Google Earth 5.0 is Out, and it's Awesome

In the ohboyohboyohboy department, Google Earth 5.0 has been released.

You can read a good summary and watch a video on the Google blog, but here’s a quick summary of the new features:

  • The thing people have been talking about for a while is here - the Ocean layer. Aside from a pretty spectacular bathymetric map, there are all kinds of data points to check out.
  • You can now go back in time and see what the base imagery used to look like, rather than the most current layer. And there's quite a lot - Charlotte, NC has ~9 different data dates, from 2009 to 1993.
  • You can make narrated fly through, or "tour", and easily share it.
  • In addition to Earth and Sky, you can now select Mars and check out some very detailed mapping from the red planet.
Needless to day, its a very worthwhile upgrade.