In a demonstration of its efforts to bridge the chasm between Web-based applications and client, or native, applications, Google announced changes to its Google Earth 3-D mapping software as well as Google Gears Wednesday at its annual I/O software developer’s conference in San Francisco. For webmasters, Google launched its new Google Earth Browser Plug-In, which can be embedded within a Web site. The Internet search provider also unveiled a name change, among other things — from “Google Gears” to simply “Gears” — for its set of offline software development tools.
