Earlier this month, Google announced the launch of a new Street View application which came along with a brand-new icon as well as some new functionality that users hadn’t yet been able to experience with the service before. The new Street View is still new of course so there is arguably going to be much less content than say, six months from now, but users can still dive into the app to see collections of photos from the Google Street View team as well as personal uploads from other users. This includes the 360 degree pictures known as photo spheres, and users can upload their own as well allowing others to see and share them.
Now it looks like Google is going to be adding some more locations into Street View so users can take a tour of sorts of various locations. They’re starting things off with the Philippines and have worked with the Department of Tourism in the country to map out 37 cities and lug around the Street View cam weaving in and out of various roads and side streets of Manila as well as other places. Anyone interested can now open up Street View and take a virtual tour of Manila as well as other locations and landmarks, much like you could if you were viewing locations here in the states. While it won’t be quite the same as visiting in person, it’s a cool capability that makes the Street View app a little more fun to use, especially if you’re particularly interested in what places around the Philippines look like.
In addition to the 37 cities they logged, Google states they also captured 35 historic locations as well, including places like the walled city of Intramuros and eight UNESCO world heritage sites. Google doesn’t mention if this will be the first of many international places around the globe to get the same treatment, but we can’t imagine Google would want to stop this sort of content in Street View with the Philippines. Down the line it wouldn’t be too shocking to see the results of Google’s continued exploration added into the app for all to see.
