'Desktop diving' with Google

>> Sumi: Hello, I'm Sumi Das for ZDNET and here with our Senior Editor Sam Diaz, Sam thank you for being with us.

>> Sam: Sure, thank you for having me.

>> Sumi: So this week the folks over at Google have unveiled new features for Google Earth. So tell us what these new features

are and what is so great about them 'cause they're getting a lot of attention?

>> Sam: That's right the really big thing is the addition of Oceans to Google Earth. Now, before Google Earth just offered some 3D

imagery looking over land, you could fly over cities and around the globe and that sort of thing. Now you can actually go beneath

the ocean's surface and really take a look at what's happening under there. Now that's not to say that you're gonna see fish floating

around in there or anything like that but you are gonna find some great content from marine biology groups, aquariums, universities,

anybody that's done some research about animal life --

>> Sumi: National Geographic.

>> Sam: That's right, absolutely, you know, water temperatures, global warming's a big topic there's a lot of data there that they

haven't been able to share in the past; this is a great forum for them to be able to share that. The other new cool thing you're

seeing is historical imagery so over the years, you know, there's been satellite imagery taken of, you know, cities and areas of land --

>> Sumi: Okay

>> Sam: you can now sort of see where, you know, farming communities became victims of urban sprawl and homes everywhere and big --

>> Sumi: How the polar ice caps may have shrunk.

>> Sam: right, a little bit of everything out there so you can really get a perspective of what's happened over time.

>> Sumi: Okay, so we're in the midst of a financial downturn right now why do you think that Google is focusing on these new features

and unveiling them now when, you know, at the end of last year they basically lowered expectations for profits for the, you know, near-

term future, how are they gonna make money from Google Earth?

>> Sam: I don't know that they will initially I mean --

>> Sumi: That's not the goal?

>> Sam: that's not the goal, you know, from what I'm hearing is that, you know they're rolling these features out there's really not

a inaudible plan with them. You know, of course, just like Maps there are, you know, some advertising you can do, you know, as you

hover over New York and San Francisco and London you can find the best restaurants or attractions or, you know, even the late-night

coffee whatever you're looking for there's potential for advertising there. But in the grand scheme of things what they're really

doing is building a brand name around themselves. So you think back to the older days when we had encyclopedias at home and we had

atlases and we all had them as kids and those were sort of our resource tools, now Google's becoming that resource tool. The ability

to go in and learn about earthquakes in California or volcanoes in, you know, the Hawaiian Islands these sort of things these are the

places that kids are gonna be able to go to now and Google will build that brand equity to differentiate themselves from the competition.

>> Sumi: So they're basically trying to bring people into the tent maybe laying a foundation for the future?

>> Sam: That's right.

>> Sumi: So who is their competition then, is there competition for the new features of Google Earth?

>> Sam: Well, actually a couple of years ago Microsoft put out their own version of Google Earth type application they called the

Virtual Earth. And you know, in all fairness I have to say I don't know a whole lot about Virtual Earth because like Google they really

haven't done much with it I mean it was sort of exciting when it first came out and then it just sort of was there, you know. Again,

in fairness Google really hasn't done much with theirs either up until recently with these new announcements so.

>> Sumi: Right this has been out for a couple of years --

>> Sam: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

>> Sumi: it's just that it's now updated.

>> Sam: 2005 is when Google Earth launched 2006 is when Virtual Earth launched and, you know, here it is 2009 and we really haven't

seen much from either one. But you know this has allowed Google to get one up on Microsoft, at least in the short-term, but who

knows what Microsoft's got out there, I mean Google Earth is now letting us see Virtual Mars. Who knows maybe the other planets are

on Microsoft's feature, I -- who knows.

>> Sumi: Alright Sam thank you very much.

>> Sam: Sure

>> Sumi: For more about the new features of Google Earth and anything else happening in the tech world go to Blogs.ZDNET.com