

These new models will be first rolled out to Google Earth mobile and later to the desktop versions.The changes for the geo-modeling community have been outlined in a forum post and can be summarized as follows: They will remain available in the 3D Warehouse (and any future version of it that Trimble may create) and for SketchUp users, but Google’s move obviously removes a major incentive for users to generate 3D building models – at least where the new coverage will be available. What this means is that for the cities where the new data will be available, geo-referenced models that had been created by users and uploaded to the 3D Warehouse, will not be shown in Google Earth anymore. As described in various press releases and posts, Google will – among other changes – implement automated building (and vegetation!) generation from flyover data for major cities.

On the heels of the announcement that SketchUp has been sold to Trimble comes another announcement from Google, this time related to Google Earth.
