When Google brought its amazing global map application, Google Earth, to the iPhone, it was a match made in heaven. (Okay, it was match made on Earth, but bear with with me, here.) The pinching and rotating gestures on the iPhone made exploring the globe on a handheld device fun and easy. Well, now Google Earth is back with version 2.0, which introduces some of the useful features you've come to expect from Earth's sister project, Google Maps. You can grab it from the app store now.

Although it's nothing earth-shattering (ha!), Google Earth can now access your saved maps - and other people's public maps - by logging into your Google account and using the My Maps interface. Bringing Maps and Earth even closer together, Google has also made it easier to search businesses, photos and places in Earth, just like you can in Maps. Also, in a move that seems fitting for an app that maps the entire world, Earth 2.0 supports 31 languages, up from the original 18.

Well, we're a little late given that the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing has passed, but this version of Lunar Lander is just too cool to pass up. Grant wrote about the classic versions of Lunar Lander last month, and though this one is certainly inspired by the same event, the implementation is just a tad different.

To play this 3D version of Lunar Lander you will need the Google Earth plug-in for your browser (don't worry, if you don't have it the page will automatically prompt you to install it). This version of Lunar Lander attempts to simulate the landing that Neil Armstrong performed on Apollo 11. The game is rendered in 3D using Google Earth's moon mapping capability, and your view is from outside the lunar landing module.

You can control the lander's tilt side-to-side and forward-and-back by using the arrow keys, and you use the spacebar to fire the ignite the lander's engine. The game starts with you moving rapidly to the left towards the landing site. You must slow the lander down and keep from impacting the ground until you reach the landing site, but be careful not to run out of fuel. To say this is difficult is an understatement, but thankfully there is an Unlimited Fuel cheat you can employ to make landing a bit easier.

In an impressive case of two great tastes that taste great together, Google Earth for the iPhone is now available in the iTunes app store. If you like Google Earth on the desktop, you'll like it even more when you can manipulate the globe with your fingertips. Zooming and rotating are easy with the familiar iPhone pinch motion, and the iPhone's GPS adds a new dimension to Earth.

I was hooked on this app from the first time I made Google Earth zoom in on my location. The visuals are stunning, and you can activate Street View once you're zoomed in. It literally took two clicks to get a view of my front door: one click on the location button, and one to allow Google Earth to use the GPS data. There's also a compass button to point you North, and a search function that even includes your Address Book contacts. The only thing missing is a tilt mode: it would be fun to explore the earth by using the accelerometer, but it wouldn't be very practical.

UPDATE: Google Earth does have a tilt mode! You can turn it on and off in the preferences. Thanks, Belden.

CORRECTION: Street View isn't coming until the iPhone 2.2 firmware is released. The satellite image of my apartment is just at an odd angle and looks really good on an iPhone screen. Thanks, Steve.

Welcome to Googleholic, your weekly fix of everything Google.

In this edition:

• Olympic madness
• Google Translate comes to the iPhone
• New Google Earth API resources
• Directly link to Google Mapplets
• Get your Picasa prints at Walgreens

Welcome to Googleholic, your bi-weekly fix of everything Google!

In this, day late, dollar short edition:

• Inside the Google favicon redesign
• Get transit schedules from Google Maps for mobile
• Explore the Magic Kingdom in 3D
• Location-aware Applications now available to 3rd party developers
• Round-up of other Google stories we covered this week

Welcome to Googleholic - your bi-weekly fix of everything Google! In this edition:

• Google I/O round-up
• Use Google to reference your JavaScript libraries
• Google Web Toolkit 1.5 RC
• Other random Google bits

An innovative an dinteresting venture by the University of Southern California called Viewfinder seeks to spatially locate 2D pictures within a 3D environment like Google Earth. The end result places the pictures within Google Earth so that they seamlessly integrate within their environment. Can't picture it? Just check out the video after the jump, and check out the site for more information on how it works.

The goal is to eventually create a service that basically mixes something like Flickr with Google Earth, enabling users to view and post photos within their virtual environment. Flickr currently allows for geotagging, but viewing the pictures within their environment adds tons of more fun to the idea.

Perhaps Flickr should consider expanding its photo services instead of adding video, which it is trying to do right now, since Flickr users seem to hate the presence of moving pics on the Yahoo owned site. It seems a partnership with Viewfinder and Google Earth would be a better move, and -- since Yahoo's busy intermingling with all sorts of companies right now -- why not?

[via boing boing]

When we told you about the new Google Sky feature in the latest version of Google Earth, what we didn't know is that this version actually contains an Easter Egg, of sorts. It turns out that if you press Ctrl-Alt-A on a PC, or Command-Option-A on a Mac (making sure that the focus is not in a text field), you'll enable a flight simulator. It's not particularly well hidden, and once you've successfully flown one of the planes it actually shows up as an option on the Tools menu in Google Earth, but still it's a pretty cool feature.

In fact, it's one of those "why didn't we think of it?" types of features. It seems obvious to use Google's satellite imagery and on-the-fly (sorry for the pun) map loading technology in the context of a flight sim.

So, what is the experience like? Better than you might expect. You get the choice of flying either an F16 jet or an SR22 prop plane, with the obvious speed difference. The controls are pretty delicate and difficult to master, particularly on a keyboard. It appears that Google Earth actually supports joystick input for the flight sim mode, although we haven't had a chance to try it yet. Most of the world's biggest airports are represented in the list of starting spots, but you can also choose to start at the current position you were viewing in Google Earth before invoking the flight sim mode.

Before taking to the sky, it is worth reading through the Flight Simulator Keyboard Controls, but if all you want to do is get off the ground, press Page Up repeatedly then press the Down Arrow key a few time as the plane's velocity increases. This will effectively pull back on the plane's joystick and vault you into the air. Good luck!

Forget about going to a planetarium, Google Earth has expanded its view and is starting to focus on the stars.

Sky in Google Earth has launched. This new addition to Earth enables viewers to check out different areas in the universe, from distant galaxies light years away, to constellations and planets. You must download the new version of Google Earth to get the features, then you're on your way to checking out planets in motions and supernova explosions.

This data was partly built with Google's NASA partnership and through the Hubble Space Telescope Observations.

Google has acquired a company that makes high resolution cameras for capturing aerial images. ImageAmerica supplied Google with up to date images of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

The move will allow Google to update the imagery in Google Maps and Google Earth.

No word on how much Google paid for this latest acquisition or how long we'll have to wait before we see the new images start to appear. Product Manager Stephen Chau says Google is still in the research and development phase, so it could be a while.

In the meantime, voyeurs looking for up close and personal views of city streets will have to bide their time with Google's recently announced and somewhat creepy Street View feature.

Between your television, radio, newspaper, and the Internet, there are hundreds of ways to get the weather forecast for your area, but few are as cool as guiWeather. This free download works with Google Earth to bring you information on the current conditions in your area, complete with radar and weather alerts. It even keeps track of global lightening strikes all over the world. guiWeather makes extensive use of Google Earth's ability to zoom in, out, and around a chosen location so you get an up close and personal look at what's happening right in your neighborhood.

If you want to access guiWeather without downloading anything, the site also offers a Google Earth-based pop-up applet with current and forecasted conditions for various world locations. Although the website's tools are pretty basic at the moment, there are more in the works including ones that will track tropical weather and wildfire hazards. Overall, guiWeather is good site to keep an eye on when you're not searching the skies outside your house for storm clouds.

If you've ever tried watching a movie with the sound off, you know how important audio can be for sucking you into the experience. Sure, you can catch the dialog via closed captioning, but you're missing out on music and ambient sounds that set the mood for each scene.

For the most part, the web is a visual medium. When audio's available, it tends to be part of a separate experience like podcasts or music.

Wild Sanctuary has released KML files that bring soundscapes to locations in Google Maps and Google Earth. Open the KML file, navigate to one of the locations covered, and click the play button to hear sounds recorded on that spot, whether it's in New York city or Antarctica.

It's now quite the same as being there, but it's a little closer. Now if someone can just come up with a way to sell you perfume that smells like a particular location.

[via O'Reilly Radar]