Google introduces Earth application for iPhone

After Google has already adapted some of its websites for display on an iPhone, the search giant has now also developed a special version of Google Earth for use on Apple’s smartphone.

Google has taken the possibilities of this smartphone into account when developing the Earth application for the iPhone. For example, the perspective of the landscape that is viewed changes when the smartphone is tilted slightly. Google uses the built-in accelerometer for this. The iPhone version of Google Earth can also read the user’s location via the built-in GPS module or on the basis of nearby mobile phone masts.

A built-in Webkit-based browser also allows users to perform searches from within ‘Google Earth for iPhone’, plotting the results on the map. Additional information can be obtained by pressing the pushpin. For the input of such searches, the iPhone’s virtual keyboard can be used, writes cnet.

The application can be downloaded for free from the App Store and is suitable for both the iPhone and the iPod Touch. The application is currently ad-free, but according to Google, that could change in the future. Google also does not rule out the possibility of a special version of Google Earth for its own Android mobile operating system. “We’re big fans of the iPhone,” Peter Birch, product manager for Google Earth, told Cnet. “It’s a great platform and a great way to showcase Google technology. We’re just as excited about Android, although we don’t have anything to announce yet.”