Google Acquires 3D Design Program

Google on Tuesday announced the purchase of yet another software company to add to its growing portfolio. The six year-old @Last Software makes a tool called SketchUp for creating, viewing and editing 3D designs, and attracted the attention of the search giant with a Google Earth plug-in.

"Google's resources will allow us to serve our current users better, and Google's reach will allow us to expose more people to SketchUp in one year than we could have touched in ten years on our own," said Brad Schell, founder of @Last Software. "SketchUp is still SketchUp, but now it will go places it couldn't possibly have gone before."