Photo: Google Maps
Google has finally managed to bring Google Maps Street View to Indian users after no more, no less than 11 years since the original attempt to release this feature in the country.
Of course, the Mountain View-based search giant would have done it a lot sooner, but the company ended up struggling to meet the privacy requirements of the local government. Google failed to comply with the government requirements twice in the last decade, so its plan to bring Google Maps Street View to Indian users just had to be delayed.
The street-level imagery is now available in India thanks to a partnership between Google and local companies specifically supposed to address the security concerns of the Indian authorities. Just like in the rest of the world, Google is also blurring out the faces of people captured in the images, as well as the license plates of the cars on the road.
As per the local regulations, Google has partnered with local partners to get the imagery it needs to power Street View. The data collection was handled by Tech Mahindra and Genesys, so the American company was only in charge of processing the images to offer the street-level views in Google Maps.
At this point, Street View is available in 10 Indian cities, but the company already plans to expand the feature to 50 regions by the end of the year.
In the meantime, Google is also working on several other big Google Maps improvements, and one of them is the recently-announced immersive view.
With this new capability, Google provides users with the opportunity of exploring a certain location using a combination of aerial imagery and Street View data, all helping produce 3D models that closely resemble real life. The immersive view is already available in a very limited number of locations, letting users explore a series of landmarks, but the long-term goal is to make this feature available in many more regions.
The street-level imagery is now available in India thanks to a partnership between Google and local companies specifically supposed to address the security concerns of the Indian authorities. Just like in the rest of the world, Google is also blurring out the faces of people captured in the images, as well as the license plates of the cars on the road.
As per the local regulations, Google has partnered with local partners to get the imagery it needs to power Street View. The data collection was handled by Tech Mahindra and Genesys, so the American company was only in charge of processing the images to offer the street-level views in Google Maps.
At this point, Street View is available in 10 Indian cities, but the company already plans to expand the feature to 50 regions by the end of the year.
In the meantime, Google is also working on several other big Google Maps improvements, and one of them is the recently-announced immersive view.
With this new capability, Google provides users with the opportunity of exploring a certain location using a combination of aerial imagery and Street View data, all helping produce 3D models that closely resemble real life. The immersive view is already available in a very limited number of locations, letting users explore a series of landmarks, but the long-term goal is to make this feature available in many more regions.
Google News