Live data from Hacker News

Google Earth Redesigned

google.com

41–50 of 292 posts

Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#41
post #5

Looks like the Google Earth Flight Simulator[0] didn't make the cut. Many features are missing from the original desktop app and it's not immediately clear what this offers over using "Earth" within Google Maps. The "auto-rotate around the landmark" feature is also a pain for people who are used to maps being north-facing by default. [0] https://googlesystem.blogspot.co.uk/2007/08/google-earth-eas...

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…

Last part of your comment reminds me of the birth & death of javascript [0]

[0] https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/talks/the-birth-and-death...

Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#42
each time I look at google's 3d representations for things, I really wonder why they don't do manual touchups for certain places

I mean, if you are including the Eiffel Tower in the intro pages, could both make it look cleaner, and make it use less net resources

Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#43
post #7

Why the hard requirement on Google Chrome?

Because it uses PNaCl

Was wondering why it seemed so much faster. Looks like they're serving gzipped dds (gpu compressed textures) for the tiles as well. Would be interesting to see a WebAssembly version of this.

Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#44

still an annoying aspect of Google Earth - I can see a long range of mountains from my 2nd floor windows. I want to drop down to approximately the same position and elevation (from my 2nd floor window) and take in the same view on Google Earth. The intent is to identify mountain peaks that I can not determine in real life. Google earth limits the angle one can tilt while the POV is close to the ground.

You can ctrl + drag/pan to look around your current point in space.

Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#46
post #5

Looks like the Google Earth Flight Simulator[0] didn't make the cut. Many features are missing from the original desktop app and it's not immediately clear what this offers over using "Earth" within Google Maps. The "auto-rotate around the landmark" feature is also a pain for people who are used to maps being north-facing by default. [0] https://googlesystem.blogspot.co.uk/2007/08/google-earth-eas...

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 in the mobile apps.

Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#47

still an annoying aspect of Google Earth - I can see a long range of mountains from my 2nd floor windows. I want to drop down to approximately the same position and elevation (from my 2nd floor window) and take in the same view on Google Earth. The intent is to identify mountain peaks that I can not determine in real life. Google earth limits the angle one can tilt while the POV is close to the ground.

You can ctrl + drag/pan to look around your current point in space.

fly / zoom to approximately 2nd story level of a typical single family house. Then pan up. You'll find that you can not pan high enough to view the horizon line.

Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried this site? http://www.udeuschle.selfhost.pro/panoramas/makepanoramas_en... Edit: It generates panoramas with mountains and hills labelled .

thanks for the link... Yes this is precisely the perspective I want to view on Google Map, with the added benefit of being able to double click on a distant peak and fly right to it, or perhaps also a feature to return to previous position so one can easily toggle between points of interests

The panoramas generated do have links to the relevant locations in Google Maps - though no "flying" :-)
Post reply on HN