Google Earth for Android is not new and it was around for about a year now. But, Google announced on Thursday that now Google Earth is available specifically for Android-powered tablets.
Google Earth for Android Tablets
Google on its official blog said, “With the recent release of tablets based on Android 3.0, we wanted to take full advantage of the large screens and powerful processors that this exciting new breed of tablets had to offer.”
How Is Google Earth for Android-Powered Tablets Different From Google Earth for Android?
The version of Google Earth for Android Tablets gives users the power to “fly around” 3D models and also gives the capability of viewing photos that were taken at the location.
According to Google, “Moving from a mobile phone to a tablet was like going from a regular movie theater to IMAX. We took advantage of the larger screen size, including featues like content pop-ups appearing within Earth view, so you can see more information without switching back and forth between pages.”
The Earth looks even better on Android-Powered Tablets, with fully textured 3D buildings giving a more realistic feel than ever before.
There is also a new Action Bar on the top that comes with the features; Search, Fly to your location, and Layers such as Places, Panoramio photos, Wikipedia and 3D buildings.
Panoramio Photos: If you don’t know what Panoramio Photos is, it’s a layer that allows users to see photographs of different places of the world, and these photos are generated by the community. All pictures are tagged with the approximate geographical location where they were taken. Google selects these photographs once a month to include them in Google Earth Layer. When this layer is on, square icons appear on the screen and they need to be clicked to enjoy photos of different cities, views, natural wonders and more.
Google Earth for Android
Google Earth for Android was launched on Feb 22, 2010, and it was the fastest mobile version of Google Earth.
Roads Layer: It came with the Roads Layer, a highly popular feature of the desktop version of Google Earth. It offers “road labels” on top the satellite imagery, allowing users to get a better sense of where they are.
Voice Recognition: Another very interesting feature was the integration of voice recognition on the Android platform. It’s almost like a pocket globe that responds to user commands. Google Earth for Android allows Google Search by voice and users can find the place they are looking for by speaking into their Android phone. For example, if you want to find “Eiffel Tower,” just say that into your Android phone and Google earth will bring it up instantly.
Tablet Versions
The new Google Earth for Android Tablets is available for Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) and above. Check out the requirement details here.
You can now download Google Earth For Android Tablets free by going to Google Earth from your device’s browser.
With Google Earth for Android-Powered Tablets, the larger tablet screen makes viewing images so much better and clearer. It offers Easy navigation with the use of the Action Bar at the top and the ability to fly like a bird is unparalleled, according to Google.
Tags: Android-powered tablets, Google, Google Earth, Google Earth for Android, Google Earth for Android tablets
