Google Earth has been reborn.
Google unveiled a completely redesigned Google Earth and it does away with the single worst thing about the previous version of the software. Out now for desktop and Android, it no longer requires a separate download — it's available directly in Chrome.
The redesign also comes with a few new features. For one, Google has integrated its Knowledge Graph, the technology that powers the bite-sized chunks of information that are surfaced directly in search. Likewise in Google Earth, this means every location you search for comes with a "Knowledge Card" of location informations so you can dive into for more details about a particular place.
Google is also emphasizing storytelling. A new feature called Voyager surfaces "interactive guided tours" created by scientists, nonprofits and other "storytellers." A collection called "This is Home," for instance, highlights "traditional" houses around the world like reed houses in Peru or Bedouin tents in Jordan. Early partners include the BBC and Sesame Street and Google says it plans to regularly update Voyager with fresh content.
If you want to explore more randomly, there's also a new "I'm feeling lucky" button that points you to a random location.
But the best update by far is the addition of a 3D view, which allows you to explore any location in rich 3D detail. Instead of the typical flat satellite imagery, you get beautiful shots that make Google Earth feel more immersive than ever before.
The redesign also makes Google Earth, which has already seen more than 2 billion downloads in its lifetime, more accessible than ever. By putting it inside Chrome, Google is now able to bring Earth to Chromebooks for the first time, which had been a longtime request from the education community.
Making it available via the web also makes Google Earth more social than ever before. Besides being able to share locations with just a link, mobile users can send "postcards" of the places they find.