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Google Earth Redesigned

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Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#161

Post by SonicSoul »

andy_ppp wrote: post #143
SonicSoul wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

chrome is free, fast to download, runs on most platforms, and in no way forcing you to use it exclusively. It's not like they're asking you to download an .exe with direct3d drivers. you think they need to support microsofts 30 browsers or shouldn't release at all?

It's not bitching, I just think as a professional I'd be required to launch products with requisite browser support and I don't have the resources of Google. The whole point of Web Standards and the Open Web have been made numerous times and if this was Microsoft requiring Internet Explorer in 2017 I'm sure they'd get pilloried. I'm not seeing how this is different than an Intranet site requiring Internet Explorer or…

not a bad point, but I think web standards and open web apply to most content. if you're pushing the envelope in what a browser can do for a flagship product, that becomes exponentially hard to support.

Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#162

Post by ashark »

cptskippy wrote: post #148
ClassyJacket wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it interesting that they recently introduced location sharing to Google Maps as a new feature... which it had back in 2009, until they got rid of it.

They had tons of handy features in Google Maps before it was redesigned using Material Design. We used the route elevation data often to plan hiking trips with our parents to determine if they would be able to make a trek. The map scale was absent from the first couple releases and when they reintroduced it, it would only appear on zoom and then vanish. It took 3 or 4 more releases for them to finally add an option b…

The ability to show photo hotspots on the map and look at the photos was really handy for planning trips to unfamiliar places (or even familiar ones, really), but AFAI can tell it's gone now. Seems it was part of some service they bought, integrated, then killed.

Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#163

Post by d0vs »

andy_ppp wrote: post #62

Embrace and Extend the web with Chrome only apps like this. Google are basically old Microsoft at this point.

Chrome-only and that's if there's no bug. I have the latest version of Chrome on Ubuntu but my GPU (GTX 960m, latest drivers) is blocked and the --ignore-gpu-blacklist flag doesn't work.

Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#164

Post by neon_electro »

provost wrote: post #97
selbekk wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1. This was just amazing to look at and play with.

When the homepage was 'flying' over the landscape, I was dreaming how cool that would look as the background for my TV.

Apple TV has this as a screensaver option: http://benjaminmayo.co.uk/watch-all-the-apple-tv-aerial-vide...

Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#165

Post by ashark »

Mithaldu wrote: post #138
pilif wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

also I noticed that at least in Switzerland, the imagery is significantly older than the one of the "Earth" layer in google maps. If I had to guess, I would say the images on Google Earth are from 2011, whereas the ones in Google Maps seem very current: last summer. edit: Actually, the "earth" layer of Google Maps is identical to Google Earth. What's more up-to-date is the "satellite" layer which I only see offered i…

There was a point where you could choose from which time to view the data. Very useful feature. Might even still be in there somewhere if you find the right chicken to sacrifice to make it appear.

Google sure spends an incredible amount of money making their UIs worse (and usually increasing memory use by a large multiplier at the same time).

Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#166

Post by [deleted] »

tps5 wrote: post #153

I never see anyone talking about google's elevation data for buildings and the process they've used to drape imagery over that elevation data. I wonder why that is? Maybe this isn't a hard problem and it's just a question of getting high quality data. Still, I've never seen any other company come close to this. I do wonder what exactly is new here in terms of a casual user browsing the landscape. Google maps 3D offer…

[deleted]

Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#167

Post by adrianN »

jonathanpoulter wrote: post #159
therealmarv wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems this is the Google way. They kill one product (especially a desktop product) and it takes years till the new one is on every feature on the same level as the old one... look at Picasa vs. Google Photos. Even today Picasa can do many more things that Google Photos cannot do today. I'm sure the native/old Google Earth has a ton of stuff which is not ported to the web version. Good they cannot convert Chrome it…

Could they presumably write it as a non-native app? Would there be any issues with that? Presumably the "chrome" around a webpage isn't particularly intensive?

Firefox wants to do that:

https://github.com/browserhtml/browserhtml

Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#169

Post by nxc18 »

tps5 wrote: post #153

I never see anyone talking about google's elevation data for buildings and the process they've used to drape imagery over that elevation data. I wonder why that is? Maybe this isn't a hard problem and it's just a question of getting high quality data. Still, I've never seen any other company come close to this. I do wonder what exactly is new here in terms of a casual user browsing the landscape. Google maps 3D offer…

Apple Maps does the same thing and was doing it before Google. Interestingly, Apple seems to have better imagery, at least where I am; trees are sharper and more realistic, the ground imagery is more detailed and the colors truer to life. In the forests, trees are rendered clearly enough that I can recognize the landmarks, which just isn't possible in Google's rendering. The only downside is that Google's colors are prettier than Apple's, at the expense of accuracy.

Bing (via the Maps app) is also doing this type of thing, but with a less robust set of data.

Google's implementation appears to be based on oblique (angle, taken from plane) imagery similar to Bing's "Bird's Eye View" feature; if you open up old Google Earth you can see oblique shots from various angles that match the exaggerated coloring of the final 3D maps.

Seriously though, check out Apple Maps. I didn't think I'd be recommending it, as I nerd out about Google Earth a lot, but it's actually got great imagery & models.

Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#170

Post by rocky1138 »

kensai wrote: post #149

The fact that it was designed to be used only with Chrome is troubling. Of course it was the right of Google to decide on whatever platform they wanted. Anyone knows if there is a parallel "open" version in the works (in WebAssembly or similar)?

There's a desktop client available for Linux, Windows, and Mac.
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