When Google bought Keyhole a few months back, several of us were moved to a sharp intake of breath. The potential of combining Google’s search capabilities with a three dimensional model of Earth was just so interesting that only luddites, and my dad (The Grand Luddite), could fail to be impressed.

The fruits of the marriage are about to be born. The new child will be called Google Earth, it will do what Google Local and Google Maps can do, but in 3D.

It might even be free…

Watch this space.

Some reviews and screenshots from the beta release are starting to appear online:

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