Google Earth for Android Optimized for Tablet PCs

Mountain View-based Internet giant Google has just announced the availability of a new flavor of Google Earth for Android, which was optimized for use on tablet PCs, which are based on the new Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system.

With this application, users would carry around 197 million square miles of Earth in their pockets, now with a great deal of optimizations aimed specifically at devices powered by Honeycomb.

“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,” the company notes in a recent blog post.

According to Google, the new release was meant to offer a great experience to all users on their Android-based devices.

The application can take advantage of the larger screens of tablet PCs, thus features like content pop-ups within Earth view were included in the mix, so that one could access more info without having to move through various pages.

“Today’s update to Google Earth for Android makes Earth look better than ever on your tablet. We’ve added support for fully textured 3D buildings, so your tour through the streets of Manhattan will look more realistic than ever,” Google notes.

“There’s also a new action bar up top, enabling easier access to search, the option to 'fly to your location' and layers such as Places, Panoramio photos, Wikipedia and 3D buildings.”

Not only would the application show 3D buildings, but it would also provide users with the ability to view various pop-up photos with a specific POI, as well as the possibility to choose the layers to be displayed.

The new version of the application was made available for all devices based on Android 2.1 or above, while the aforementioned tablet design is meant for devices based on Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) or above.

Google Earth for Android can be easily downloaded through pointing the browser on the device to, m.google.com/earth, or through visiting the Android Market.