Google Street View
hideGoogle Street View is a feature of Google Maps and Google Earth that provides for many streets in the world 360° horizontal and 290° vertical panoramic views from a row of positions along the street (one in every 10 or 20 meters, or so), from a height of about 2.5 meters. It was launched on May 25, 2007, and has gradually expanded to include more cities, and in these cities more streets, and also some rural areas. These photographs are currently available for countries including United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. Coverage is shown by dragging "pegman" from its position, on a map of any scale.
Google Street View displays scans taken from a fleet of Chevrolet Cobalt, Saturn Astra or Toyota Prius cars in North America, Opel Astras in continental Europe and the United Kingdom, Holden Astras in Australia and New Zealand, Toyota Prius cars in Japan, Fiat Stilos in Brazil and Daewoo Kalos in Mexico. Pedestrian areas, narrow streets and park alleys that cannot be accessed by car are not always covered. However, sometimes Google Trikes[citation needed] (tricycles) are used. On each of these cars (and tricycles) there are nine directional cameras for the 360° views, GPS units for positioning, three laser range scanners, manufactured by SICK, for the measuring of up to 50 meters 180° in the front of the vehicle. On the cars there are also 3G/GSM/Wi-Fi antennas for scanning 3G/GSM and Wi-Fi hotspots. Recent, high quality images are based on open source hardware cameras from Elphel. These cameras are also used by Google book search.
Where available, street view images appear after zooming in beyond the highest zooming level in maps and satellite images, and also by dragging "pegman" to some position. Using the keyboard or mouse the horizontal and vertical viewing direction and the zoom level can be selected. A straight or broken line in the photo shows the approximate path followed by the camera car; two arrows link to the next photo in each direction. At junctions and crossings of camera car routes, more arrows are shown.
On November 21, 2008, Street View was added to the Maps application installed on all of Apple iPhones. On December 10, 2008, Street View was added to the Maps application for S60 3rd Edition. Street view has now also been added to the Windows Mobile version of Google Maps. All versions of Google Maps for Android feature street view, and the digital compass can be used to look around the locations.
For more information about Google Street View, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with street view
Swiss privacy watchdog to sue Google Street View
Nov 13, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Google Inc.'s unstoppable drive to map and photograph the world has run into an immovable object - Switzerland's strict tradition of personal privacy.
Swiss official tells Google to erase street views
Aug 24, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A Swiss government official is demanding that Google Inc. immediately take off the Internet any "Street View" images of Switzerland, and the company said Monday it would work to resolve problems with the privacy ...
Swiss watchdog demands shutdown of Google Street View
Aug 21, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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Switzerland's data protection watchdog on Friday demanded that Google immediately withdraw the "Street View" facility it has started offering on its map of Switzerland.
Google, on tricycle, captures gardens of Versailles
Aug 10, 2009 |
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Google's tricycle-mounted cameras on Monday shot footage of the 17th century gardens of France's Chateau de Versailles destined for its Street View service by year's end.
Odd tricyle mapping Paris streets for Google
Aug 07, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Parisians and tourists, relax. That goofy looking tricycle equipped with loads of high-tech equipment roaming the streets is NOT some mad scientist's invention on the rampage.
Germany to Google: Erase raw street-level images
May 20, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A data protection official for Germany said Wednesday that Google had yet to meet a key request that photos gathered for its panoramic mapping service be erased after they are sent to the United States ...
Google to reshoot street views of Japanese cities
May 14, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Google said Wednesday it will reshoot all photos in Japan for its Street View service after residents complained the 360-degree panoramic images provided a view over the fences around their homes.
Angry British villagers stop Google maps car: report
Apr 03, 2009 |
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Angry residents of an English village blocked the driver of a Google Street View car who was filming the neighbourhood, saying they feared he would encourage burglaries, a report said Friday.
California politician wants to censor online maps
Mar 28, 2009 |
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An elected California official wants the state known for Internet technology to blur images of schools, hospitals, government buildings and houses of worship in online maps.
Google removes street images over privacy complaints
Mar 20, 2009 |
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US software giant Google said Friday it had removed several images from its Street View software, which allows web surfers to view parts of 25 British cities, after users raised privacy concerns.
Swiss watchdog threatens to sue Google over Street View
Sep 14, 2009 |
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Switzerland's data protection watchdog on Monday threatened to sue Google over its "Street View" facility, saying that measures taken by the American Internet giant to address privacy concerns were inadequate. ...
Google pledges more blurring in Switzerland
Sep 02, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Google Inc. said Wednesday its Street View service will blur some pictures from Switzerland even more after a Swiss official said the images were violating the country's strict privacy laws.
Google bows to pressure for German Street View
Jun 17, 2009 |
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Google has bowed to demands in Germany to do more to protect people's privacy ahead of the launch of its Street View service here, officials said on Wednesday.
Greece bars Google's Street View pending details
May 11, 2009 |
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Greece's data protection agency Monday barred Google from taking any more images on the nation's streets for its Street View feature, pending "additional information" from the US search engine service.
UK privacy watchdog clears Google Street View
Apr 23, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Britain's privacy watchdog says Google Street View should not be removed or shut down.
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