One of Google’s most popular programs, Google Earth, has been released for the iPhone and iPod touch (2.0 and up). The application can be downloaded for free from Apple’s App Store.
“The world just got a little bit smaller,” said Peter Birch, Google Earth product manager. “Google Earth is now available for the iPhone and iPod touch, allowing you to fly to the far reaches of the world from the palm of your hand.”
Birch said that more than 400 million copies of Google Earth have been downloaded since the desktop version of the program was released just three years ago.
The World in Your Hand
The programmers at Google have smoothly ported the desktop software to the iPhone, and in the process have taken advantage of some of the device’s unique capabilities.
When you turn on the Google Earth app, you see a lovely NASA photo of Earth floating in space, and then the familiar globe starts to zoom in. If you give the app permission to use your geolocation information (which even on the iPod touch is startlingly accurate), the app will focus the Google Earth map on your current location.
You can then use the familiar Apple finger movements to maneuver around the map — swipe in any direction to move the map, pinch to zoom out, unpinch or double-tap to zoom in. You can even tilt the phone to get the perspective views that make Google Earth so compelling (particularly in mountainous areas, as Birch demonstrates in a YouTube product demo).
The app screen comes loaded with various goodies. A small compass icon in the upper right of the screen automatically orients the map to due north. As long as your iPhone or iPod touch is connected to the network, a small looking glass in the upper-left corner connects you to Google search,…