Trimble to Enhance its Office-to-Field Platform with the Acquisition of Google's SketchUp 3D Modeling Platform finance.yahoo.com
  SketchUp is currently used by millions of users annually—ranging from architects to engineering and construction firms to building and design professionals—for designing, modeling and visualizing projects.  The SketchUp product and its vision of "3D modeling for everyone" has allowed modelers worldwide, across a wide range of industries, to express design concepts easily, accurately and efficiently.  Additionally, SketchUp users benefit from its extensive third-party developer community that provides industry-specific solutions for a variety of customers.
  As part of the SketchUp platform, Trimble will also partner with Google on running and further developing SketchUp's 3D Warehouse, an online repository where users can find, share, store and collaborate on 3D models. The site enables users to create collections of models, including 3D Buildings, and share them with fellow modelers around the world.  Individual models can be loaded, saved and viewed in 3D from within SketchUp or a web browser.  For the foreseeable future, Google will host and operate the 3D Warehouse for Trimble and together the companies will continue to offer the same capabilities, functions and services that are offered today. The ability for users to submit 3D Buildings for potential acceptance and viewing in Google Earth will be maintained. Currently the 3D Warehouse has almost two million user-generated models. |