Google Earth has been upgraded, bringing an integrated Street View experience to the service and including 3D trees and easier-to-use historical imagery.
Google Earth 6, which gave users the ability to view locations from above, is now heading towards letting users see it from the ground with Street View integration.
Users can drag the Pegman and drop it whenever they see a highlighted blue road to take a look at things from the ground. They can then use the navigation controls or their mouse to look around.
Google Earth 6 offers users the chance to move much more seamlessly from one location to the other than Street View by using the scroll wheel or the arrow keys.
The service now has included more than 80 million 3D trees to add to its 3D buildings. Google has been working with the Green Belt Movement, the Amazon Conservation Team and CONABIO to help them model forests.
In order to see these trees, users must activate the 3D buildings layer in Google Earth 6.
The new version has made it easier to find historical imagery, thanks to feedback from users who told Google that this was their favourite feature on the previous version.
When users enter an area where historical imagery is available, the date of the oldest imagery will appear in the status bar at the bottom of the screen. Clicking on this date will let users access the imagery.
Google Earth 6 can be downloaded here.
