Google Earth upgrades with guided tours, 3- D

Trotting the globe is going to become a lot different in Google Earth.

The tech giant announced Tuesday a major redesign of its exploration app, enabling new features such as guided tours as well as a 3- D button to view locations from any angle and share them with friends as digital “postcards.”

“We want to open up different lenses for you to see the world and learn a bit about how it all fits together; to open your mind with new stories while giving you a new perspective on the locations and experiences you cherish,” product manager Gopal Shah said in a blog post describing the update.

A core addition to the new Earth experience is Voyager, a feature allowing users to go on interactive guided tours of an area. One example is a tour of Gombe National Park in Tanzania, which highlights conservation efforts featuring research from Jane Goodall.

Although you may not visit a region in person, you can still send friends “postcards.” Users tap a 3- D button to capture views from any angle, then have the option to share them.

Google also imported the “I’m Feeling Lucky” option from Search into Earth, letting users visit a random destination of their choosing.

The new Earth is available now on Google’s Chrome browser. Owners of Android devices will see the updated app this week, while iOS device owners can expect an update “in the near future,” Shah says..

GOOGLE A screenshot of the revamped Google Earth, available now.