Don't you like my fatalistic headline? I don't know how new this is, but it's new to me. Google aquired keyhole, a company specializing in satellite imagery. Now Google can look in your window and see if you click on your own adsense -- just kidding. But it is interesting how G is expanding into so many new domains, all under their pretext of "orginizing the world's info and making it universally useable" www.keyhole.com
I believe there was a thread about a week ago or longer about this. In real estate I can see where this is going to be very useful, but I dont see google using this tool for the benefit of the average consumer.
How about a replacement for MapQuest that gives you the ability to physically see the terrain that the map is overlaid on. That would be cool I think.
Actually it's not my idea... MapQuest had a partnership with a terrain mapping company (GlobeXplorer) a few years ago that lasted about a year where it actually was an option on MapQuest... And it was pretty cool. It didn't overlay the streets though, it just gave you an option to view an ariel photo of the location you were looking at. http://www.globexplorer.com/press_12_9_00.html
Yes this new tool will be of great benefit to the real estate industry, but I dont know that this is one idea google has in mind for it. It would be logical but we all know google has never been logical.
I thoroughly enjoyed the arial/satellite views MapQuest used to provide. MapQuest used to be real neat and now it's just basic. When I heard Google bought this KeyHole company I instantly downloaded their software. It is totally fun to use. Basically I put in an address and it zooms in (starting from space) and gets closer and closer to the target (my home) all while streaming the images from their servers live as it's zooming. Sometimes it lagged and took longer than I'd hoped for, but I imagine it as a busy day for them. But then you could put in another address and the screen would zoom out a bit and fly in the direction of the new address. And the further away the address, from the orginal, the more the screen zoomed out and the faster it flew. I was really impressed and had fun using the 7 day trial. The software wasn't the most accurate ever, but it did know where my house was +/- 4 houses. I even got the milage between my home and Disneyland, and I could see a nice overhead shot of Disneyland. The software also provided more than just an overhead shot, you could tilt, zoom, pan, and angle it so you are street level. Nothing is 3D and buildings/terrain isn't shown correctly like a real street view, but you can do it. It's definitely worth checking out. I think Google should redo the MapQuest idea and provide directions in this animated way. I know it would be a humongous strain on their servers, but I'd like to see it. Even just arial photos of some places provide more info for the searcher of a particular address. A couple of times I've gotten an address for a business or restaurant in LA and drove up to LA only to find that Yahoo Maps has brought me to someone's house. I wish I could have opted for the arial view so I could at least see if it's a residential or commercial area. eh.
I've used Keyhole software. Pretty wicked to zoom in from outer space on poeple's head. Too bad it's still imagery and not like Alek's webcam . But this does show that Google is looking more and more into location based solutions.