The aptly named Virtual World News has a story about a potential Google virtual world. While the news is not a shock, the rumored timeline for the project might surprise a few people.

Someone is beta testing a new product at Arizona State University, according to a student at MacRumors, and it looks like it could be Google's virtual world/social networking platform to be built on Google Earth. MyWorld is a "new product that will be publicly launched later this year" from "a major Internet company," and the questionnaire (ASU ID required) asks both is users have Gmail accounts and virtual avatars. Google Operating System also points out that ASU is heavily involved with Google already, from apps and search to maps and Mars. Also, Google has an office at ASU Tempe.

Read more at VWN.