into the world of web browser plugins. I tested it out on firefox 2 on windows xp, the download was a separate downloadable executable, I believe it’s currently only available on windows but that will soon change. The API will now allow developers to build Google Earth into their web services. Imagine looking for a local restaurant and been able to find it on a beautiful 3D map even with 3D buildings and been able to manipulate your view point. This isn’t in fact all that new Google maps, the 2D equivalent, has been around for a while now without the requirement of a plugin and there’s also Microsoft’s 3D Virtual Earth which has had a plugin for a while now, however, I am sure that the API and it’s uptake will set them worlds apart.
There are currently several example sites available, as well, as third party mash up sites. People are starting to do some crazy things even games, yes! Games! I have just been playing such an example where you drive a virtual milk truck around Google earth … shame it wasn’t on the streets of New York.
