Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Googland

Googland

[G] Watch the Webby Awards on YouTube

Posted: 15 Jun 2010 05:48 PM PDT

YouTube Blog: Watch the Webby Awards on YouTube

Last night, the 14th Annual Webby Awards Gala in New York City was a celebration of the Web's greatest achievements of the year. Producers worked through the night to edit and upload video from the event, including highlights, behind-the-scenes footage and five-word acceptance speeches, all now housed at youtube.com/webby.




YouTube staples and sensations had a strong presence at the event, from the Muppets to Google's own Vint Cerf, one of the inventors of the Internet and a curator for our fifth birthday. Buzz Aldrin got an award of behalf of NASA (those guys at College Humor really love him), and The Office's B.J. Novak hosted (his opening monologue is here). Those who attended the gala said a standout performance was a surprise one, by the PS 22 chorus:
















Check out these clips and more at the official Webby Awards YouTube channel, and congratulations to all the winners!

Deeksha Hebbar, Product Marketing Manager, recently watched "14th Annual Webby Awards Highlights."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/RybNx0UyBUc/watch-webby-awards-on-youtube.html

[G] Krishna Bharat discusses the past and future of Google News

Posted: 15 Jun 2010 04:16 PM PDT

Google News Blog: Krishna Bharat discusses the past and future of Google News

Posted by Chris Gaither, Senior Manager, News Industry Relations

Krishna Bharat invented Google News more than eight years ago. His aim: help people easily find multiple perspectives on the news of the day by using computers to group together links to similar stories. Aside from a two-year stint in India to start our research and development operations there, Krishna has been working to improve Google News ever since.

Krishna visited the IJ-7 "innovation journalism" conference at Stanford University last week and held an on-stage conversation with David Nordfors, executive director of Stanford's Center for Innovation and Communication. Below you can watch video of the conversation and hear from Krishna about why he created Google News, how it works, where it's headed and why he's optimistic about the future of professional journalism.







URL: http://googlenewsblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/krishna-bharat-discusses-past-and.html

[G] More phone numbers eligible for click-to-call ads in the UK

Posted: 15 Jun 2010 03:43 PM PDT

Inside AdWords: More phone numbers eligible for click-to-call ads in the UK

We have good news for AdWords customers in the UK who want to generate sales or leads from phone calls:

Our click-to-call ads enable you to include a clickable phone number as an additional line in your text ads. These are shown to Google users when they search using a mobile phone with a full HTML browser (such as the iPhone, Android-powered devices or those running Palm OS). They can simply click the phone number to call and connect directly with your business. It's a quick and convenient way for a potential customer to reach you while they're on the move.

Until now, you could only include free phone numbers (e.g. those starting with '0800'), or phone numbers with a local area code (e.g. starting with '020' for London). Starting today, we're making more types of numbers eligible to appear in ads, namely those beginning with 0843, 0844, 0845 and 0870. We hope this will provide many more businesses in the UK with a great opportunity to attract new customers by phone.


In one advertiser case study, we found that calls from AdWords click-to-call ads were 22% more likely to be relevant than other lead sources. They were also 31% more likely to result in an appointment.

Click-to-call ads are easy to set up, whether your business has a phone number for a national call centre, or if you want to direct Google users to call your local branches.

We're working to make more numbers eligible in more countries, so stay tuned for future updates.

Posted by Emily Williams, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2010/06/more-phone-numbers-eligible-for-click.html

[G] Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference kicks off

Posted: 15 Jun 2010 02:36 PM PDT

Google Public Policy Blog: Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference kicks off

Posted by Jon Pincus, Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference co-chair

Editor's note: From time to time we invite guests to blog about initiatives of interest, and are pleased to have Jon Pincus join us here.

The Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference begins today, at a time when crucial decisions about freedom and privacy are being made across the world. CFP's being held at San Jose State University this year, the first time it's been back to the Bay Area since 2004. We've attracted a great mix of participants - consumer advocates, business interests, technologists, policy and legal analysts, and activists - to discuss a dizzying array of issues: smart grids, intelligent transportation systems, mobile technologies and resisting surveillance, cybersecurity, trust, healthcare privacy, robots and civil liberties, social network activism, academic research, and much more.

We're webcasting many of the sessions, including Today's opening session on Privacy and Free Speech: It's Good for Business. In addition to Googlers speaking on panels, Google General Counsel and former CFP chair Kent Walker will give a keynote on Human Rights and the Web Thursday morning.

Carrying on the CFP tradition of participative events, we're going to be developing a Social Network Users' Bill of Rights over the course of the conference, and wrapping things up Friday afternoon with a debate and vote.

Our website has a lot more information, including the program and broadcast schedule. The Twitter backchannels are #cfpconf and #BillOfRights.
URL: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2010/06/computers-freedom-and-privacy.html

[G] Tips & Tricks: Enhancing your presentations with Google drawings

Posted: 15 Jun 2010 11:56 AM PDT

Official Google Docs Blog: Tips & Tricks: Enhancing your presentations with Google drawings

In April the we launched the new Google drawings editor. I use Google drawings to enhance my Google presentations by building dynamic and informative images in drawings and copying them over to the presentation I'm making. Read on for some tips on how to use drawings to make a better presentation.

Expressing ideas using diagrams from the template gallery
Google recently launched the template gallery for drawings. When I need to express an idea with a diagram, this is a great first place to look. Diagrams can express relationships, organizations, processes, and other ideas that are difficult to show in words.

For more information on adding, searching for, and rating templates, check out our blog post on the template gallery.

Giving your text boxes some style
Sometimes when I need to get a point across, I find it's easier to do when I surround it with color. With Google drawings, I encapsulate my thoughts in any number of shapes. Drawings lets me add text to pretty much any shape by double clicking on the shape.

After I type text into the box, I use the formatting palette to make the point stand out.

Enhancing images to highlight a point
Every so often I need to include a chart, screenshot, or image and highlight a specific point that I want to discuss. Using drawings, I add pointers and boxes to overlay a chart, screenshot, or image in order to draw the viewers eye to what I'd like to call out.

To do this I use the Insert > Image option and load whatever image I want to work with onto my canvas.
Then I use either the arrow line or a shape to highlight my point. To overlay shapes, I set the background color to transparent so that the image below is still visible.

Copying my drawing into a presentation
Once I've finished using drawings to create my visuals, I copy it onto a slide in my presentation. To do this, I go to the Web Clipboard in my drawing and select Copy entire drawing to web clipboard.

Once the drawing is in my web clipboard, I go to my presentation and select the slide that I want to drop my drawing into. Then, I click on the Web Clipboard icon and select the drawing from the list.


Once it's on the slide I can re-size it to the best fit. I can even make edits to the drawing from within the presentation, by double clicking on the drawing and opening the embedded drawing editor.

Posted by: Bryan Carroll, Consumer Operations Strategist
URL: http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2010/06/tips-tricks-enhancing-your.html

[G] Google Earth now available for iPad

Posted: 15 Jun 2010 11:39 AM PDT

Google LatLong: Google Earth now available for iPad

Google Earth has been finding itself in all sorts of places lately, from the iPhone to Android phones, to the browser, and even the car. Today, hot on the heels of yesterday's launch of Google Earth 5.2 we are proud to announce that Google Earth is now available for Apple's iPad.

Google Earth for iPad is one of the best ways yet to experience Google Earth. With the combination of an intuitive touch interface, a large screen, and the snappy A4 processor, you a great new way to explore the globe and share your adventures with your friends.

Some iPad users have noticed that Google Earth has been available for the iPad from the very beginning, but until today, this has simply been the iPhone version running in a scaled-up mode. With our latest release, we now have native support for the iPad, which means that you get to see the world in beautiful full-resolution imagery. There is a custom toolbar at the top, and you can click on individual icons to open "balloons" without having to navigate away from the 3D view.

As with the iPhone version, you can easily navigate with your fingers, using one finger to move the globe; two fingers to change your viewpoint; a single finger double-tap to zoom in; and a two-finger double-tap to zoom out. And like all Google Earth products, you can search for geographic features and businesses by typing your query in the search box.

Along with Panoramio photos, Wikipedia articles, and Google Places, you can also view roads rendered directly on the terrain. Select any of these layers from the "Layers" menu in the toolbar.



To start exploring the world on your iPad, download it today from the iTunes store.

Posted by Peter Birch, Product Manager, Google Earth
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/06/google-earth-now-available-for-ipad.html

[G] The White House takes your questions about the oil spill on YouTube

Posted: 15 Jun 2010 10:54 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: The White House takes your questions about the oil spill on YouTube

(Cross-posted from the YouTube Blog)

Tonight at 8 p.m. ET, watch President Obama live on the White House YouTube channel as he addresses the nation about the Gulf oil spill. Then 15 minutes after the remarks, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs will answer your questions. Starting right now, you can submit questions about the disaster on Google Moderator, and vote the best ones to the top. Hear more from Mr. Gibbs:



Already, the conversation about the oil spill on the web has been lively. Earlier this month, thousands of you submitted your ideas on how to clean up the oil spill on YouTube, several of which were aired during the PBS NewsHour. And as more and more Americans are searching on Google to find information about the oil spill and cleanup efforts, we want to help you connect directly with the recovery process.

Now's your chance to hear the White House's response to your questions about what many are calling the worst man-made environmental disaster in U.S. history. Submit questions now and vote on the ones you think are most important; then tune in tonight to watch the President's address live on YouTube.

Posted by Steve Grove, YouTube Head of News and Politics
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/white-house-takes-your-questions-about.html

[G] Bringing sixteen more apps to the Google Apps Marketplace

Posted: 15 Jun 2010 10:54 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: Bringing sixteen more apps to the Google Apps Marketplace

We created the Google Apps Marketplace to make it easier for businesses and universities to benefit from the rapidly growing ecosystem of apps in the cloud. Apps in the Marketplace come in many sizes, from bite-sized apps that focus on providing a single feature to larger standalone apps that run major business systems and processes—and they're all conveniently integrated with Google apps.

We believe it should be as easy to discover and purchase cloud apps for your organization as it is to get mobile apps for your smartphone. And, once you install and evaluate an app, it's easy for your administrator to deploy them to users with just a few clicks. (Check out this video to see how it works).

We've added some great new apps since we launched in March and today we're bringing you 16 new apps to the Marketplace. They represent a cross-section of the innovation happening on the web around integrated applications, where information is shared between applications allowing people to get their work done, faster:
  • Jive: Jive Social Business Software combines collaboration, community and social networking software, allowing you to engage employees, customers and the social web.
  • Harvest: Harvest is a simple time tracking application that makes it fast and easy for businesses to track billable hours and create invoices.
  • Floorplanner Pro: Floorplanner Pro provides a quick and easy way for real estate agents and facilities professionals to create and share interactive floor plans in both 2D as 3D.
Check out our post on the Enterprise Blog for more information on all 16 apps, or go right to the Marketplace.

Posted by Scott McMullan, Google Apps Partner Lead, Google Enterprise
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/bringing-sixteen-more-apps-to-google.html

[G] The White House takes your questions about the oil spill on YouTube

Posted: 15 Jun 2010 10:37 AM PDT

YouTube Blog: The White House takes your questions about the oil spill on YouTube

Tonight at 8 p.m. ET, watch President Obama live on the White House YouTube channel as he addresses the nation about the Gulf oil spill. Then 15 minutes later, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs will answer your questions Starting now, you can submit your questions about the disaster using Google Moderator and vote the best ones to the top. Hear more from Mr. Gibbs:







Already, the conversation about the oil spill on the web has been lively. Earlier this month, thousands of you submitted your ideas on YouTube about how to clean up the oil spill, several of which were aired during the PBS NewsHour. And as more Americans search Google to find information about the oil spill and cleanup efforts, we want to help you connect directly with the recovery process.



Now's your chance to hear the White House's response to your questions about what many are calling the worst man-made environmental disaster in U.S. history.


Steve Grove, YouTube Head of News and Politics, recently watched "U.S. Oil Spill Explained."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/DDBe3ujcYOI/white-house-takes-your-questions-about.html

[G] Launched in Apps Marketplace: 16 new apps available for Google Apps

Posted: 15 Jun 2010 10:28 AM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Launched in Apps Marketplace: 16 new apps available for Google Apps

We've been adding new apps to the Google Apps Marketplace every week since launching in March, but today are happy to bring you 16 new apps in a single day. These apps, like all installable apps in the Marketplace, offer single sign on with your existing Google Apps user accounts, so there are no new user names or passwords to manage. Beyond single sign on, many offer deeper data integration with Google Docs, Gmail, and Google calendar to help users work more efficiently, regardless of which app they happen to be using to get their job done.

As a Google Apps administrator, once you install and evaluate an app, you can deploy it to your users in only a few clicks. (watch how this works)

Here's the full list of 16 apps launching today on the Marketplace for you to check out:

Applane CRM
Applane CRM is a new approach to CRM that goes beyond capturing sales data to actually facilitating the process of sales and building customer relationships.

Copy2Contact
Instantly grab new contacts and appointments from any text on your screen, including email signatures, search results, Google documents, daily correspondence, and more.

DirectIQ
Create and send email newsletters to your customers, manage contact lists, and get live reports on email opens & clicks. First Month Free if you join through Google Apps Marketplace.

DokDok
DokDok makes it easy and automatic to find and work on the latest version of any document attached to your email.

Express Planner
ExpressPlanner provides event and registration management solutions for organizations that hold many events per year.

Floorplanner.com
Floorplanner is a quick and easy way to create professional looking floor plans in both 2D as 3D and is used by real estate agents and facilities professionals.

Flowr
Bring social collaboration into your enterprise as a private and secure network. Flowr for Google Apps integrates your accounts and syncs with Google Docs and Google Calendar.

Gantter
Gantter.com is a powerful, web-based project management tool that integrates with Google Docs.

GinzaPhone
Ginza Phone provides small businesses & organizations with a business class phone service without the need for any additional phone hardware. Fax service coming soon.

Gravitydev
Gravity is a simple but powerful tool to help you manage agile software development projects.

Harvest
Harvest is a simple time tracking application which makes it fast and easy for businesses to track billable hours and create invoices.

Jive Express
Jive Social Business Software combines collaboration, community, and social networking software so you can engage employees, customers, and the social web.

Promevo GPanel
Promevo gPanel for Google Apps administration is an enterprise class administration console that provides 360° visibility and management ability of any Google Apps environment.

Stupeflix Studio
Create awesome videos in a few clicks. Whether you want to promote your business or tell your story, video is a powerful medium. With the Studio, creating stunning videos is easy as pie.

TheBugTrack.com
TheBugTrack is an easy-to-use, online bug tracking service and team collaboration tool designed specifically for Google Apps users. No setup is required.

YoolinkPro
Add a social layer to Google Apps! YoolinkPro is a design-awarded social network, it allows thousands of companies to foster discussion among their teams, share Google docs and work more efficiently.

If you're an Apps admin, head on over to the Apps Marketplace to check out these apps and more. If you're a cloud app developer, we invite you to learn more about selling your app in the Marketplace and check out the Google Apps developer blog to see how current developers are benefiting from joining the Google Apps Marketplace.

Posted by Ryan Boyd, Google Apps Marketplace Team
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/06/launched-in-apps-marketplace-16-new.html

[G] Let Pegman guide you to user photos

Posted: 15 Jun 2010 09:42 AM PDT

Google LatLong: Let Pegman guide you to user photos

You may be familiar with the photos layer on Google Maps - it's a great way to explore user generated photos from countries all over the world right within Google Maps. Over the last couple of years since launching this layer we've made various improvements so people can explore them more easily. Like being able to slide from a gorgeous view along the bank of the Seine at dawn to another at sunset, simply by clicking the dots. Today we have another great way you can take that round the world trip you always wanted.

Remember Pegman, the little orange man that you can drag and drop on to the map to jump into Street View images? As of today, he has a new trick up his sleeve. He's becoming our official photo tour guide, helping you not only navigate our Street View imagery where it's available, but also helping to highlight the amazing geo-located photos the Panoramio photo community has contributed, as well as public images from Picasa and Flickr. There are images from pretty much every corner of the globe, so there is almost no end of sights and scenes to keep you busy.

When you drag Pegman, you will now see small blue dots to show where user-contributed photos are available (they look a bit like the squares you see on our Wikipedia layer on maps).



If you drag Pegman over one of the blue dots, you get to see a preview of a photo taken at that location.



Then if you drop Pegman onto one of the blue dots, you will be able to view that image in our photo browser, which will let you navigate further into neighbouring pictures.



The photos you can explore this way are the same as those that you can find in the Maps photo layer, giving you a full interactive tour. It's also a great way to explore images taken from places in out-of-the-way locations - say, the top of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park.



Dragging Pegman onto a photo is another handy way to see all the types of images available in Google Maps. So go ahead and let Pegman be your tourguide to parks, forests, lakes and more.


Posted by Dennis Tell, Software Engineer, Google Zurich
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/06/let-pegman-guide-you-to-user-photos.html

[G] Earth Pro 5.2 launched: the data you need, at your fingertips

Posted: 15 Jun 2010 09:21 AM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Earth Pro 5.2 launched: the data you need, at your fingertips

Around the world, thousands of customers count on Google Earth Pro to help them get their work done. From visualizing complicated layers generated by GIS software to leveraging movie-making tools for site selection, engineering project visualization, and much more, Google Earth Pro enables businesses, government agencies, and educators to bring their geographic data to life.



Yet customers want more, with easy access to relevant data layers being a common request. In the past, users had to invest considerable time and resources to find data such as demographic, traffic counts, and land parcel information. Other customers struggled with processing large, complicated layers.

We're happy to announce the launch of Google Earth Pro 5.2, which makes it much easier to find and access the data you need to make smart business decisions.

Google Earth Pro 5.2 includes:
  • a set of exclusive layers designed to make everything easier from site selection to business intelligence analysis
  • enhanced capabilities to process and visualize large geospatial data files

Point. Click. Start analyzing.

Earth Pro now includes three new productivity-enhancing layers:
  • U.S. Demographics: includes demographic data on 2010 and projected 2015 income, age, education, etc. at the state, county, tract, and block group level. For income and age, you can view beautifully color-coded layers enabling you to quickly zero in on target markets and cross-reference with your own layers. The data is presented in both tabular and pie chart format and is licensed from Claritas.
  • U.S. Parcel data: provides critical parcel and building information for both commercial and residential parcels. This includes APN (assessor's parcel number), use codes, and zoning data to help you make the right business decisions. Even more exciting, you can get more details, such as sales history, by purchasing the corresponding DataQuick detailed report (sample), linked from each parcel info window.
  • U.S. Daily Traffic Counts: reports the historical average number of cars that have passed through an intersection in the US. Make sure your new development, store, or advertisement will get the right amount of visibility with data from MPSI.
In addition to the included layers, Earth Pro 5.2 also makes processing your own complex layers easier. With new built-in "regionation" functionality, Earth Pro can now ingest and display large KMLs with speed and ease. Vector "regionation" automatically optimizes your data by intelligently loading points as you zoom in to the globe. Super image overlays enable your layers to include larger images by optimizing the resolution of images as you zoom in.

To purchase Google Earth Pro, visit our online store or sign up for a 7-day free trial. We hope you enjoy these new features.


Posted by Daniel Chu, Product Manager, Enterprise Maps/Earth

URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/06/earth-pro-52-launched-data-you-need-at.html

[G] VP8 Codec Optimization Update

Posted: 15 Jun 2010 07:28 AM PDT

The WebM Open Media Project Blog: VP8 Codec Optimization Update

Since WebM launched in May, the team has been working hard to make the VP8 video codec faster. Our community members have contributed improvements, but there's more work to be done in some interesting areas related to performance (more on those below).

Encoder


The VP8 encoder is ripe for speed optimizations. Scott LaVarnway's efforts in writing an x86 assembly version of the quantizer will help in this goal significantly as the quantizer is called many times while the encoder makes decisions about how much detail from the image will be transmitted.

For those of you eager to get involved, one piece of low-hanging fruit is writing a SIMD version of the ARNR temporal filtering code. Also, much of the assembly code only makes use of the SSE2 instruction set, and there surely are newer extensions that could be made use of. There are also redundant code removal and other general cleanup to be done; (Yaowu Xu has submitted some changes for these).

At a higher level, someone can explore some alternative motion search strategies in the encoder. Eventually the motion search can be decoupled entirely to allow motion fields to be calculated elsewhere (for example, on a graphics processor).

Decoder


Decoder optimizations can bring higher resolutions and smoother playback to less powerful hardware.

Jeff Muizelaar has submitted some changes which combine the IDCT and summation with the predicted block into a single function, helping us avoid storing the intermediate result, thus reducing memory transfers and avoiding cache pollution. This changes the assembly code in a fundamental way, so we will need to sync the other platforms up or switch them to a generic C implementation and accept the performance regression. Johann Koenig is working on implementing this change for ARM processors, and we'll merge these changes into the mainline soon.

In addition, Tim Terriberry is attacking a different method of bounds checking on the "bool decoder." The bool decoder is performance-critical, as it is called several times for each bit in the input stream. The current code handles this check with a simple clamp in the innermost loops and a less-frequent copy into a circular buffer. This can be expensive at higher data rates. Tim's patch removes the circular buffer, but uses a more complex clamp in the innermost loops. These inner loops have historically been troublesome on embedded platforms.

To contribute in these efforts, I've started working on rewriting higher-level parts of the decoder. I believe there is an opportunity to improve performance by paying better attention to data locality and cache layout, and reducing memory bus traffic in general. Another area I plan to explore is improving utilization in the multi-threaded decoder by separating the bitstream decoding from the rest of the image reconstruction, using work units larger than a single macroblock, and not tying functionality to a specific thread. To get involved in these areas, subscribe to the codec-devel mailing list and provide feedback on the code as it's written.

Embedded Processors


We want to optimize multiple platforms, not just desktops. Fritz Koenig has already started looking at the performance of VP8 on the Intel Atom platform. This platform need some attention as we wrote our current x86 assembly code with an out-of-order processor in mind. Since Atom is an in-order processor (much like the original Pentium), the instruction scheduling of all of the x86 assembly code needs to be reexamined. One option we're looking at is scheduling the code for the Atom processor and seeing if that impacts the performance on other x86 platforms such as the Via C3 and AMD Geode. This is shaping up to be a lot of work, but doing it would provide us with an opportunity to tighten up our assembly code.

These issues, along with wanting to make better use of the larger register file on x86_64, may reignite every assembly programmer's (least?) favorite debate: whether or not to use intrinsics. Yunqing Wang has been experimenting with this a bit, but initial results aren't promising. If you have experience in dealing with a lot of assembly code across several similar-but-kinda-different platforms, these maintainability issues might be familiar to you. I hope you'll share your thoughts and experiences on the codec-devel mailing list.

Optimizing codecs is an iterative (some would say never-ending) process, so stay tuned for more posts on the progress we're making, and by all means, start hacking yourself.

It's exciting to see that we're starting to get substantial code contributions from developers outside of Google, and I look forward to more as WebM grows into a strong community effort.

John Koleszar is a software engineer at Google.
URL: http://webmproject.blogspot.com/2010/06/vp8-codec-optimization-update.html

[G] Google Earth Pro 5.2: A powerful tool for professionals

Posted: 15 Jun 2010 06:38 AM PDT

Google LatLong: Google Earth Pro 5.2: A powerful tool for professionals

Every day, thousands of our customers rely on Google Earth Pro for its power to visualize and analyze vast amounts of global data from a large array of sources. Applications of Google Earth Pro range from analyzing environmental impacts of natural disasters to the creation of detailed presentations for prospective clients.

With yesterday's release of Google Earth Pro 5.2, we have added new data layers to give you even more information to help make the right decisions. This set of exclusive data layers allow for direct access to information on land parcels, traffic flow, and the US census results. In addition, we have added new features to enable you to visualize large data sets with amazing detail as well as to save your measurements for retrieval in the future. Google Earth Pro 5.2 also optimizes the data you import from outside sources to allow for faster rendering of your data and improved clarity at every altitude. Finally, saving the measurements you make in Google Earth Pro allows you to quickly retrieve information from your data across multiple sessions.

Google Earth Pro premier data layers

We're happy to announce that with thus launch, discovering information about the people around you, your projects, and your clients is now much easier with the set of exclusive data layers built into Google Earth Pro.

Earth Pro now includes three new data layers:

U.S. Demographics includes demographic data (e.g. income, age, education) from 2010 and estimated 2015 values at the state, county, tract, and block group level with data from Claritas. For income and age, you can view beautifully color-coded layers enabling you to quickly zero in on target markets and even cross-reference with your own layers.



U.S. Parcel data gives you critical parcel and building information such as Assessor's Parcel Number (APN), use codes, and zoning data. You can also get more detailed reports, such as sales history, by purchasing a DataQuick PDF report, which is linked to within the layer.



U.S. Daily Traffic Counts reports the average number of cars that have passed through an intersection in the US.



Processing large data sets

Google Earth Pro has always been a great tool for importing and viewing GIS data. However, it has been difficult to import very large data sets and view them interactively. Now, with the release of Google Earth Pro 5.2, we've introduced new tools for processing and preparing complex vector files and high resolution images that allow for fast, interactive browsing of your data. These tools, leveraging the same technology used to create the core Google Earth layers, divide or "regionate" data into many smaller files which are loaded dynamically. This ensures that only the data which is in view needs to be retrieved, maintaining a high level of performance. With vector data regionation, Google Earth Pro 5.2 will prevent data congestion at high altitudes while still allowing you to access the data points you care about.

When importing image overlays into Google Earth Pro you now have the option to create what is called a super image overlay, another form of data regionation. The new super image overlay feature automatically creates image tiles with the appropriate image resolution for every altitude. Similar to the base imagery already included in Google Earth Pro, you will now be able to seamlessly zoom in from high altitudes to extremely detailed lower altitudes without forcing Google Earth to load the entire image file while viewing a specific portion of your imagery. The use of image regionation dramatically speeds up the rendering process and in doing so, allows you to visualize complex imagery quickly and efficiently. Never again will you be forced to lose image clarity in order to retain the speed and agility you expect from Google Earth. Of course, data sets processed in Google Earth Pro can be shared with all 700 million Google Earth users around the world.

On the Google Earth team, we often find ourselves in the situation where we have large images of current events that we want to publish quickly. In these cases, we use this same regionation technology to quickly publish imagery to the world. One such example was the 2009 Presidential Inauguration. This image of the National Mall on Inauguration day would have been far too large to download and view as a single file, but as a fully regionated KML file, you can easily navigate this stunning image of the inauguration without slowing down your computer.



Enhanced Measurements

Lastly, in Google Earth 5.2 you now have the ability to save paths and polygons created by the measurement tool as KML. This will allow you to share measurements with co-workers and return to them later if you want to review measurements you've made. In addition to being able to save your measurements as KML, we've also added the ability to view measurements of existing paths and polygons. This allows you to quantify the information that until now you could only inspect visually.

To purchase Google Earth Pro, visit our online store or sign up for a 7-day free trial. You can also read more about Google Earth Pro on our website at http://earth.google.com/pro.

We hope you enjoy these new features.


Posted by Alex Unger, Associate Product Manager, Google Earth Pro
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/06/google-earth-pro-52-powerful-tool-for.html
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