Google Street View: See US streets in 3D

You probably have already bumped in to the all-new Google Street View feature provided by Google Maps. This is one of the most amazing features I have seen, it allows you to view a real photo of any street (provided Google has a camera there), have a virtual walk through, zoom in and have a clear look at the sign boards and more, all in a glorious 360degree view!! Mind boggling. Currently it supports only San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, Las Vegas, Denver and Miami. Hopefully Google expands this to India soon (hmm, I know I am being too optimistic….may be we need to ask for an Amazon.in first!).

Another feature, still in beta, is Mapplets. These are technically small Google gadgets that can provide a specific functionality based on the Google Maps API. For example, Google currently has a mapplet for real estate search that pin points in the map the houses that match your search criteria.

When I checked this morning, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of sites built around Google Street View. These sites offer interesting links and placemarks that everyone needs to see in Google StreetView. I have listed some below:

• Urban Street Sightings : This Blog captures the best urban snapshots.
• Streetviewr: Lots of cool positions from Google Streetview.
• Laudontech Streetview: Contains lots of interesting people, places and sightings on Google Street View.
• Davidsterry Streetview Links: Streetview pictures are sorted by votes.
• Streetview Sightings: Another blog for streetview sightings.
• Crazy Street View : Crazy pictures from Google Street View.
• Streetview Spotting : Streetview locations arranged into categories.
• Streetview Fun : Another blog.
• Boing Boing also hosts some of the best streetview articles, pictures and videos

BTW, don’t forget to check out the top 15 Google Streetview sightings.