Google’s latest release is a new browser plug-in that allows a direct access to the Google Earth program from inside a webpage. The plug-in features a similar Application Programming Interface (API) to Google Maps which permits developers to easily incorporate Google Earth into their applications.

The new features will allow the creation of polygons, lines and marks in the 3D space. Also, it will allow the conversion of Maps API sites to 3D Earth.

Paul Rademacher, technical leader for the Google Earth plug-in and API, explained for ComputerWorld that the company wanted all Maps API sites to be 3D enabled with a single line of JavaScript code. "What's been missing [in Google Earth] is the ability for developers to use Google Earth inside their own Web pages. Now inside a Web page, you'll be able to fly through San Francisco or see a 3-D model of a cabin with exactly the view out the window of the mountains," he exemplified.

According to PCMagazine, Google officials are very confident in their product, already downloaded by over 400 million users, and also their new plug-in. They added that everyone inside the company is looking forward to seeing the development of the "wonderfully creative new web applications," facilitated by their release.

The new plug-in supports the following browsers: IE 6.0+, IE 7.0+, Firefox 2.x or 2.0x, Netscape 7.1+, Mozilla 1.4+, Flock 1.0+. The installation will not take much of the users’ time, with only a few clicks and a browser restart.