iPad owners who are looking for a surefire way to draw more attention to their big, shiny screens should proceed straight to the iTunes store and download Google’s latest offering.  The company’s made Google Earth, which has been a popular sort of eye candy for years, available for the iPad.

This represents a quick turnaround on Google’s part, considering that Google Earth 5.2 was just launched yesterday.  The search giant didn’t cut any corners, though, as Peter Birch, a product manager, was sure to explain.

"With our latest release, we now have native support for the iPad, which means that you get to see the world in beautiful full-resolution imagery," Birch wrote this afternoon on the LatLong Blog.  "There is a custom toolbar at the top, and you can click on individual icons to open ‘balloons’ without having to navigate away from the 3D view."

Furthermore, "Along with Panoramio photos, Wikipedia articles, and Google Places, you can also view roads rendered directly on the terrain.  Select any of these layers from the ‘Layers’ menu in the toolbar."

Google Earth for iPad is of course free, too, so there’s little reason for iPad owners to not give the new software a whirl.