Slashgeo

An anonymous voxel writes "Poly9 FreeEarth a 3D web globe that does not require any download, was introduced a few days ago. It comes with a preliminary JavaScript API that will be expanded over time and promises to be a lightweight competitor to the existing 3D globes out there." From their current features: "# Current features * Cross-browser * Cross-platform * 200k download * Pushpins * Mouse control * Limited zoom * Limited tilt * JavaScript API * Embeddable videos"

The Google Earth Blog links to a very long MIT Technology Review article summarizing the state of 3D immersive virtual worlds. From the article: "So while virtual worlds are good for basic instruction and data representation, professionals aren't yet rushing to use them to analyze large amounts of spatial information. For that, they stick to specialized design, animation, modeling, and mapping software from companies like Autodesk and ESRI. But there's another new genre of 3-D visualization tools that are accessible to both professionals and average Internet users: "virtual globe" programs such as Google Earth, Microsoft's Virtual Earth, and NASA's open-source World Wind. [...] Even as social virtual worlds incorporate a growing amount of real-world data, virtual globes and their 2-D counterparts, Web maps, are getting more personal and immersive. Digital maps are becoming a substrate for what Di-Ann Eisnor, CEO of the mapping site Platial in Portland, OR, calls "neogeography": an explosion of user-­created content, such as travel photos and blog posts, pinned to specific locations (see "Killer Maps," October 2005)."

Discovered at GeoWeb, "Dapple makes it easy to find and visualize massive quantities of geoscientific data available on the Internet.
* View geoscience data, satellite imagery, remote sensing data, geology maps, geophysical data, and many other earth data sets of interest to geoscientists.
* Save an earth view and share your view with colleagues.
* Add new Geosoft DAP and WMS servers of interest.
* View GeoTIFF files."

Ogle Earth reports "Last summer, amid much fanfare and little server capacity, the France's National Geographic Institute (IGN) released Géoportail, a 2D web mapping application that was (inaccurately) self-described as France's answer to Google Earth. A 3D version was promised for 2007. It has now arrived." Update: 08/01 13:24 GMT by S : We also got an anonymous user submission on the subject: "Géoportail is an initiative of the French National Geographical Institute (IGN). In spite of it's difficult beginnings, Géoportail is now the reference portal for access to all French state and private sector geographical data. The only thing which it missed compared to its competitors such as Google Earth or Microsoft Virtual Earth was the absence of 3D. This lack is now filled. The visualization of the 3D maps charts is done through a TerraExplorer plugin developed by Skyline Software. Actualy TerraExplorer is only available on Windows, although a version Mac OS and Linux are underway. Official announcement in French." See also previous related stories.

Ogle Earth informs us Leica's virtual globe named TITAN can now work with Microsoft's Virtual Earth 2D and 3D. From the announcement: "The Geospatial Instant Messenger now supports the direct publishing and serving of geospatial data to Microsoft Virtual Earth 2D and 3D. Simply open up a chat session with a user sharing data, right click on a shared dataset and choose ‘Load in Virtual Earth 2D’ or ‘Load in Virtual Earth 3D.’" See previous TITAN-related stories below.

Slashdot runs a story about Google testing a new virtual world tied to Google Maps and Google Earth named "My World". Their summary: "Rumors of Google's plans to create a virtual world that rivals that of Second Life have popped up once again over the weekend. The company could now be collaborating with Arizona State University to test the 3D social network, which may be tied into Google's current applications of Google Earth and Google Maps."