September 15, 2006; 05:41 AM
Google Inc.
released Featured Content for Google Earth, a new showcase of multimedia overlays
in Google Earth that connect users to information about the world around them
from a variety of premium content providers.
Users can access these informative overlays by clicking on
the “Featured
Content” checkbox in the Google Earth sidebar. In doing so, icons for
each Featured Content provider will span the globe, enabling users to click
on individual locations and learn about the area’s significance. The
Featured Content showcase will be routinely updated to include innovative
and diverse contributions from additional content providers.
“We are excited to provide users with the opportunity to learn more
about the natural wonders and manmade landmarks of the world with Featured
Content for Google Earth,” said John Hanke, director, Google Earth and
Maps. “We believe Google Earth is an excellent medium for organizing
and sharing the world’s geographic information and we continue to explore
opportunities to bring visually compelling and informative content into Google
Earth.”
Initial Featured Content for Google Earth partners include:
- United Nations Environmental Program – The
UNEP overlay for Google Earth includes successive time-stamped images
illustrating 100 areas of extreme environmental degradation around the
world. From the deforestation of the Amazon to the fallout of raging forest
fires in Sub-Sahara Africa and the decline of the Aral Sea in Central
Asia, this before-and-after imagery spanning the past 30 years offers
users an online resource for learning about the environmental crisis zones
around the world.
- Discovery Networks World Tour – The Discovery overlay enables
travel enthusiasts and armchair tourists alike the opportunity to virtually
visit major world attractions, cities, and natural wonders through Google
Earth. Featuring streaming Discovery video segments, users can learn about
the history and significance of various world landmarks, national parks,
American and European cities, and African locations. These multimedia vignettes
introduce users to the wonders of King Tut’s tomb in the Valley of
Kings to the history of the gate of the Itsukushima Shrine in Japan.
- National Park Service - The National Park Service overlay enables
users to learn more about the natural recreation opportunities in their
own backyard. This includes detailed park descriptions, information on visitor
facilities, and more than 10,000 miles of trails within all 58 US National
Parks.
- Jane Goodall Institute – With the Jane Goodall Institute
overlay users can visit Fifi and the other Gombe preserve chimpanzees and
follow their daily exploits with the Institute’s "geo-blog" in
Google Earth. Updated daily, this geo-blog captures the work of the Jane
Goodall Institute, illustrating the Institute’s research on chimpanzees
and the effects of deforestation in Africa.
- Turn Here – This overlay features free city video guides
for travel, restaurants, hotels, local events and music around the globe.
Told from an insider’s perspective, these short films connect users
to information about the best pizza shop in New York’s Little Italy
to Pablo Picasso’s favorite hang-out in Halmstad, Sweden.
About Google Inc.
Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people
around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by
Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a
top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted
advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable
results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google
is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the
Americas, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.