Best of google maps and google earth 2011

Best of Google Maps and Google
Earth 2011

• Using these Google tools, you can
now see the insides of large stores,
views of the world's magnificent
mountains, and a record of the
devastation of Japan, among many
other advancements.

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• Best of Google Maps and Google Earth
• Most people today use Google Maps to find local schools, malls,
and the closest Starbucks, according to this year's Google
Zeitgeist, which catalogs the top searches of 2011. But there was
more to Google Maps--and its desktop sidekick, Google Earth--
over the past 12 months than finding the fastest way to get your
Caramel Macchiato fix.
• In 2011, Maps and Earth cataloged the massive earthquake in
Japan, local businesses and museums joined Street View, and
Maps went inside buildings to help you get your bearings in
airports, shopping malls, and big box stores across the United
States.
• Here's a look at the best of Google Maps and Google Earth from
each month of 2011.


January: Fresh 45-Degree Imagery
Google Maps kicked off 2011 with
some new 45-degree imagery for 10
U.S. cities, including
Albuquerque, New Orleans, San
Antonio, and Tucson. The 45-degree
images in Maps are aerial
photographs taken from a 45-degree
angle that offer better views of a
location than the grainy satellite
imagery. The search giant first
introduced 45-degree imagery to
Google Maps in 2010, following
Microsoft's 2009 rollout of the
Bird's Eye View feature in Bing Maps.

Google also introduced the Follow
Your World web app for email
notifications alerting when new
imagery is added to Google Earth and
Google Maps.


February: Off-Roading in Street
View
In February, Google added more
"off road" images to Google
Earth, including images of the
National Botanic Gardens in
Dublin, Ireland; Balboa Park in San
Diego, California; and the Château
de Chenonceaux in Civray-de-
Touraine, France.

The search giant also got romantic
on Valentine's Day with a blog post
featuring locations from
gushy, romantic movies, such as
Notting Hill and Love Actually.


March: Japan Satellite Imagery
After the devastating and
subsequent tsunami that struck
Japan, Google sprung into action to
provide fresh satellite imagery of
areas that had been heavily
impacted. Google's other relief
efforts included a "Person Finder"
to help locate displaced
persons, as well as a collection of
Google Maps with information
about electricity black-outs, road
conditions, and emergency shelter
locations.


April: Mountain Tour
April was mountain month for
Google Earth: Google added new
tours of some of the world's most
famous peaks such as Mt. Everest
and the Matterhorn. Google also
added panoramic shots of post
earthquake Japan by photographer
Akila Ninomiya in April.

After tornadoes ripped through
the southern United
States, Google added new satellite
imagery to Google Earth and
created a collection of tornado
touchdown reports in Google Maps.
This disaster relief work
highlighted how Google Maps and
Google Earth can deliver a unique
way for you to see the impact
disasters have on affected
communities.


May: 360-Degree Businesses
In May, Google announced the
rollout of a new Place Pages
feature that lets you take a 360-
degree photographic tour of store
interiors such as Nashville's Gruhn
Guitars and Comics Toons N Toys
in Tustin, California. Indoor
mapping was a big theme for
Google Maps in 2011; it started
with Street View tours of some of
the world's most famous museums
in February.


June: Live Transit Updates
Partnering with transit agencies in
Boston, Portland, San Diego, and
San Francisco, Google Maps in
June launched a feature that let
you find out if your bus or train
was running on time in real time.
Live transit updates let you see
live departure times for your bus
or train, as well as service alerts.
Transit updates are accessible on
your PC or on a mobile phone
running Android 1.6 or higher.


July: Japan Disaster Zone Street
View
During the summer, Google's Street
View cars were hard at work in Japan
chronicling the country's earthquake
disaster zones. Google said it wanted
to do this to show the level of
devastation that hit Japan, and also
to digitally archive Japan's disaster
landscapes for future generations.
The fruits of Google's labors came
online in December through Memories
for the Future, a site showing pre-
and post-disaster imagery.

That month, Google also added an
extremely handy feature to Google
Maps that let you download a specific
map area to your Android mobile
phone for times when coverage is
spotty and you can't get online to
access Maps.


August: Land Art
Google Earth got a new virtual tour
in August highlighting the Rhythms
of Life project by Australian
sculptor Andrew Rogers. Rhythms
of Life is a collection of 47
massive stone sculptures in 13
different countries that involved
the help of 6,700 people around
the world to create. Google also
added desktop voice search to
Google Maps for users in the U.S.
running the latest version of
Chrome in August.


September: Helicopter View
The fall season started with a new
feature that lets you preview your
driving route in 3D. All you do is
input your driving directions query
into Google Maps as usual using
your departure and destination
points. To see the 3D effect, you
just have to click on the 3D play
button in the driving directions
side panel. Google said the new
feature was like viewing your
driving route from a helicopter.

Carlton Books in September also
published a global treasure hunt
using Google Earth that included a
$65 thousand prize for the top
armchair explorer.


October: One Billion Downloads
Google Earth software program hit
the one billion download mark in
October since Google first
launched the desktop app in 2005.
The search giant also added
photos of the scenic Swiss Alps
railways to Street View.


November: Google Goes Inside
Google announced a new Google
Maps feature in November that
lets you view maps of large indoor
locations on your Android
device, including shopping
malls, airports, and retail stores
such as Ikea.

November also saw the addition of
images of ski slopes courtesy of
the Street View snowmobile.
These include Whistler Blackcomb
in British Columbia, Canada, and
Colorado's Breckenridge Ski
Resort. If the slopes aren't your
thing, Google also added an online
tour of New York's High Line
Park, a fantastic example of urban
reclamation.


December: Google Earth on 48
Screens
Le Pavillon de l'Arsenal in Paris used
Google's immersive Liquid Galaxy
project, which lets you experience
Google Earth on large displays, to put
the desktop app on 48 screens. The
project highlights what the Paris
metropolitan area will look like in
2020 and includes 3D renderings of
buildings under construction or in
development. The display can be
controlled from four different multi-
touch screens, and the 48 screens
use almost 100 million pixels to
render Google Earth.

Last Wednesday, Google also rolled
out a new version of Google Map
Maker to encourage users to add
more detail about their
neighborhoods to Google Maps.


Best of google maps and google earth 2011

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Best of google maps and google earth 2011