Frank at the Google Earth Blog just leaked that Google will be announcing an API for Google Earth that will run in a browser. The short of it is you will be able to get GE’s 3D rendering capabilities and KML support to run in a browser. The first release will be just Windows, but will support IE, Firefox and other Mozilla flavors.
This looks to be a direct shot at Microsoft’s 3D Virtual Earth that also runs in the browser. The question mark in my mind will be if the Google Earth version has the same performance issues as MSVE. It is also interesting that Google released an API instead of a new version of GE that ran in a browser. Will this be a case of Google testing the waters with the API then releasing a product?
From a personal perspective I’ll be very interested to see how the new Google Earth API handles KML. Frank says the new API will be a, “subset of the Google Earth 3D graphics rendering engine and interfaces with KML support”. The question is will that KML support be robust like Google Earth allowing thousands of geometries to be drawn or less robust like Google Maps where you are limited to the low hundreds. I’m sure we’ll see soon enough, but congrats to Google on porting the technology to a browser, surely not an easy task. Although it begs one last question – does this herald the end of thick client geobrowsers?
4 Responses to Google Earth API for the Web Browser
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Hi, there,
You seem to be a real expert on teh the creative use of virtual maps. I run an e-commerce site, and our community has requested an interactive map (see attached URL) onto which they could add pushpins to mark where everyone who uses the site is from. I’ve looked into Google Earth and Virtual Earth, but I haven’t found any mash-ups that allow the community (and not the map builder) to do this. Do you know of anything like this?
Forgot to check the box to be notified of follow up comments…there, all fixed.
Hi Greg,
Sorry for the delay on the response. You can build a pretty simple application with the Google Maps API to do what you are looking for. Pamela Fox from the GMAps API team made one using our old heat mapping API that was similar to you request. You can see her blog and work here – http://imagine-it.org/.
You could also create a Google MyMap and invite your users to collaborate on it. Then embed the latest map on your website. This would require no coding. For more specifics you can also try the GeoWanker mailing list. They are very helpful directing people in the right direction on more technical questions.
best,
sean
Thanks, Sean!