Different avatars of Google’s PegMan!

Google very recently announced the launch of Street View services for India. Street View in Google Maps allows one to explore places around the world through 360-degree street-level imagery. Bangalore gets the distinction of being the first city in India to have street view. So next time you want to visit the Garden city / Silicon city / Pub Capital of India, you could actually walk through the places of interest virtually.  Street View would soon be rolled across for many cities and historical sites in India.

What is Street View?

Google Street View is a feature on Google Maps & Google Earth that provides panoramic views from various positions along many streets in the world. Launched on May 25, 2007, originally only in several cities in the United States, it has since then gradually expanded to include more cities and rural areas worldwide. Some of the prominent cities and historical sites include Colosseum at Rome, Stonehenge at England, many Museums across the world and many more. Google uses car-mounted cameras to collect to the pictures for street view. It has also made use of tricycle, snowmobile and very recently Auto-rickshaw in Bangalore  too..

How do I access Street View?

While using Google Maps, look for the  pegman on the top of Google Maps zoom control. Pick him up and drag him to the place you want to see, and roads with Street View imagery will appear with a blue border. NOTE: Currently Google hasn’t rolled out the walk-through of the roads/locations in Bangalore allow, however you could view the images of the locations (via Google’s Panoramio).

How to make use of Street View for Mobile?

Google street view is available as an app and is an addon to Google Maps. To use street View, Open Google maps, Press on the point of interest for the address box to pop up and then tap the box for other options one of which is street view.

You can download the Street View App for your Android Phone from the Android Market place

Image Courtesy: Google