Google Maps gets Street View
Wednesday 16 Apr 08 | Category: Technology
Google Maps now offers Street View for certain US locations. For those of us who'd be just as happy reading an Ordnance Survey map as a good novel, the recent advances in mapping technology have been amazing. Once upon a time the technology was limited to the legend in the corner of the map where you could remind yourself whether a cross with a circle was a church with a spire or a tower.
Now it's possible to zoom into your chosen location and to see a photo of the street. You can turn around, follow the road in any direction and even zoom in to read a sign by the side of the road. I took a quick drive around Manhattan this morning, pausing outside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue before heading south into Greenwich Village to check out the parking situation outside my favourite cheese shop on Bleecker.
It looks like somebody drove up and down Manhattan's streets with some kind of 360 degree camera strapped to the roof of their car, taking a snap every few metres. Interestingly, although there are Street Views available on Google Maps for New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia and many other US cities, Washington has been left off the map, so to speak.
No doubt there'll soon be a Street View operation in the UK and I'll be keeping an eye out for the Google Street View Van so I can rush to the window and gurn for the camera.
Now it's possible to zoom into your chosen location and to see a photo of the street. You can turn around, follow the road in any direction and even zoom in to read a sign by the side of the road. I took a quick drive around Manhattan this morning, pausing outside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue before heading south into Greenwich Village to check out the parking situation outside my favourite cheese shop on Bleecker.It looks like somebody drove up and down Manhattan's streets with some kind of 360 degree camera strapped to the roof of their car, taking a snap every few metres. Interestingly, although there are Street Views available on Google Maps for New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia and many other US cities, Washington has been left off the map, so to speak.No doubt there'll soon be a Street View operation in the UK and I'll be keeping an eye out for the Google Street View Van so I can rush to the window and gurn for the camera.
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