Chrome Quick Tip: Turn “New Tab” Pages into Google Earth Eye Candy

Google Earth is the cheapest way to travel the world, i.e., virtually. Their super satellites give us unbelievable access to images from pretty much any place around the globe, turning us all into would-be world explorers. Plus, these images make for stunning wallpapers.

If you use Chrome as your internet browser, then you're probably used to opening a tab and landing on a page that looks something like this:

It's nothing to write home about, but it's functional—the Google Doodle and a search bar as well as tiles for frequently visited sites. But if you want to add a little Earth imagery to this new tab page, wouldn't something like the following be a little bit cooler?

Earth View, a Chrome extension from the Google Maps team, adds a Google Earth image any time you open a new tab or window.

You'll notice that the lack of a search bar, and that the recent website section has been removed—this is to better showcase the Google Earth image. You can still use the Omnibox (i.e., address bar) for searches and queries.

Click on the globe in the bottom-right corner to open the location of the image in Google Maps, and you can also refresh the page to unveil a new earthly scene. What are some of your favorite Google Earth images?

For more Google Chrome fun, check out these 10 speed hacks to make your browsing experience blazing fast, and see how to use your Omnibox to search and compose in Gmail and use Android apps in-browser!