GE Plugin

[UPDATE: Links to more information and a video]
Exciting news! Today Google is releasing a Google Earth plug-in which will let developers make Google Earth 3D applications run in your browser. In addition, a Google Earth API (Application Program Interface) is being released for developers based on Javascript. This API will allow developers to control many features of the 3D plug-in and add KML features and interfaces to their web applications. It is something many developers have wanted to see made available for Google Earth for a long time. It’s a way to add Google Earth’s fantastic 3D views and KML presentation capabilities in a browser and on a web page. You will soon see Google Earth mashups on the web with many more applications than ever before. It’s appropriate the release is happening at the opening of the Google I/O developer conference.
Today’s release is NOT converting the entire Google Earth application, complete with UI, into a browser. In fact, the Google Earth application will not have to be present for the plug-in to run. Developers will have to create applications, and enable UI features, that take advantage of the plug-in before users will see the greater benefits. I will post demos here as soon as the plug-in and demos are available.
A plug-in binary will be available today (Windows only so far). The plug-in reportedly will run in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and other Mozilla-derivative browsers. In addition, the Google Earth API is designed so developers can easily develop applications using the new plug-in. Current Google Maps mashups can offer the 3D option to their applications by adding a single line of code. So now many cool Maps mashups can be 3D-enabled very easily. This should also enable new Google Earth mashups to take advantage of many Google Maps API features which have been introduced in recent months. And, it should get rapid support from Google Maps mashup developers.
The new plug-in is NOT Google Earth in a wrapper. It is a subset of the Google Earth 3D graphics rendering engine and interfaces with KML support. It DOES include support for the recently added Day/Night mode, 3D models, layers, and even supports the Sky mode. Users will not have to have the full Google Earth application installed to use web applications based on the new API and plug-in. However, the new plug-in will not have all the same features as the full Google Earth client. But, developers will be able to use the API to turn on many features and content (like the nav gadgets, 3D models, add lines and polygons, and turn on/off layers) and enable new kinds of features not seen in the full application.
Google appropriately targeted this release for the Google I/O developer conference. They plan to support the other platforms (Mac OS X, and Linux) in future releases. There will be sessions today at Google I/O which will provide details to developers about the new API. And I’m sure there will be online documentation as well. Soon GE mashup developers will know how to create applications for the new plug-in. Look for more posts today on these topics.
One of the key designers behind the new Google Earth plug-in and API is Paul Rademacher who was the guy who first developed a Google Maps mashup before Google released an API. It’s somehow fitting that the first Maps mashup developer is the designer for the new Google Earth mashup generation.
[UPDATE June 6th: See more thoughts on the API and what it means.]