StreetView comes to the iPhone

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As we mentioned a few weeks ago, the new firmware update today for the iPhone (version 2.2) includes Google StreetView.  I’m still loading the update on my phone, but I’m expecting good things.  As with Google Earth for the iPhone, I would think that the multi-touch input will work very well with StreetView.  We’ll see.

In the meantime, here’s a quick screenshot from CrunchGear.

 

Update: How to access StreetView

While the implementation of StreetView on the iPhone is great (pinch, drag, etc), accessing it is a bit tricky.  To get into Streetview:

  • Drop a pin somewhere on the map, or search for a location.
  • Tap on the pin to bring up the info window.
  • Click the little red icon on the left to access StreetView.
This obviously only works for locations that have StreetView, and the phone doesn’t show you those locations.  I’d love for them to add the blue street outlines like they have on the web version of StreetView.  In any case, this is a bizarre way to have to access it, but it’s great once you get in there.

Google releases SketchUp 7

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Google has just released version 7 of SketchUp

, their excellent 3D modelling tool.  They’ve added a variety of tools at both ends of their userbase — it’s easier to get started, but it’s also more powerful for their advanced users.  Here’s a short video showing some of the new features:

For more information about this release, visit the official Google blog, the Google Earth Blog or Ogle Earth.

Amazing 3D recreation of Ancient Rome in Google Earth

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Google is about to unveil a new layer for Google Earth that shows over 5700 3D buildings from the city of Rome, circa 320 AD.  This is based at least in part from the model of the city we showed you last year from the University of Virginia.  If nothing else, they’re both based off the the “Plastico di Roma Antica”, a highly detailed plaster version of Rome that was built in the 1970’s.

The layer is not yet available, but will be found under “Gallery –> Ancient Rome 3D” when it’s released.  You can find much more info about this layer at the Google Earth Blog, the Official Google Blog

, Google’s new Ancient Rome page, or the video below.

MapQuest adds more new (old) features

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As their lead over Google Maps continues to dwindle

, MapQuest has rolled out a few more new features.  By “new”, I mean new to MapQuest, not new to online mapping.

In this case, the new feature is draggable route changing.  This is almost identical to the feature that Google released about 16 months ago.

It’s a good move by MapQuest.  Before they can really try to innovate, they need to catch up first.  This is another step toward that goal.  I still think they’re toast in the long run, but it’s nice to see them continue to work hard to get caught back up.

Microsoft’s WorldWide Telescope finally has SpaceNavigator support

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When WorldWide Telescope came out earlier this year

, it blew a lot of people away — including me.  It’s a phenomenal program!

However, it didn’t support the excellent SpaceNavigator device, making it much more difficult to use.  I thought it was a bug at first, but it was simply not a supported device.

Today 3Dconnexion announced support for the software, and it works wonderfully.  I’ve spent a good deal of time just browsing around this evening, because the SpaceNavigator makes it so easy.  If you already have a SpaceNavigator, so download the latest version of WWTS and have some fun!

Google Earth has arrived on the iPhone

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Somewhat out of the blue, though not totally unexpected after we saw EarthScape, Google Earth has been released for the iPhone!

It’s still being rolled out (Australia and Japan can get it now), and it’s not available for my area yet.  I’ll post more details once I get it.

A little more info can be found on the Google Earth Blog, or you can check out the screenshots below.

Virtual Earth 6.2 released, with stunning clouds

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Virtual Earth 6.2 has been released, with a whole host of new features.  Among them:

  • New imagery —  “Richer bird’s eye” and new 3D imagery, but I can’t find a list of what’s been updated.
  • Weather integration — Real-time clouds (see more below)
  • Localized maps — English, German, French, Italian and Spanish.
  • Near-matching — Helps find locations with alternate and similar spellings.
  • Landmark-based routing
  • Rich imagery for mobile users — Their screenshot shows an iPhone, but I can’t make it work on mine.  Maybe I need a specific URL?
  • One-click directions

The new imagery might be worth writing about, but I can’t find what’s new.  However, the clouds are very cool.  Fly down low in a city, look up, then wait a few seconds.  Pop!  There they are.

Unlike the clouds in Google Earth, these are fully 3D semi-transparent clouds.  Flying through them, they look almost real — it’s very impressive.There are a few downsides, though.  For one, they load in square tile areas.  If you fly too quickly, they’ll disappear until the next set loads.  Also, there is no way to leave them on and get a satellite view of an area from up high; if you fly very high above them, they simply go away to leave you with a clear view of the ground.

I’ll leave you with a short video demo of the clouds, shot by Frank Taylor at Google Earth Blog

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.  With it, you can really see just how cool this feature is.  He’s using a SpaceNavigator to fly through them, a tool which I strongly recommend for any avid Virtual Earth (or Google Earth) user.

The energy costs of Hurricane Ike

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Brian Timoney has made some nice updates to GulfImpact.com ahead of Hurricane Ike.  Not only does it give you the location and path of the storm, but it shows all of the affected oil wells in the Gulf, broken down by company.  He uses Virtual Earth to power it.

I’ve heard a lot of news stories about how gas prices are likely to shoot up due to this, and this site shows why.  Great site!

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Very cool 3D navigation product released

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A cool looking 3D navigation program called Navi2Go from 3DVU has just been released.  It uses real world imagery and terrain and puts it in the palm of your hand as a GPS navigation device.  It’s got the look and feel of Google Earth, with the usefulness of a TomTom.

Of course, the usefulness of a device like this is how well it routes, re-routes, and simply gets you from point A to point B.  I haven’t seen a real review of the device yet, so that remains to be seen.

As of now, it’s available on a wide variety of Windows Mobile, Symbian and BlackBerry devices, with iPhone support “coming soon”.

More information can be found at GISuser or on 3DVU.com.

Google finally adds some data for Georgia

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Google got hammered a few weeks ago when people realized that their data for Georgia was essentially blank, making it difficult for people to see the areas affected by their conflict with Russia.  As promised, Google has started adding some nice data to the region.

In addition to city labels, they have a whole bunch of photos for the region, which really help to give you a good feel for what the area is like.  They promise to continue adding more data as it’s available.