14 DAY TRIAL // Since its release in 2005, Google Maps has become something that Internet users can really benefit from - an online mapping solution that allows them to get more information than just the usual directions to the nearest Mall. Prior to the Google Maps release, online maps only offered basic information. Google thought to go a step further and created its Google Maps and Google Maps API, which allow users to fully benefit from all the applications provided by these two products.
The release of Google Earth has further enhanced the way users perceive the world. Offering high-resolution satellite imagery, Google Earth allows users to virtually fly around the planet and view mountain ranges and even 3D buildings. Like Google Maps, Google Earth has received, over time, a number of important updates that make the Mountain View company mapping solution all the more enjoyable. But it appears that Google decided to go a step further and offer users access to the Google Earth application directly from their Internet browser.
Yesterday, Google released a new Google Earth Browser Plugin, which is meant to bring the full power and features of Google Earth to the web. Users can embed the new plugin in their own site and with the help of a JavaScript API, they can control the camera, create lines, markers and polygons, import 3D models from the web and overlay them anywhere on the planet. This plugin goes as far as enabling users to overlay their own content over different planets or stars by toggling Sky Mode.
Adding another line of JavaScript, they will enable 3D building and even create JavaScript callbacks to mouse events. The newly released plugin is part of Google's intentions of opening up the entire core of Google Earth to developers, letting them build what Google hopes to be the next great geo-based 3D application.
Website owners who already have Google Maps enabled can just add the new G_SATELLITE_3D_MAP map type to their MapsAPI initialization code, which enables their sites to support Google Earth. Internet users can find the new Google Earth Browser Plugin here.