For 11 years, Google Earth has immune anyone with a fast Net connection to explore the world from their desk. Without having to pace pes on a plane, you can see the dizzying skyscrapers of Manhattan, curiosity at the reddish splendor of Uluru, or even take a trip to space, all for free.

Information technology's not all that surprising that Google Earth is i of Mountain View's most loved products. But most didn't know that at that place was another version of Google Earth chosen Google Earth Pro, which is now gratuitous.

The Pro version used to cost an eye-watering $400, and comes with some amazing exclusive features. Here are four you probably should bank check out.

Go On A Bout (And Show Your Friends)

Google Globe Pro lets you explore the stars, as well as the terrestrial world. But you probably already knew that. But did you lot know you can record and share journeys made with Google Earth Pro?

The Pro version makes information technology really petty to record a journeying (in Google World Pro parlance, a 'tour'), be information technology in street view, or otherwise. In one case yous've made your recording, you can share it online. Tours are stored in KML (Keyhole Markup Language) and KMZ (Keyhole Markup Nil) files, which tin can simply actually be opened with Google Globe, and a scattering of other specialized applications, such as the open source Google World culling, Marble.

earth-tour

The advantage of distributing as KML is that information technology is possible to edit them at a later point. Simply should you wish, Google Earth Pro also comes with the ability to produce a video file for later sharing on Youtube, or any other video sharing site. Information technology can even produce ludicrously detailed HD-quality movies, although lacks the power to produce 4K video. Here's one I made before.

Observe Out More About The World

Does Nebraska take a larger voter turnout rate than Alabama? Are there more Fair Trade farms in Sierra Leone than in Rwanda? Do more people live in Los Angeles than in San Francisco? If you've ever pondered these questions, y'all'll beloved Google Earth Pro, which comes a number of boosted datasets relating to demography and geography that are sectional to the premium version of the app.

google-earth-fairtade

And if you're a budding geographer or sociologist yourself, you can even create your ain datasets and import them into Google Earth Pro, including the ability to map up to 2500 addresses from an XML file. My colleague Angela Alcorn has run through this in the by.

Of course, if you're working with open cartographic data, and you want something that's easier to publish and share, you lot might want to consider using ScraperWiki.

To learn more about countries and capitals, take a look at these geography quizzes to test your knowledge.

Discover Out How Bad The Traffic Is In Your Neighborhood

The gratuitous version of Google World makes information technology simple to visualize the earth with 'layers', where data is superimposed onto the world. Handy, correct?

google-earth-traffic

Well, Google Earth Pro takes this to the next level, with fifty-fifty more layers to work with, including historical traffic information. It's not quite the real-time data that's bachelor on the Android version of Google Maps, but it's certainly handy if you lot're moving into a new house and want to work out your odds of showing up to work late every day. Yous tin can as well employ Google World to simply get a satellite view of your home.

Solve Property Disputes

If you lot've ever been involved in a belongings dispute, you'll know how acrimonious they can get. They're rough. Thankfully, there's an all-seeing arbiter for these disputes. Information technology'south called parcel data, and information technology definitively defines property boundaries.

earth-parce

This data is commonly quite hard (and expensive) to get concur of, but not whatever more. Google Globe Pro comes with this parcel data, making information technology possible to find out who owns what land. Furthermore, each property parcel comes with a unique ID andGoogle Earth Pro natively supports searching by these IDs from inside its built-in search function.

Fantastic? You lot bet, only hardly surprising given that Google Earth Pro is a premium production.

Anything Else?

Google Earth Pro comes with a number of handy advantages over the free version, including the ability to print ultra-high resolution images and a characteristic that allows you to measure and superimpose your own 3D building mock-ups. But allow'southward not forget that the free version of Google Earth comes with some pretty astonishing features too, all of which are present in this version.

Features like the ability to look at historical satellite information. Ever wanted to look at New York in 1978? Now you lot can.

earth-historical

Google Earth besides comes with a number of impressive datasets, including those produced by charities, companies and non-governmental organizations. 1 of these is by environmental force per unit area grouping Greenpeace, which allows you to map ecological destruction worldwide.

earth-greenpeace

Finally, if so inclined, you tin sit dorsum and simply gaze at the splendor of the known universe.

earth-sky

If that's non enough, check out these 5 cool things you lot can do with Google Earth. There are fifty-fifty some games.

Over To You lot

Have y'all downloaded Google Earth Pro yet? Establish annihilation crawly?

You lot can also view live weather condition radar on Google Earth. How cool is that?

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