Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Google’s new wallpaper-friendly satellite images are simply stunning

 

The world sure is a gorgeous-looking place when viewed from on high, so it’s no surprise that some people like to create wallpapers for their devices using captures from Google Earth.

Recommended Videos

The practice prompted Google to create Earth View, described by the web giant as “a collection of thousands of the planet’s most beautiful landscapes, seen from space.”

Launched a decade ago, the collection of stunning images has been viewed by millions of people and used as wallpapers for Android devices and PCs, as well as screensavers for Chromecast and Google Home.

This week, Google has significantly expanded the collection, adding more than 1,000 new images to bring the total number of available captures to 2,500. Check out some of the outstanding new shots in the video below:

Exploring Earth View

“The upgraded imagery features more locations around the globe and is optimized for today’s high-resolution screens — featuring brighter colors, sharper images, and resolutions up to 4K,” Gopal Shah, Google Earth product manager, wrote in a blog post introducing the new imagery.

All of the new captures are available in the Earth View Gallery, as well as the Android Wallpapers app and the Earth View Chrome Extension. You’ll also find the images displayed as part of an interactive exhibit in Google Earth’s Voyager, with a handy “download wallpaper” link for each of the pretty pictures.

Shah also noted that the gallery now features “a nifty color map to help you visualize the thousands of Earth View locations, and find a landscape featuring your favorite color.”

The new imagery was gathered with the help of Germany-based Ubilabs, which makes interactive map applications for businesses.  The two companies worked together to create a set of tools that enables efficient scanning of huge amounts of satellite imagery while maintaining fine camera control to get the best possible shot.

Shah is clearly passionate about Earth View and the amazing imagery that it offers, explaining that it has the ability to “elevate our minds from our tiny screens to outer space; the landscapes that materialize when you open a new tab or unlock your phone punctuate your day with a global looking glass.”

He adds: “My hope then is this funny little project — along with Google Earth as a whole — moves us to care more deeply about this strange but kaleidoscopically beautiful planet.”

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
I saw Google’s Gemini AI erase copyright evidence. I am deeply worried
Gemini Advanced on the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

Update: Google has responded to Digital Trends’ queries. The story has been updated with company’s statement below.
The rise of generative AI has been a fairly messy process, especially from fair usage ethics and copyright perspective. AI giants are inking deals with publishers to avoid legal hassles, while at the same time, they are embroiled in copyright tussles in courts in multiple countries.
As the ravenous appetite for training AI on user data grows, we might be in for another ethical conundrum. Multiple users on X and Reddit have shared demonstrations of how Google’s latest Gemini 2.0 series AI model can remove watermarks from copyright-protected images.
Going by the before/after samples of images, it seems Gemini is doing a fairly good job of removing the watermarks. Notably, it’s not only erasing those banner-style watermarks, but also fairly complex overlays with design and stylized text elements.
https://x.com/ajiteshleo/status/1901484196972945872?s=61
The model in question is the Gemini 2.0 Flash, which was released earlier this year and got a reasoning upgrade, as well. It is worth noting here that you can not remove the watermark if you are using the mobile or desktop version of the Gemini 2.0 Flash model. Trying to do so returns a message like this:
“Removing watermarks from images without the explicit permission of the copyright holder is illegal in most countries. It is important to respect the copyright laws and intellectual property rights. If you want to use an image with a watermark, you should contact the copyright holder and ask for permission.”
You can, however, try and remove the watermark from images in the Google AI Studio. Digital Trends successfully removed watermarks from a variety of images using the Gemini 2.0 Flash (Image Generation) Experimental model.
 
It is a violation of local copyright laws and any usage of AI-modified material without due consent could land you in legal trouble. Moreover, it is a deeply unethical act, which is also why artists and authors are fighting in court over companies using their work to train AI models without duly compensating them or seeking their explicit nod.

How are the results?
A notable aspect is that the images produced by the AI are fairly high quality. Not only is it removing the watermark artifacts, but also fills the gap with intelligent pixel-level reconstruction. In its current iteration, it works somewhat like the Magic Eraser feature available in the Google Photos app for smartphones.
Furthermore, if the input image is low quality, Gemini is not only wiping off the watermark details but also upscaling the overall picture. .
https://x.com/kaiju_ya/status/1901099096930496720?s=61
The output image, however, has its own Gemini watermark, although this itself can be removed with a simple crop. There are a few minor differences in the final image produced by Gemini after its watermark removal process, such as slightly different color temperatures and fuzzy surface details in photorealistic shots.

Read more
Google’s new Gemma 3 AI models are fast, frugal, and ready for phones
Google Gemma 3 open-source AI model on a tablet.

Google’s AI efforts are synonymous with Gemini, which has now become an integral element of its most popular products across the Worksuite software and hardware, as well. However, the company has also released multiple open-source AI models under the Gemma label for over a year now.

Today, Google revealed its third generation open-source AI models with some impressive claims in tow. The Gemma 3 models come in four variants — 1 billion, 4 billion, 12 billion, and 27 billion parameters — and are designed to run on devices ranging from smartphones to beefy workstations.
Ready for mobile devices

Read more
Google Maps’ new feature sees Android play catchup to iOS
Samsung Galaxy S24 in Marble Gray showing Google Maps.

Android users are getting their first glimpse of a new operating system feature while using Google Maps, as the app is the first to make use of the Live Updates ability that was added for Android 16. The feature will give users updated information in their status bar so they can keep track of ongoing activity such as following directions using maps.

Similar to Apple's Live Activities system, the Android function can potentially be used by a range of apps but has first been seen in Google Maps. "Live Updates are a new class of notifications that help users monitor and quickly access important ongoing activities," Android developers explained in a post highlighting the feature when it was first announced.

Read more