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Street View drives the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

2012-05-25T14:53:00.000-07:00

Growing up in Indiana, my Dad and I shared a love of racing. Not just any kind of racing, but open-wheeled Indy Car racing. Every Memorial Day weekend, we'd get up early and drive from our home in Columbus to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to watch our favorite spectacle in racing: the Indianapolis 500.

I went to college in Indiana as well, and we were able to keep up the tradition. But when I moved to California, we just weren't able to make it work, and we haven’t been able to attend a race together since.

Luckily, now, I’m an Engineer on Google Street View, and so I’m sure you can imagine my excitement to let the world know that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is now available through Street View.

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Once, Dad managed to get some pit passes, and we wandered around the pits and garages before the race watching the final preparation on the cars, the mechanics scurrying to have everything ready and the drivers doing their pre-race routine. It was really cool and now that's on Street View, also.

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From Jim Nabors’ opening song, to the finish line and the milk, this Memorial Day, you’ll find me watching the Indy 500 with my Dad. Explore the track in Street View now and then enjoy the race with us.

Posted by Allen Hutchison, Street View engineer

Rahul Nagvekar wins 2012 National Geographic Bee

2012-05-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to 8th grader Rahul Nagvekar, who was just named the 2012 National Geographic Bee champion! Rahul is 14 years old and from Missouri City, Texas. It’s a good thing he has a passion for traveling, as this year’s winner receives a trip to the Galapagos Islands, in addition to a lifetime membership to the National Geographic Society and a $25,000 college scholarship. To get here today, Rahul has answered more than 300 geography-related questions since the Bee started at Quail Valley Middle School last fall.

This year, over four million students around the United States participated in the National Geographic Bee. Participants in the qualifying rounds were asked a variety of questions, ranging from locations of carnivorous plants, spider monkeys, natural disasters, soil types, language dialects, labor reforms, and glaciers. Participants must have a vast amount of knowledge in order to successfully answer questions on such diverse topics.

Physical, human, and cultural geography encompasses much of what takes place on our planet. These nine to fourteen year olds have a wealth of knowledge about the world that extends way beyond their years. The last question of this year’s final was: “Name the Bavarian City on the Danube River that was the legislative seat for the Holy Roman Empire from 1663-1806.” The winning answer is, of course, Regensburg, in Bavaria, Germany.

Google is once again proud to sponsor the National Geographic Bee. This contest highlights the importance of being geographically literate, a skill that is vital for all students. We are all explorers and must invest in understanding the world around us. Technology, like Google Earth, allows us to virtually visit any place on the planet so we can make those connections between people and their environment.

You can watch the 2012 National Geographic Bee tonight, Thursday, May 24th at 8 p.m. ET/PT on the National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WILD. It will also air later on public broadcasting stations.

Congratulations to Rahul and all of the other state finalists!

Posted by Brian McClendon, VP of Engineering, Google Earth and Maps

Google Maps Engine grants for nonprofits

2012-05-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

Today, we are excited to announce a new addition to the Google Earth Outreach Grants program. Now, eligible nonprofit organizations in the U.S., U.K., Brazil and Canada can apply for grants of Google Maps Engine, a platform formerly known as Google Earth Builder, for hosting, storing, managing, and styling map data.

Google Earth Builder has been available to businesses since August 2011. A new name is just the beginning. Several nonprofit organizations, including World Wildlife Fund and Eyes on the Forest (a coalition of Sumatran NGOs), as well as Living Oceans Society, have already been using the platform to tell stories and engage their constituents in an interactive way.

It's no secret that the natural habitats of wildlife such as tigers, rhinos, elephants and orangutans are disappearing at an alarming rate. The World Wildlife Fund, in partnership with Eyes on the Forest, uses Google Maps Engine to develop and publish Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data showing the reduction of ranges for these four endangered species. In addition, they are publishing maps on floral diversity and change in carbon stocks and forest cover over time.

While some nonprofits focus on terrestrial conservation, Living Oceans Society works to protect the British Columbia coastline. As GIS and mapping specialists, they create and publish maps such as kayak routes, dive sites, eelgrass beds, and oil and tanker traffic to inform residents of the recreational value of natural habitats as well as inform policy-makers about the risks that increasing industrial practices pose to the ecosystem.

With this addition of Google Maps Engine to the Google Earth Outreach Grants program, we’re releasing three new Google Maps Engine tutorials to educate nonprofits on how to use the product. We’ll also be hosting a Google+ Hangout on the Google Earth Plus page to provide more information about the program and answer questions from potential grant recipients. Tune in by visiting the Google Earth Plus page on May 24th at 10:30 a.m. PDT to join the Hangout on Air.

More information about eligibility for a Google Maps Engine grant and how organizations can apply is available on the Google Earth Outreach Maps Engine for Nonprofits page.

Posted by Tanya Birch, Program Manager, Google Earth Outreach

Carbon stocks and cultural mapping in the Amazon Rainforest

2012-05-17T14:55:00.000-07:00

In 2008, the Google Earth Outreach team visited the Surui tribe in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest for the first time, upon request of Chief Almir Naramagoya Surui. Their goal was to learn how to share and preserve their culture using Google Maps, Google Earth, and other online tools including Picasa, YouTube, and Blogger. We were honored to play a role in empowering the indigenous people of a region that had been ravaged by illegal logging to tell their stories to millions of people around the world. Filmmaker Denise Zmekhol documented this experience in a video called Trading Bows and Arrows for Laptops.

Then, in 2009, Rebecca Moore, head of the Google Earth Outreach team, returned to the Amazon to teach the Surui about Open Data Kit (ODK), a new suite of open-source tools that streamlines the process of data collection in the field with Android phones. Using ODK, the tribe takes pictures of what’s happening on the ground for proof of the illegal logging that is taking place on their territory.

The Surui also began using ODK and Google Earth to visualize the carbon reserves of the forest they live in. This process is part of their 50-year sustainability plan, and serves as a model for how indigenous tribes who have lost much of their ancestral land to logging and deforestation can thrive with the help of a new emerging market based on carbon credits.

Chief Almir, in his joint presentation with Rebecca Moore, celebrated the validation of the Surui Forest Carbon Project on Saturday, May 12th at TEDxBeloHorizonte in Brazil. This is a groundbreaking outcome for the Surui people for two reasons. First, this is the first indigenous-led project in the world to be validated. Equally important, it’s also the first REDD+ project in Brazil to get certified by both the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) to sell stocks in the carbon market, and the Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) Gold Standard to get extra gains from other ‘co-benefits’ of forest preservation, such as increasing biodiversity for a region, or preserving the livelihood of local communities who depend on the forest. The project was validated by Rainforest Alliance and the Brazilian NGO IMAFLORA.

The Surui and their partner IDESAM have already measured a baseline of carbon stored in the indigenous reserve and will avoid the emission of 6 million tons of carbon over the 30 years of the life of the project by avoiding the deforestation of 40 thousand hectares of forests and protecting an additional 200,000 hectares. Coordinated by Forest Trends, the Surui will work with the Brazilian government and those who want to neutralize their emissions to develop financial mechanisms to ensure the forest is protected and well managed, while also assuring the quality of life for the Surui community. The primary financial vehicle has been designed by FUNBIO, a Brazilian NGO specializing in creating financial mechanisms for conservation.

The TEDx talk was made on the heels of another Google Earth Outreach workshop held in Cacoal, Rondonia in May -- this one intended to teach the Surui people how to create a cultural map using Google Earth. Creating a new platform for storytelling online and an interactive repository for shared memories, the Surui students have interviewed their elders to map their ancestral sites, such as the site of first contact with western civilization in 1969, places where the tribes battled with colonists in the 1970s, as well as places of interest, like sightings of jaguars, capybaras and toucans. Once the Surui students have completed the first version of the map, it will be available for all to explore both as a Google Earth KML, powered by Spreadsheet Mapper 3.0, and as a narrated tour in Google Earth.

We are very excited for Chief Almir, the Surui people, and their partners, including ECAM, Amazon Conservation Team, Forest Trends, IDESAM, Kaninde, FUNBIO, among others, who are entering into a new phase of global significance with the validation of the Surui Forest Carbon Project and the Surui Cultural Map.

Posted by Tanya Birch, Program Manager, Google Earth Outreach

Imagery Update: Week of May 14th

2012-05-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

The Google Earth and Maps Imagery team recently published another batch of aerial and satellite imagery. In this post, we’ll focus on U.S. cities and locales, as the largest amount of new high resolution aerial imagery covers regions in the United States.

High on the list of things associated with the United States are over-sized automobile tail fins. Our first aerial image shown below is of Cadillac Ranch, located near Amarillo, Texas. The series of partly buried and tilted Cadillacs is a public art homage to the iconic American auto.

Cadillac Ranch, Texas
Our next example is of Downtown New Haven, Connecticut. The image shows the center park square of New Haven Green, which is surrounded by eight squares of the same size that comprise a nine-square downtown area that was first drawn out in 1638, and represents the first planned city in the United States.

Downtown New Haven, Connecticut
Few U.S. rivers are more well-known than the mighty Mississippi. The aerial image below, snapped last month, shows a portion of the river’s northern extent where it forms Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Metrodome Stadium, home of the NFL franchise Minnesota Vikings, can be seen in the lower left corner. The team has played its last game there and is about to sign a 30-year deal to build a new downtown stadium.

Section of Downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota
The final example shown below is a section of the “Magic Dragon,” more commonly known as the Lake of the Ozarks. This sinuous man-made reservoir was formed by the damming of the Osage River in South-Central Missouri. More than 70,000 residences line the shoreline and the Bagnell Dam can be seen in the upper-right corner of the image.

Section of Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri
If you’d like to receive an email notification when the Google Earth and Maps Imagery team updates your favorite areas(s), we’ve got just the tool: The Follow Your World application!

These are only a few examples of the sites that can be seen and discovered in our latest batch of published imagery. Happy exploring!

High resolution aerial updates:
U.S. cities: Big Lake, TX; Bowie, TX; Bridgeport, CT; Cleveland, OH; Danville, VA; Dickinson, ND; Farmington, MO; Grand Forks, ND; Hartford, CT; Minneapolis, MN; Providence, RI; Quincy, IL; Richlands, VA; Traverse City, MI; Youngstown, OH

Countries/regions receiving high resolution satellite updates:
Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antarctica, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, France, French Polynesia, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Svalbard, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

These updates are now available in both Google Maps and Google Earth. For a complete picture of where we updated imagery, download this KML for viewing in Google Earth.

Posted by Eric Kolb, Geo Data Strategist

Visit the Baltic nations of Estonia and Latvia with Street View

2012-05-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

You can now virtually visit the Baltic States of Estonia and Latvia using the Street View feature in Google Maps.

Lets start in Estonia with a peek into the capital of Tallinn, a medieval city characterized by its cobbled streets and red roofs. Here’s a view the Town Hall Square.

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Also in Tallinn you have the Toompea Castle, which is a historic site built on top of the Toompea Hill and now houses the Parliament of Estonia.

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Moving south to Latvia, lets first visit the square of Riga Dom Cathedral, which is one of favourite places both for locals and city guests to relax in an outdoor cafe, listen to live music and experience a true atmosphere of medieval old town.

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Also, take a look at the bridge over river Gauja in Sigulda. Thanks to the picturesque valley, many newlyweds choose to cross the bridge, symbolizing their wedding as two shores coming together. If you ever happen to visit (at least on Street View), be sure that you will get only the warmest welcomes from wedding guests.

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There are a ton more sites to visit through Street View and we hope this can inspire you to visit these two countries in the near future! To learn more about Street View please visit www.google.com/streetview.

Posted by Karl Pae, Google Estonia and Didzis Vilcans, Google Latvia

And the 2012 Model Your Town Competition winner is…

2012-05-15T09:19:00.000-07:00

Getaria, Gipuzkoa, Spain!

Over the past several months, hundreds of teams from all over the world have submitted stunning geo-models for our Google Model Your Town Competition. These examples of pure 3D civic pride are breathtaking to behold. Difficult as it was, the SketchUp team managed to pick six finalists, after which we asked the general public to vote for their favorite collection of models. Tens of thousands of you weighed in, and the talented team from the north of Spain were victorious. Zorionak! (That’s “Congratulations!” in Basque.)

Want to see how they won? Take a look at Team Getaria’s collection in the 3D Warehouse, pop over to our winners’ page, and watch this video to see their astounding work:

The winning team is a dynamic duo: Josetxo Perez Fernandez, 36, is a professional who works in computer administration; and Pedro Domecq Aguirre, 45, is a programmer, 3D data specialist and network administrator. Those are their day jobs, anyway. It turns out that they’re actually world-class, polygon-wrangling, texture-mapping, megabyte-optimizing, geo-modeling superheroes. And now they’re bona fide local heroes, too. Thanks to them, millions of people across the globe can now get familiar with the beautiful little town of Getaria.

The beautiful coastline of Getaria
Not only that, but we’ll also be awarding US$25,000 to a local school and hosting a celebration with the town of Geteria in honor of Pedro's and Josetxo's accomplishment.

Getaria Lighthouse on Mount San Antón
Zorionak to the winning town, to the other five finalists, and to all the other entrants who collectively modeled almost 25,000 local landmarks that are now available for all to enjoy in Google Earth’s 3D Buildings layer. The virtual world is a richer place thanks to your efforts, and the real one is a lot better off, too.

Posted by Allyson McDuffie, SketchUp Team

Quickly access your home and work locations in Google Maps

2012-05-15T09:12:00.000-07:00

With Google Maps, we’ve made it increasingly easy to save and re-find the places that matter to you. Last year, we introduced the My Places tab which organizes your saved Custom Maps, directions that you’ve previously looked up, and locations you’ve starred, checked-in and rated. Starting today, you’ll also be able to save your home and work locations in Google Maps when signed in with your Google account.

Imagine moving to a foreign country -- this means a new city, a new neighborhood, and even a new apartment to call home. That was how I began my summer last year, moving from Boulder, Colorado to Tokyo, Japan. In a new country where blocks, not streets, are labeled and addresses use a different formatting system, finding home was a feat in and of itself. And that’s how the idea to save home and work locations in Google Maps was born.

By saving these locations that are common to you in My Places, you’ll be able to access these addresses by simply typing “home” or “work” when searching or getting directions in Google Maps. Using these keywords will create a drop-down suggestion with the address you’ve set so that you no longer have to type the full address into the search box.

By saving your home and work locations in My Places, you’ll also see special icons to easily identify these locations on the map.

To set your home and work locations, you’ll need to sign in with your Google Account. Once logged in, click the My Places tab in Google Maps and save your home and work locations. From the My Places panel, you can also edit or delete your saved locations by clicking the drop-down to the right of the home or work icons.

With home and work locations saved in Google Maps, we hope to help you navigate your way to these frequently visited places, regardless of where you may be.

Update (5/15): Sorry for the delay, but home and work locations in My Places will be available soon. We'll update this post again when the feature is live.

Update (5/25): Thanks for your patience, home and work locations in My Places is now available.

Posted by Erika Yamasaki, Associate Product Manager Intern

Street View: Your Summer Vacation Preview

2012-05-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

Summertime means summer travel. Whether you're planning the next family trip or group outing, Google Maps can help. Street View’s immersive views lets you preview your adventure by transporting you to famous landmarks and tourist destinations around the world. Over the years, our Partner Program has allowed us to showcase a growing number of notable amusement parks, zoos and other points of interest, with our 360-degree panoramic imagery.

For example, if you’re on the West Coast of the US and want to visit the world famous San Diego Zoo, search for “San Diego Zoo” , drag Pegmen to a spot inside the zoo, and take a tour. You can also virtually explore the zoos in Honolulu, Denver, Detroit and more.

San Diego Zoo, View Larger Map

If you’re looking for some amusement without the animals, take a peek at some of the largest amusement parks across the country. Visit Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, and catch a glimpse of how movie magic is made. You can also preview with imagery from Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Universal Studios Hollywood, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Great America, Busch Gardens, and Wet ‘n’ Wild Hawaii.

Universal Studios Orlando, View Larger Map

If you’re into high-octane trips to the racetrack, you can take a virtual look at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca or Infineon Raceway. Or if peace and quiet is more your speed, you can take a leisurely stroll through Balboa Park, the Chicago Botanic Garden, or Diamond Head park and trail.

Infineon Raceway, View Larger Map

Wherever you choose to adventure, feel free to explore these popular U.S. locations from the comfort of your desktop or mobile device. Let Street View imagery help you decide where to go on your next summer getaway. To see more popular locations, check out our Street View Gallery.

Posted by Chris Fiock, Program Manager for Street View

Spreadsheet Mapper 3: More placemarks, advanced customization, and more

2012-05-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

Do you have a spreadsheet of locations that you’d like to see on a map? Here on the Google Earth Outreach team we talk to many nonprofits who use Google Earth and Maps to tell their stories and visualize their data. Often the data is in spreadsheets, or other tabular formats. Converting these rows and columns into a map brings the spreadsheet to life by providing geographic context and a new way to visualize the information.

Spreadsheet Mapper is a tool that enables anyone to easily create a well-designed KML file to show off their data in Google Earth and Maps. Since Spreadsheet Mapper is a Google Docs template, you fill in your data using the familiar interface of a spreadsheet, and create a great KML without any coding. It gives you all the cloud-based benefits of Google Docs, including collaborative editing and the ability to publish directly to the web.

When we released Spreadsheet Mapper 2 a few years ago, it had a number of limitations, especially with regard to the number of placemarks it could create and the available balloon templates. In response to user feedback, and taking advantage of new features in Google spreadsheets and Google Apps Scripts, we have upgraded Spreadsheet Mapper with a variety of new and improved features:

More placemarks: Support for 1,000 placemarks and ability to add more as needed
Flexible balloon design: Take advantage of even more balloon design templates and simplified starter templates
Simplified publication: Just click “Publish to the web” to share your map (no more fussing with URLs)
New customization options: Advanced users can change the default view and network link details

Ready to try it? The Spreadsheet Mapper v3 tutorial will get you started.

We hope these new tools make mapping from spreadsheet data easier than ever!

Posted by Christiaan Adams, Developer Advocate with the Google Earth Outreach team

Shop and travel smarter with Google Maps 6.7 for Android - now with Google Offers and indoor walking directions

2012-05-09T10:12:00.000-07:00

(Cross-posted on the Official Google Mobile Blog)

Wherever you are, Google Maps for Android helps you get around and discover new places. Today with the 6.7 release we will help you find offers from nearby businesses in the U.S. -- everything from restaurants, to salons, to city tours. Also, we’ve added indoor walking directions in the U.S. and Japan, plus 360-degree interior photos of businesses, to help you intrepidly make your way indoors and out.

Discover great offers near you

Today, in the U.S. only, we’re launching a way to discover nearby Google Offers in Google Maps for Android. To see great deals near you, tap on “Maps” to open the dropdown menu and then tap on “Offers.” If you see something you like you can click on it to learn more. Some Google Offers can be purchased and saved for later while others are immediately available for free. With free Google Offers, press “Use now” to redeem instantly or “Save for later” for future use. You can also opt-in to receive notifications in the app when there are offers near you.

Explore the great indoors with walking directions and Business Photos.

Since we launched indoor maps in the U.S. and Japan in Google Maps for Android last November, business owners have been adding their floor plans to our maps with Google Maps Floor Plans. Today, we are launching indoor walking directions for participating venues in these countries. This will help you get directions not only to a building’s front door, but also through those doors to the places where you want to go inside.

Get Indoor walking directions in indoor maps (photo: Macy’s San Francisco)

With Google Business Photos you can explore panoramic photos of the inside of a business from the palm of your hand. Now you can get a feel for a restaurant or store inside as well as outside using Street View technologies. To access these 360-degree panoramic views, look for the “See Inside” section on the Place page of select businesses.

See the interior of participating businesses with Business Photos (photo: Toyjoy)

Download Google Maps 6.7 for Android from Google Play, and use it as your trusted guide to help you find and discover places to eat, shop and play! You can also learn more about other great features on the Google Maps YouTube channel.

Posted By Benjamin Grol, Product Manager for Google Maps for Android

Bringing Business Photos to more users and business owners

2012-05-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

Since April 2010, we’ve been testing and developing the Business Photos program, which gives users a virtual peek inside businesses through interactive 360-degree imagery. After hearing your positive feedback about how showing off panoramic views of your business interiors helps you attract potential customers, we’re excited to announce further expansion of this program. Starting today, in addition to the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and France, this service is now available in Canada, Ireland and the Netherlands.

Through the Business Photos program, if you’re a business owner in any of these locations around the world, getting started is easy. Just hire a Trusted Photographer in your area to take pictures of your establishment at a time convenient for you. Panoramas are created using the photos, and customers can easily find the resulting panoramic images on Google.com, on Google Maps, and on your Google Places listing. This self-service model, introduced several months ago, not only supports talented photographers in your local community, but also gives people who are thinking about visiting your location a sense of what they can expect when they walk through your doors. And if a local photographer isn’t yet available in your neighborhood, let us know so we can figure out where else to expand the program.

And whether you’re a professional photographer or an enthusiastic amateur, we’d love to have you on board! We are actively recruiting more Trusted Photographers to bring imagery of more local businesses online for millions across the globe to see. Visit our website for photographers to learn more and sign up.

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Click and drag to view the inside of Casa Artelexia in San Diego, California

And if you’re simply curious and want to explore businesses — from top-rated restaurants to exotic pet stores — check out this gallery of interior business photos on the Street View website.

Posted by Gadi Royz, Product Manager, Google Maps

See 3D buildings in a whole new way with Google MapsGL

2012-04-26T11:32:00.000-07:00

In March, we shared news of a significant improvement over our previous 3D buildings in Google Maps, providing a much more recognizable view of thousands of important buildings around the world. Now, we’ve brought this enhanced 3D experience to Google MapsGL as well.

Google MapsGL is a true 3D experience affording a perspective called “parallax”, so you can get different views of a building depending on where you pan. Here are a few comparisons of this 3D upgrade for some landmarks around the world:

Here’s Big Ben before and after

the Eiffel Tower before and after

the Piazza del Duomo before and after

and the Seattle Space Needle before and after.

But those are just a few of the many improved 3D landmarks now available around the world. Along with our recent launch of Google MapsGL photo tours we hope you enjoy these more realistic perspectives and tours of buildings you might want to visit or see in your own neighborhoods!

Posted by Sean Egan, Software Engineer, Google Maps

New 45° imagery available for 19 cities

2012-04-25T11:20:00.003-07:00

The latest 45° imagery update in Google Maps features new imagery for 8 international locations and 11 U.S. locations. This also marks the first time we're publishing 45° imagery for France.

Avignon, France
The city of Avignon is the first place in France where 45° imagery will be available. Classified as a world heritage site by UNESCO, Avignon is full of history. The famous bridge “le pont d’Avignon” (referenced in the well-known French song “Sur le pont d’Avignon”) provides a spectacular view of the old city, including the “Palais des Papes” where 7 popes have resided.

These days, the city is well known for the “festival d’Avignon”. Every summer, Avignon becomes a city-theater transforming its architectural heritage into venues to host a contemporary performing arts festival.

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Rotterdam, Netherlands
Starting as a dam constructed in 1270 on the Rotte River, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial center. Its strategic location at the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta on the North Sea and at the heart of a massive rail, road, air and inland waterway distribution system extending throughout Europe is the reason that Rotterdam is often called the "Gateway to Europe".

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Miami, Florida
This imagery update also includes the southernmost 45° imagery in the United States so far: Miami, Florida. Besides its status as a popular tourist destination, there are several interesting tidbits about Miami. Since permanent weather recordings started in 1900, Miami has experienced snowfall only once. Moreover, the Port of Miami is also currently the world’s busiest in terms of passenger traffic and cruise lines.

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International: Avignon, France; Reus, Spain; Rotterdam, Netherlands; L'Alcudia, Spain; Gandia, Spain; Sueca, Spain; Burgos, Spain; Los Palacios Y Villafranca, Spain

US: Albany, GA; Omaha, NE; Baytown, TX; Miami, FL; Amarillo, TX; Monroe, LA; Manchester, NH; Alexandria, LA; Rapid City, SD; Loudon, TN; Farmington, NM

Happy exploring!
Posted by Gwen Cossoul, Maps for Business Technical Program Manager

Visit global landmarks with photo tours in Google Maps

2012-04-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

Every year, millions of people pack their bags and head to far-off places to enjoy sites and cultures different from their own. While there, they snap photos to document their trip and share their excursions online. Yet none of these individual photos captures the experience of actually being immersed in a specific location. With today’s introduction of photo tours, a feature of Google Maps that guides you through a 3D photo scene, we're one step closer.

Photo tours are available for more than 15,000 popular sites around the world, from famous landmarks such as St. Mark’s Basilica in Italy to scenic treasures like Half Dome in Yosemite. They can be initiated from Google Maps in two ways. First, when you search for a place, such as Trevi Fountain, the results in the left panel will indicate if there is a photo tour available: click either the thumbnail image or the link to start the tour. Alternatively, if you’re browsing the map and click on the label for a particular landmark, the info window that appears will indicate if a photo tour is available.

To produce these photo tours, we use advanced computer vision techniques to create a 3D experience from public, user-contributed Picasa and Panaromio photos. We start by finding clusters of overlapping photos around major landmarks. From the photos, our system derives the 3D shape of each landmark and computes the location and orientation of each photo. Google Maps then selects a path through the best images, and adds 3D transitions to seamlessly guide you from photo to photo as if you’re literally flying around the landmark and viewing it from different perspectives.

Every photo is attributed to its contributor, and the more photos people share, the better the tours get. So if you have great photos of places you’ve visited on Picasa or Panoramio, make them public so they’ll be eligible for inclusion in these photo tours!

Please note that using photo tours requires Google Maps with WebGL. Check out a few of our favorites or visit this map to browse all the available tours. Enjoy touring!

Posted by Steve Seitz, Software Engineer, Google Maps

Street View comes to Ukraine

2012-04-24T08:47:00.000-07:00

You can now visit the country of Ukraine through Street View in time for the 2012 European Football Championships. Located in the geographical center of Europe, Ukraine has many fascinating sites to explore.

At more than 1500 years old, the capital Kyiv is the oldest city in Central and Eastern Europe. You can know take a virtual stroll around the historical center of the city refereed to as the ‘Cradle of Slavic civilization’, including the UNESCO World Heritage listed sites of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and Saint Sophia Cathedral.

Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra

You can also explore the historical center of Lviv, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city dates back to the 14th century and features the Ploshcha Rynok central square.

Lviv historical center

The Odessa National Opera and Ballet Theatre is also now available, where artists like Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Enrico Caruso, Feodor Chaliapin performed.

Odessa National Opera and Ballet Theatre

Freedom Square in Kharkiv is the largest square in Eastern Europe and is home to the Derzhprom buildings. Constructed during the Soviet era, the ‘Palace of Industry’ was the tallest structure in Europe for its time in 1928.

Derzhprom

Whether you are planning your visit for the European Football Championships in June 2012 or you simply want to explore our beautiful country, we hope you enjoy these special views of Ukraine. To learn more about Street View, visit the gallery.

Posted by Marina Tarasova, Communications Associate, Google Ukraine

Exploring Jerusalem’s Old City streets with Street View

2012-04-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

Cross posted on the Official Google Blog

Every year, 3.5 million people come to Israel to visit ancient sites that are holy to billions of people, to walk among the unique stone of Jerusalem, or to relax on the beaches of the Mediterranean.

Inside Jerusalem's Old City

To help you explore Israel’s history and present, we’ve launched imagery of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv-Jaffa and Haifa on Street View. You can explore the narrow streets of Jerusalem’s Old City and each of its four quarters, walk along the Via Dolorosa and see the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, visit the Western Wall and the Mount of Olives. You can stop by the Biblical Zoo, then visit the Israel Museum and the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum—and explore more with the Art Project and the Yad Vashem photo archive. Or you can stroll through Tel Aviv’s bohemian Neve Tzedek neighborhood and the ancient port of Jaffa, and take a virtual trip to some of Tel Aviv’s scenic beaches or to Haifa’s Baha’i Gardens.

We hope you’ll use Street View to discover, explore and more. Some are already using the new imagery to help others—for example, Access Israel, an organization working to make Israel more accessible for people with disabilities, has embedded Street View in its accessibility mapping project of Israeli cities (note: in Hebrew).

We’ll be adding more Street View coverage of sites and streets in the coming months, and are hoping to bring Street View to more places around the region soon. To see more, go to the Street View gallery.

Posted by Gadi Royz, Product Manager, Google Maps

Planting some green this Earth Day

2012-04-22T06:00:00.001-07:00

Cross-posted from the Official Google and Google Green blogs

Since 1970, people all over the world have recognized April 22 as Earth Day, an opportunity to appreciate and generate awareness about the natural environment. Here at Google we strive to do our part to make sure our planet is healthy for years to come. From investing in renewable energy to building products that help people be greener in their own lives, we’re building a better web that’s better for the environment.

Today, we’re celebrating Earth Day in a variety of ways. The coming of spring inspired us to grow our annual Earth Day doodle right in our backyard. We planted seeds on a balcony at our Mountain View headquarters and watched them grow into what you see today. We’re also partnering with Friends of the Urban Forest to help make San Francisco schools a little greener.

To help you start a garden of your own, we’ve put together an Earth Day resource page. Explore community gardens and farmers’ markets on our interactive map, get discounted seeds to plant flowers, herbs, and vegetables in your own backyard and connect with other gardeners for planting tips and inspiration.

We hope you find these resources useful and enjoy gardening as much as we do. On our Mountain View, Calif. campus, we have community gardens where Googlers can grow and harvest their choice of herbs and vegetables. Company-wide, we focus on getting organic, locally-grown produce for our cafes. We purchase food directly from farms near our campuses, and learn about how our suppliers raise, farm, and harvest their food—all to ensure that we’re eating sustainably and being good to the environment.

We hope this Earth Day you are inspired to add a little green to the planet. Earth Day may only be a single day, but the actions we take can last for years to come.

Posted by Erin Reilly, Google Green Team

Imagery Update: Week of April 16th

2012-04-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

The Google Earth and Maps Imagery team has published another batch of aerial and satellite imagery. In this post, we’ll look at newly released imagery that reflects the themes of past, present, and future.

2011: In the U.S., federal and state taxes were due this week as they are every year in mid-April for the previous year’s income. So in our first aerial example shown below, the structure on the left is the Sun Trust Bank Building, which houses the Internal Revenue Service’s Local Tax Assistant Center in Macon, Georgia. There, you can acquire previous tax returns and transcripts, as well as pay your Federal Tax bill; but keep in mind that exact change is required. On the right is the Macon City Auditorium and it’s famed copper dome, which is claimed by many locals to be the largest in the world.

Downtown Macon, Georgia
2012: Spring is here and that means the start of baseball season for the Chicago Cubs. A new season means another chance to win it all. Will this be the year? With motivated ownership, a newly hired proven General Manager and a revamped line-up, they’ve definitely got a shot (just like everybody else). One thing is for certain, as you can see in the aerial image below, Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, is in game-winning shape!

Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
2013: Baseball isn’t the only sporting event eagerly anticipated by fans. Next year marks the official kick-off (no pun intended) of the countdown to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. These dress-rehearsal matches comprise the FIFA Confederations Cup and are held in 2013 by Brazil, host nation of the 2014 World Cup. The aerial image below shows the Governor Magalhães Pinto Stadium, under construction in preparation for the upcoming 2013 and 2014 matches.

Governor Magalhães Pinto Stadium, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
If you’d like to receive an email notification when the Google Earth and Maps Imagery team updates your favorite areas(s), we’ve got just the tool: The Follow Your World application!

These are only a few examples of the sites that can be seen and discovered in our latest batch of published imagery. Happy exploring!

High Resolution Aerial Updates:
USA: Aberdeen, SD; Amarillo, TX; Billings, MT; Bismark, ND; Cape Cod, MA; Chester, SC; Chicago, IL; Clemson, SC; Columbia, SC; Glasgow, MT; Havre, MT; Jamestown, ND; Lake of the Ozarks, MO; Long Island, NY; Macon, GA; Pierre, SD; Red Lake, MN; Sheridan, WY; Ulysses, KS; Wenatchee, WA

Avignon, France; Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Mar del Plata, Argentina

Countries/regions receiving high resolution satellite updates:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antarctica, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Chad, Chile, China, Cook Islands, Croatia, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Europa Island, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Fiji, Macedonia, France, Georgia, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lesotho, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Russia, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States, Venezuela, Vietnam, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

These updates are now available in both Google Maps and Google Earth. For a complete picture of where we updated imagery, download this KML for viewing in Google Earth.

Posted by Eric Kolb, Geo Data Strategist

Easily snap your photos to a location in Panoramio

2012-04-19T12:39:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year we improved the uploader tool in Panoramio to make the process faster and more intuitive. Since then, members of the Panoramio photo-sharing community have been simply dragging and dropping their photos to the locations where they were taken, and working together to create a world map of beautiful images.

Today, we’re announcing some improvements to help you even more easily geo-tag your photos in Panoramio. You can now snap your photos to a place on the map. When searching for your photo location, you’ll see a list of suggested places where your photo may have been taken, and you can click “Snap to this place” to select the right location. We’ve also added the ability for users to indicate that a photo was taken indoors. These additional details about where a photo was taken provide all users with more useful information and context.

If you’re not familiar with Panoramio and how it works, get a sense for this powerful user tool by checking out the brief video below. Panoramio is a community site for photos of various places, with the option to share and explore the photos in Google Maps and Google Earth.

Enjoy the improved features in Panoramio and we look forward to seeing more of your photos.

Posted by Gerard Sanz, Panoramio Community Manager

Balloon and kite imagery in Google Earth

2012-04-17T06:45:00.000-07:00

Here at Google we publish a lot of imagery, most of which comes from the satellite and aerial imagery providers with whom we partner. Last week we published something a bit different: images collected from balloons and kites! The resolution is amazing, and it’s something that just about anyone can do themselves.

Public Laboratory image of Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA (July 2011) in Google Earth
Our friends at The Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science have been working hard to make imagery collection easy, cheap and accessible. Their grassroots mapping work is based on the idea that citizens anywhere should be able to explore the environment in and around their communities, by collecting their own imagery and other data, and to do it in a way that is useful for scientific and social purposes.

The Public Laboratory has developed an open source balloon mapping toolkit that allows anyone with an inexpensive digital point and shoot camera, and about $100 of other parts (balloon, helium, line, soda bottle, etc.) to take photos of the ground around them. They also provide a web-based tool called MapKnitter for aligning the photos into a georeferenced image that can be used in Google Earth and other digital mapping tools.

Public Laboratory image of WhereCamp, Stanford University (April 2011) in Google Earth
We’ve imported many of the images from the Public Laboratory’s archives into Google Earth’s historical imagery database. To help you find them, download this KML file, open it in Google Earth (make sure you’re using the latest version), and fly to the image locations in space and time. Have fun exploring this unique imagery!

Posted by Christiaan Adams, Developer Advocate with the Google Earth Outreach team

Save the date! Announcing Geo Teachers Institutes for Ireland and England

2012-04-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

Educators all over the world have used Google's geo products to help students conceptualize, visualize, share and communicate information about the world around them.

This summer, we will host two Google Geo Teachers Institutes: June 13 and 14, 2012 in Dublin, Ireland and June 20 and 21, 2012 in London, England. Both events will be held at the local Google office.

This two-day event is a free professional development experience designed to help educators get the most from Google's geography-related products and technologies. Participants receive hands-on experience and learn best practices and tips for using Google Earth, Google Maps, and Google SketchUp, including a focus on features like Ocean, Mars, Moon and Sky in Google Earth.

Attendees will also learn about innovative instructional strategies, theoretical foundations, and receive resources to share with colleagues. Speakers will share real life examples of how they are using these tools in their classrooms across all subjects. We hope this event will empower educators to bring the world's geographic information to students in a compelling, fresh, and fun way.

Educators at the 2011 Google Teachers Institute
If you are interested in joining us, please complete this application by April 30, 2012. We will send out invitations based on availability by May 11, 2012. Even if you can’t make it to this event, we have many online resources available on the Google Earth for Educators and SketchUp for Education websites. Check back often for updates!

Posted by Tina Ornduff, Geo Education Program Manager

A bird’s eye view of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee procession

2012-04-16T01:00:00.000-07:00

Following the royal wedding in 2011, the eyes of the world will again be on London as we celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. As part of her Jubilee celebrations, The Queen will take part in a procession along some of London’s most famous landmarks. We’ve created a 3D aerial view video of the procession route, providing a virtual tour of the landmarks that The Queen will pass.

The procession starts with a view of New Palace Yard, leading up through Whitehall, past the Cenotaph war memorial, a focal point for Remembrance Sunday. It then moves on to pass Downing Street, home of the British Prime Minister and around Trafalgar Square. The route then goes through Admiralty Arch before heading up the Mall and ending at Buckingham Palace.

The summer of 2012 is set to draw in millions of visitors to the UK. With this massive influx of people unfamiliar with the area, many would need to find their bearings. Both Google Earth and Google Maps can help people to plan their trips and learn about the places they are visiting, whether they’re on a mobile or a desktop computer. In addition to the Diamond Jubilee procession route, you can view thousands of buildings, landmarks and areas across London with the 3D buildings feature in Google Earth.

To explore London landmarks in Google Earth, check the 3D buildings box in the left-hand panel under “Layers,” then type “London” in the search bar on the top left and use the navigation controls in the upper right to zoom in, spin around and tilt the view. Alternatively, you can go to Earth View on Google Maps in your browser.

Whether you’re hoping to catch a real glimpse of The Queen celebrating 60 years on the throne from one of London’s vantage points, or you’re viewing this on a television, we know that seeing the procession route in 3D will bring the Diamond Jubilee to life.

This video and further information about the Diamond Jubilee is available on the official website.

Posted by Phil Verney, Google Earth Program Manager

Remembering the Titanic

2012-04-13T14:54:00.000-07:00

One hundred years ago, the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean and sank, along with three-quarters of the 2,200 passengers and the entire crew on board. It was her maiden voyage from England to New York City and has gone down in history as one of the deadliest maritime tragedies.

The story of the Titanic has remained with us through the decades. It has inspired books and movies and is memorialized around the world in museums and monuments. Now, despite its depth on the sea floor, you can explore this ill-fated ship from the comfort of your home using Google Earth.

Using imagery from National Geographic, we’ve created an updated 3D model of the Titanic. Explore different parts of the ship, from prow to stern by simply searching for “Titanic” in the Google Earth search box.

3D model of the RMS Titanic, as seen in Google Earth

You can also join a guided expedition by diving into the new Titanic KML tour along featured in our Earth Gallery. This tour showcases images and video of the Titanic provided by NOAA and the National Geographic. Watch the video below to dive down to the Titanic in Google Earth, written in collaboration with Jim Delgado, Director of Maritime Heritage with NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.

Explore more stunning photos of the shipwreck taken by NOAA in Panoramio. From vestiges of passengers long gone to its famous bridge, the legacy of the Titanic continues to grow a century after her fateful encounter.

Posted by Jenifer Austin Foulkes, Oceans Manager at Google

Map of the Week: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG with Google Maps API

2012-04-10T13:08:00.000-07:00

(Cross-posted on the Google Geo Developers blog)

Map of the Week: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG with Google Maps API
Why we like it: This Google Maps API implementation really speaks to the versatility of the API and breadth of the Google Maps API developer ecosystem! From small personal projects to exciting start-ups and high-performance cars, the Google Maps API can be used by everyone.

As you would expect, this top of the line Mercedes-Benz is loaded with all the bells and whistles. The vehicle’s integrated navigation system will be enhanced in certain regions by a fully functional JavaScript Maps API v3 implementation using Styled Maps, Google Places API, Places Autocomplete API, traffic layer, and the Panoramio layer as an Android App for the AMG Performance Media option. This provides the user with a familiar Google Maps interface in addition to the onboard maps from the navigation system.

(Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Gullwing Coupe at the O’Reilly Where Conference - April 2012)

For night time driving the SLS AMG takes advantage of Styled Maps to create a map that’s easier to view in low-light situations and does not impede a driver’s night vision.

Chances are, if you’re driving this around all day, you’re going to get very hungry. That’s where the Places API integration with Places Autocomplete API comes in handy. Drivers can enter in what they’re looking for it, be it Thai food or pizza and the vehicle will return a list of nearby places along with address, distance, and rating.

Once the Places API has helped you decide what to eat and where you need to go, you can view the destination in Google Street View. In the image below, the system is displaying Street View imagery directly in front of the hotel in San Francisco where the vehicle was located for the 2012 O’Reilly Where Conference. From there you can enter directions that are displayed on a Google Map along with the option to display current traffic.

The engineers at Daimler have done an amazing job of taking Google Maps and combining it with one of the most-loved automobiles. There are many different types of developers in the Google Maps API ecosystem and great implementations like this remind us that the possibilities are almost endless!

Posted by Carlos Cuesta, Google Maps API Product Marketing Manager