Google today announced the availability of Google Earth 5.2, which boasts new features outdoorsmen will rejoice about.

In the latest version, you can connect your GPS device directly with the application to import your track, but now, new features will show you more information and statistics about your journey than ever before.

The latest version includes the ability to view elevation, speed, and graphs about your route in Google Earth. A new feature also records your route, so you could play it back later, with historical information including speed and slope.

Google Earth 5.2 also offers an integrated browser (based on WebKit technology found on mobile devices like the iPhone), making it easier to load web pages (such as Wikipedia pages from layers in the app), making finding information faster and more efficient. Users can disable the new embedded browser by simply opting to enable links to open in the default browser from the options page in the application.

The new features will be available in Google Earth standard edition, which is available to everyone free of charge, and in the companies Pro version that is offered for a fee.

The Pro version received more of an upgrade, including new features such as parcel, demographic, and traffic layers for all of the United States.

The Pro version is geared mainly towards professionals, while the free version remains perfectly fine for even the more advanced user.

You can download Google Earth 5.2 now from the Google Earth website.

The company today also announced the availability of Google Earth for Apple’s iPad.

The company says Google Earth has been downloaded more than 700-million times since the product launched.