KEY POINTS:
Google's ground-breaking Earth application has come to the iPhone and iPod Touch.
In a post on its official blog Google announced that the software is now available for download in 18 languages and 22 countries via Apple's App Store.
It's a complete app, with all of the images, geo-linking and 3D terrain features that show up in the PC version.
There is access to the eight million Panoramio images integrated into the application, geo-located photos and one-touch links to Wikipedia articles - allowing a virtual tour of the globe.
The iPhone's accelerometer has been integrated into the application, allowing users to tilt the device to adjust the view and see 3D terrain.
The GPS-linked My Location feature will fly you to your current location, although a quick test this morning on an iPhone 3G placed this writer at a pub across the road from the Herald building, not at my desk.
Close, but no cigar - unless Google is trialling ESP/GPS and predicting where I might be after work.
But Google Earth for iPhone proved reasonably fast over 3G, and ran smoothly on most features. Occasional slow-downs occurred when rendering close-ish sat images, but it's a small price to pay for a free application - well worth the download.
- NZ HERALD STAFF
