In October of last year, we opened a month-long series called “Product Ideas for Google SketchUp” in which we invited folks like you to post and vote for important features that you wanted us to tackle in the next version of SketchUp. In that series, 838 people cast 12,249 votes on 507 new ideas. I thought it might be worth looking back at the top vote-getters from that series to see how many we were able to build into SketchUp 8. By my count, we implemented about half of your top ten ideas:

1. Make SketchUp perform faster using _______ (some technology): This is something we’re always working on, and we’re committed to making improvements with every single release!

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2. Improve Toolbars: We added a way to save and restore toolbar locations on Windows.

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3. Angular Dimensions: We added Angular Dimensions to LayOut in SketchUp Pro.

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4. Color Snapshot from Google Earth: Not only did we add a way to capture color aerial photos, but we also dramatically upgraded the terrain models you can capture.

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5. Boolean Modeling Operations: We added a new “Solid” status for groups and components, as well as a full set of traditional boolean tools for SketchUp Pro users (Union, Intersect, Subtract, Trim, Split) that we call the “Solid Tools.”

We’re never able to build everything that you think we should build for SketchUp, but we do try to get a few popular ideas from the user community in every new release. All things considered, I think we did pretty well by your list from last year… and we’re going to try to do it again.

We’re nearing the end of this year’s Google SketchUp Questions and Idea” series, and I wanted to remind you all to head on over there to post and vote on your favorite ideas before it’s over for the year. We’re closing the series on 10/01/10, so don’t procrastinate… Make your voice heard!

Google has just updated their iOS app to version 3.1.0 with a few nice enhancements. According to the upgrade screen there are three new features.

1 — Native support for iPhone4 and Retina display: Google Earth is now incredibly sharp and detailed on the iPhone 4.

2 — Underwater bathymetry and ocean surface: Similar to the recent update on Android, you can now explore under the ocean floor from your iPhone!

3 — Ocean content layer: Also similar to Android, you can now view a layer with various stories from the sea.

With this update in place, the iPhone and Android versions of Google Earth are virtually identical. The latest Android update gave it a few features that it was lacking (like the two-finger “look around” mode), and now this update gets iPhone caught back up with the ocean features.

There are still quite a few features missing from both versions (tracks, elevation profiles, native KML support, 3D buildings, etc), but I’m sure we’ll slowly see those included in the future as phones continue to become more powerful.

What’s the one feature you’d like to see added to the mobile version next?

Google is working with the automotive industry to bring Google innovations and services into cars, viagra dosage and to give our users access to relevant information while driving. BMW has always been a pioneer in this area, viagra 100mg and well known for its Internet-connected cars and ConnectedDrive product.

Today, viagra sale we’re happy to announce that in a joint effort with BMW, we have renewed the package of Google services that come with BMW’s ConnectedDrive service. As part of this major update, if you’re a ConnectedDrive customer in Germany, Austria, France, Italy and the U.K., you’ll have access to several exciting Google services you’ve never before experienced in a car.

BMW is introducing these services in every new car equipped with a professional navigation system as of September 2010.

So what’s new?

Firstly, we’re introducing search suggestions for Google Local Search.

We know that input mechanisms in your vehicle are sometimes limited and time-consuming. To enter a search query, you often need to know exactly what you’re looking for.

To address this challenge, cars with our new service package will provide suggested results after you enter the first few characters – similar to what you’re used to on Google’s desktop web search. Suggestions are based on your location and will surely speed up your search. Once you’ve tried this in your car, you’ll never want to leave home any other way!

With only a couple of characters, you’ll be guided to the information you want that has been fully integrated in your navigation experience. How about finding the nearest hotel with only a few keystrokes and a bit of ”jog-wheeling”?

Secondly, we’re beefing up the usefulness of your results via a “pictures at your destination” service that gives you much richer details about the location you’ve entered into the system.

For each search result, Google Local Search already provides helpful information such as a place’s address, phone number, ratings, reviews, various business attributes, etc.

But we get that you might want even more, and are now enabling you to have an advance look at the destination you’re going. “Pictures at your destination” is a new service that combines images of your destination from various online sources. Where available, you’ll see satellite imagery, user generated photos from the Panoramio community, or even Street View imagery that gives you a sense of what you can visually expect when you get to your destination.

Have a look:

Thirdly and as always, we’re continuing to make improvements to our Local Search offering. Google Local Search is already available in many cars worldwide and has become a very useful complimentary service to static-only point of interest (POI) searches from DVDs or hard drives. By taking advantage of the rich information and fresh data this technological integration allows, we hope searching for places in your car makes it faster, easier and more exciting for you to get where you’re going.

Enjoy your connected drive, and stay tuned for more great car services from the Google automotive team and our partners!