As Seen At The Google I/O Conference

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.