Google has announced the arrival of Google Earth for Android, a program that was revealed during the Nexus One's launch. Google Earth for Android brings the full functionality of Google Earth onto Android device. It allows you to navigate through three dimensional images of the world, zooming into roads or flying Superman-style over mountains and lakes.
The Google Earth app, interestingly, has been available on the iPhone for some time (it's apparently one of the few Google creations in which Apple has not yet banned). The Android version of the app, while slightly delayed in its arrival, does add some bells and whistles available only for Android fans.
One of these is a newly created Roads layer for Google Earth mobile. As its name suggests, the Road layer allows you to snap road labels on and off of any satellite image, bringing Google Maps-like functionality right into the Google Earth app.
Google Earth for Android also features a new search-by-voice option. You can say either a destination name -- "Eiffel Tower", for example -- or just a general search term such as "hotels near Lake Tahoe." The Google Earth app will translate your words into text and zoom into the appropriate geographic area to display the results.
Many Android users have noticed that Google Earth for Android is not showing up within the App Market on their phones. There is a reason. It is available only for phones running Android 2.1, which limits it to the Nexus One at the moment.
Contrary to some social media speculation, though, the new Google Earth app is not a Nexus One exclusive. As other Android phones receive the 2.1 upgrade, they too will again access to the application (officially, Google says "most devices" will be able to run Google Earth once they are running Android 2.1).
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Sources:
1. Google Earth
3. PC World
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