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Google Earth iPhone app gets a face-lift

Just over a year ago, Google launched the Google Earth application for Apple's iPhone and iPod touch, and now the company has launched version 2.0.

Google Earth became one of the most popular applications in the App Store, and after only six months, was the second most-downloaded free application overall, with reviews posted from more than 220,000 users, according to Google. Version 2.0?s new features include the ability to view maps that users create on their desktop computer from their iPhone, support for new languages and improved icon selection and performance.

?Have you ever wanted to view a custom map with Google Earth on your iPhone?? said Peter Birch, product manager of Google Earth at Google, Mountain View, CA, in a blog post. ?Well, now you can.?

By logging in directly to their Google Maps account, consumers can view the same maps that they or others have created using the My Maps interface.

?Maybe you're on a trip and want to see where Tony Wheeler, the cofounder of Lonely Planet, most likes to travel,? Mr. Birch said. ?Or perhaps you're walking around looking for a restaurant and you want to see where world-famous chef Ferran Adrià likes to eat.

?All you have to do is click 'Save to My Maps,' open Earth on the iPhone, log in with the same account information, and voilà, you have your same collection of My Maps right in your pocket,? he said.

Application users can create and view their own maps as well by using the desktop version of Google Earth to read the tracks directly out of a GPS device, saving the resulting tracks as a KML file and then importing into My Maps in Google Maps.

Google Earth 2.0 is designed to facilitate browsing for businesses, photos and places.

?Browsing the world from the palm of your hand can be a thrilling experience, and viewing photos, Wikipedia articles and place information is a great way to discover new parts of the globe,? Mr. Birch said. ?With the latest version of Google Earth for iPhone, we've made this even easier.

?Now, when you touch an icon, a small glow appears under your finger to let you know which icon you have picked,? he said. ?If your finger touches more than one icon, you'll be taken to a list of all icons, so you can select the one you are interested in.?

Google has also included new languages in this release, bringing the total to 31 languages from the original 18.

The complete list of languages is: English (U.S.), English (Britain), French (France), German, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Polish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Arabic, Thai, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Malaysian, Romanian, Slovak and Croatian.

Consumers can download Google Earth for iPhone in the App Store.

?Please note that the app will be rolling out around the world over the next 24 hours,? Mr. Birch said. ?If you don't see it immediately, be sure to check back soon.?