Earth Browser!

We all know the popular Google programs available through the net for free.  Everybody knows Google Earth and on its release I bet your first use of the program is to locate your whereabouts.  Google Earth is one revolutionary product whose predecessors were previously available only for select people. 

 

A few months ago I received an e-mail regarding Earth Browser.  At first I thought it’s a clone of Google Earth so I ignored it.  Then I chance it upon a second time and checked it out (http://www.earthbrowser.com/).

 

Installation

Earth Browser was developed using Adobe Air so it’s an Internet application used as a desktop application (a desktop application connected to the Internet).  Why the term ‘air?”  Applications made on Adobe Air create an illusion that they float on your screen and is perceived to be the cause of death of all Internet browsers.  In installing Earth Browser, by clicking the “install now” option on the Earth Browser homepage previously mentioned, it would first install Adobe Air if you don’t have it.  When I installed using this method, I encountered an error with Adobe Air.  So I decided to visit the Adobe Air homepage (http://www.adobe.com/products/air/) and installed it first (separately). 

 

First Impression

It looks like Google Earth at first but when you try to zoom, you won’t be able to see that much detailed topography as the maximum zoom view is only up to 45km from the earth’s surface.  If you want to view those detailed maps like in Google Earth luckily you don’t have to open your Google Earth anymore.  Inside Earth Browser, there’s an icon that let’s you access Google Maps. 

 

Strengths

Real-time display of weather patterns is what caught my attention.  Earth Browser can display the weather condition for a particular area like or shall I say even our little town.  Click a particular area with a “yellow dot” and it shows the week’s weather forecast.  Let’s say the recent typhoon “Frank” that hit the country.  Using Google Earth and by clicking or enabling the “weather” option, one would get to see the swirling mass of a typhoon over the country.  However, it does not plot the probable path of the typhoon and that’s where the Earth Browser comes in, which can plot the 4 possible path points.

 

Though we all know that there’s no such thing as an accurate weather forecast and even an accurate prediction of a typhoon’s path like what the typhoon Frank just demonstrated.  But it’s good to know that Earth Browser’s weather forecast comes from the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).

 

I think ABS-CBN is already getting its weather forecast from Earth Browser as one time, I was watching the evening news and their forecast was exactly the same.

 

The Earth Browser 3.0.4 is the current version and can be tried as a demo.  Certain functionalities I guess are available for a fee of 29.95 USD (with two years free upgrade and support). 

30 USD plus an Internet connection?  I guess that’s not too much for a company like Sulpicio Lines.

Earth Browser

Google Earth