Google have been busy recently, delivering some updates to their existing mobile applications, with promise of more to come.
Firstly, Google have updated their iPhone mobile app, bringing push alerts from your Google account, notifying of new email from your Gmail account and appointments from your Google calendar.
The Google experience on the iPhone is generally not as good as found on Android, with the Android system delivering better all round integration for Gmail, Calendar and Maps, which is only natural given Google's involvement with that OS. So it is good to see that Google are endeavouring to deliver a better experience of its services on other platforms.
The updated Google app is available to download now from the Apple App Store.
Secondly, there is also an update for Google Earth for Android. The latest version of Google Earth delivers an “Explore the Ocean” layer, which offers photos and videos from over 100 contributors, as well as offering an option to check out the landscape and terrain of Monterery Bay Canyon, an area that is larger than the Grand Canyon in size.
If you happen to be running an Android handset on Android OS 2.2, then the latest Google Earth will now also support flash balloons, allowing you to watch flash videos right in the balloon. You'll just need to make sure you've got the latest version flash player installed on your device.
The update to Google Earth can be downloaded from the Android Market, or by scanning the barcode below:
Lastly, Google have also said they are working on a version of the popular app, Google Goggles, which allows you to initiate a search from an image captured on your handsets camera. Google say that the app needs to be built from the 'ground up' which accounts for the delay in releasing the iPhone version, with the Android version having been on the market for some months now.
The iPhone version of Google Goggles should be available from the App Store before the end of the year.