Computerworld - If you've ever wanted to travel to Paris, but just never got around to it, you can now use the Google Earth software tool and watch a sunset filmed from the top floor of the Eiffel Tower, or view video clips of other popular spots in the City of Lights.
That's because videos from Google Inc.-owned YouTube are now embedded at geographical locations in Google Earth.
Integrating YouTube into Google Earth offers users a new way to experience destinations as seen through the eyes of YouTube users who have visited them, according to Google's Lat Long blog. So people can watch and hear what's happening in locations they may never visit, Google said in a statement.
Now users can zoom in on any location on the planet and view YouTube videos related to that place, said Google Earth software engineer Amin Charaniya in the blog.
For example, a user who wants Google Earth to zoom in on the island of Maui can then view videos of surfing, snorkeling and exotic sea life, Charaniya said.
The new layer can be found in the "Featured Content" folder in the left-hand side of Google Earth. Users then click on "YouTube," and icons will appear all over the globe, according to the blog. Users can then either "fly" from place to place, exploring videos as they go, or they can search for a particular location and view the videos available there, Google said. Then as users zoom from place to place, more videos will appear and users can either play them in Google Earth or on YouTube.
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