A new home for SketchUp

In its time at Google, SketchUp has become one of the most popular 3D modeling tools in the world. With over 30 million SketchUp activations in just the last year, we’re awfully proud of our accomplishments. But there’s still so much we want to do, and we think we’ve found a way forward that will benefit everyone—our product, our team and especially our millions of users.

That’s why I’m sharing today that the SketchUp team and technology will be leaving Google to join Trimble. We’ll be better able to focus on our core communities: modelers who have been with us from the beginning, as well as future SketchUppers who have yet to discover our products. Designers, builders and makers of things have always been the heart and soul of SketchUp. With Trimble’s commitment to invest in our growth, we’ll be able to innovate and develop new features better than ever before.

For those of you in the architecture, engineering and construction industries, the knowledge and experience Trimble will add to the SketchUp effort are obvious. Together with our new colleagues at Trimble, we plan to continue making our tools for the building professions as innovative, intuitive and (dare I say) fun to use as we always have.

If you’re one of the many, many people who use SketchUp for something else—from education to woodworking, geo-modeling to movie-making—rest assured that there will be a SketchUp for you, too. Our mission has always been to make 3D modeling tools that anyone can use. The free version of SketchUp is an important part of our world as well, and that isn’t changing in the least.

Thanks to Google, more people than we ever imagined possible have been introduced to SketchUp. Thanks to Trimble, we’ll be able to continue to make SketchUp into the tool that we—and you—have always hoped it would become. With a strong wind at our backs and plenty of sunshine ahead, this voyage just keeps getting more exciting.


Posted by John Bacus, Product Manager, SketchUp

Google +1 button and Badge for Blogger

Google's new GPlus +1 button for blogger,that lets to share your blog with like minded people across the world. Blogger introduces two Google+ gadgets (+1 Button and Google+ Badge) .Google+ button is almost same as Facebook Like button.Unlike the Google+ button appears below the post,the gadget is specific to your blog.Google+ gadget allows your visitors to recommend your blog and able to share on their circles.
Here i am going to show how to add this gadgets..

• Sig in to your Blogger
• Go to Layout and click Add Gadget

 

 

• Take +1 button or Google+ Badge as you need
• If you take Google+ badge give page ID

•   Thats all....

Google Model Your Town 2012: Vote for the winner!

The 212 teams that participated in this year’s Google Model Your Town Competition produced thousands of models, the vast majority of which were jaw-droppingly, heart-stoppingly, mind-bogglingly gorgeous. Narrowing down the field to six finalists was a gut wrenching affair, but it had to be done. In alphabetical order, the finalist teams for 2012 are:

Evansville, Indiana, United States | Evansville’s collection of models

Modeler: Randall Crane

Getaria, Gipuzkoa, Spain | Getaria’s collection of models

Modelers: Josetxo Perez Fernandez, Pedro Domecq Aguirre

Leominster, Herefordshire, United Kingdom | Leominster’s collection of models

Modeler: Tom Harvey

Lowell, Massachusetts, United States | Lowell’s collection of models

Modeler: Beryl Reid

Toruń, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland | Toruń’s collection of models

Modelers: Arkadiusz Pawlowski, Górniak Grzegorz

Zielona Góra, Lubuskie, Poland | Zielona Góra’s collection of models

Modeler: Tomasz Szular

This video provides an aerial, musical tour of each of the six finalists’ models in situ. Make some popcorn and enjoy.

It’s voting time!

It’s up to you (and the rest of the world) to pick an overall winner. We’ve created separate one-minute video tours for each town, as well as KML files that you can download to see the models in Google Earth. Peruse the entries, then vote for your favorite. You have until May 1st, 2012 to cast your ballot.

Congrats and thanks to everyone who entered—this year’s models were truly amazing.

Posted by Allyson McDuffie, Google SketchUp Team