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New SketchUp Version for Google Earth Users

New version of SketchUp enables you to render a 3-D version of your house and placing it on Google Earth. Google purchased @Last Software two months ago and Google puts its newly bought asset in use. Google offers versions of SketchUp. SketchUp Pro 5 includes an updated user interface, added file import and export functions, improved DWG/DXF handling and enhanced sketching abilities. SketchUp Pro runs $495.

Google also offers a free 3-D version for people who like to render buildings and load them into Google Earth, but free is not usually a good business model. After the original acquisition, analysts wondered if Google should focus more on its primary revenue stream, advertising, and stop acquiring technologies simply for their potential "gee whiz" factor.

However, Brad Schell, SketchUp product management director who went to Google with the purchase, is not worried about monetizing Google SketchUp or Google Earth right now. He may be new to Google but he already sounds like a true believer, because @last shared the same philosophy. "We`re so aligned," he said, because "that really is a wonderful philosophy. Innovate and make the best possible user experience and we`ll worry about monetizing it later."