Google Earth has been downloaded over one billion times

Jordan Kahn

Google announced on their LatLong blog this morning that, since being first introduced in 2005, Google Earth has now been downloaded over one billion times. This number includes downloads on the desktop client, as well as mobile apps and the Google Earth plug-in.

As part of the celebration, Google has put together OneWorldManyStories.com, a collection of stories from Google Earth users using the technology in interesting ways. The site is essentially just a Google Earth map with pins highlighting stories others have submitted related to their experiences with the technology. You can also use the timeline below the map to explore how users have utilized Google earth over the years or click “Share your Story” to share your own experience. You’ll of course first need to install the Google Earth Plug-in if you haven’t already.

Congrats Google Earth!

Visit www.OneWorldManyStories.com to learn about people like Professor David Kennedy of the University of Western Australia, who’s used Google Earth to scan thousands of square kilometers in Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Professor Kennedy has discovered ancient tombs and geoglyphs dating back at least 2,000 years, all without leaving his desk in Perth. Architect Barnaby Gunning, after the April 6, 2009 earthquake near L’Aquila Italy, encouraged his fellow citizens to start rebuilding the city virtually in 3D.

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Google rolls out new Google Docs redesign (again)

Jake Smith

Google has just begun rolling out a new Google Docs redesign, which features new menubars and a bigger focus on the content. Hasn’t it already been redesigned? Well — kinda, but this looks a ton better. Google highlights the changes:

  • We made it clearer that your document is always saved, by showing “Saving…” right after you make a change and then “All changes saved” once it’s fully saved.
  • We added an icon to the Share button so you can tell if your document is shared at a glance.
  • If you’re looking for options that were previously under the Share button (e.g. “Email as attachment…”), you can now find these in the File menu.
  • By default, the documents list automatically fits a comfortable number of documents on your screen (large desktop monitors show more, smaller laptop screens show fewer). We also added density options to give you more control:
Pretty, right?

US Government considering $50 million contract with Google Apps

Jake Smith

The Next Web is reporting that the US Government and Google are in talks over a contract that would license Google Apps to the whole US Government staff. The contract totals up-to $50 million dollars. The US Gov is also considering Microsoft’s productivity suite.

Microsoft’s suite could be considered pretty solid, but also pretty bland. Many corporations, and school districts, are currently using Microsoft’s suite. Some would say it’s in a good spot, but when compared to Google it just not up-to par (in my opinion). Many city governments are already using Google Apps.. so let’s call this a fair fight.

The US Government is currently reviewing the terms, and will soon select which company they’d like to side with. At any rate, both companies are probably opening their arms to $50 million, so it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.

Google Docs to be changed to ‘Google Drive’

Seth Weintraub

From some slides of an internal presentation given by Google, it appears that where there is now Google Docs, there will soon be ‘Google Drive’.  Most of the functionality, like uploading files of any type, of the mythical Google Drive now lies in Docs Hopefully, with this upcoming rebrand, Google allows more storage (let me buy it) and also has some utilities like backing up the home folder on Windows or Mac.  Seriously, what better way to get users to adopt your system than to offer to sych your files to the cloud.

Oh, now that we have all of your files, you might as well get a Chomebook.

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Multiple sign-in for Gmail lands on mobile, ability for separate bookmarks

Jake Smith

Google announced on the Gmail blog this afternoon, the ability to use the multiple sign-in feature on their mobile Gmail site. Multiple sign-in is currently a feature many of us enjoy on our desktops, so it’s great to see it land on the mobile platform too. You can switch between multiple accounts at the bottom of the page.

A feature we really like is that you can have multiple bookmarks to sign-in to specific accounts. For instance, a “personal” bookmark can sign-in to your personal email and a “work” bookmark can sign-in to your work email.

Also made available on mobile Gmail is email signatures and auto-reply. Just like the iPhone, and many other devices, if you respond from mobile Gmail it can have the signature “Sent from Gmail mobile” if you so choose — you can also pick something else. Auto-reply, or vacation responder, will let people that email you know when you’ll be able to reply. Check it out on your iPhone or Android device!

New Google Docs feature: Merging spreadsheet cells vertically

9to5 Staff

Those of you that crunch numbers using Google Docs: The company has just added a cool new feature to the spreadsheets editor – merging cells vertically. In addition to the existing horizontal merging functionality, this new feature allows for some pretty complex layouts. Just drag the set of cells, hit the down arrow next to the merge icon and select Merge vertically. You can also assign headers to sets of rows. Why would anyone want to merge cells vertically? Google offers an example:

In the spirit of the NFL season, let’s say you want to host a football tournament for your friends. To make it easier for them to cast their votes on the winning team, you organize the NFL teams by conference and division in a Google spreadsheet. After applying vertical merges to all of the conference and division headers and horizontal merges across the team names in each conference, you’re ready to share with your friends for the tournament!

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