Google Earth Enterprise 4.0 Is Here

Google Earth Enterprise 4.0 has now been released, bringing a couple of major new features suited for the enterprise environment. Google Earth Enterprise 4.0 comes with mobile client for Android devices based on the regular Google Earth app available in the Android Marketplace.

Another major new feature is off-line access to Google Earth data for users that need access in situations where an internet connection is not available.

“The Google Earth Enterprise team has long focused on bringing the innovative features of Google Earth and Maps to businesses, enabling them to create their own mapping applications from their existing data archives,” Dylan Lorimer, Google Earth and Maps Product Manager, wrote.

“Over the years we’ve released new features that have expanded the options for rapid, secure dissemination of geospatial data with Google Earth Enterprise (GEE),” he added.

Google may be known for its free web products, but it has been increasingly focused on the enterprise market. While everyone has heard of Google Apps, the company also has a couple of commercial Google Earth versions, Pro and Enterprise.

“[W]ith today’s release of GEE 4.0, we’re happy to announce support for two more important capabilities: mobile-based access to GEE systems, and Google Earth Enterprise Portable Solution. We’re also excited to let you know about the latest versions of the Google Earth Enterprise Client and Plug-in,” Lorimer announced.

GEE 4.0 now enables users to connect to the enterprise data set with the regular Google Earth client for Android. The second big feature is offline access. Users can download the data they need from the cloud, including all imagery, terrain, vectors, KMLs, and search, and then use it locally.

The latest update also bring support for Google Earth 5.2, the most recent version of the desktop client. Finally, the Google Earth Plugin has also been updated.