Google Maps Street View Begins in Intramuros

Google begins efforts to capture Street View imagery in the Philippines and publishes first 360-degree photos of Intramuros.With the cooperation of the Department of Tourism of the Philippines, Google announced today that it will start driving Street View cars in the Philippines to capture panoramic imagery of the country for the first time. Google is also publishing special 360-degree imagery of four locations within Intramuros so that Filipinos and people around the world can view and experience these historic sites in a new, immersive way.

Street View is a popular feature of Google Maps that allows people to virtually explore cities on Google Maps through 360-degree photographs taken at street level. With Street View imagery available in over 50 countries, today Google kicks off the first towards bringing the feature to the Philippines. Starting in the city of Manila, Google will drive colorful Street View cars equipped with special cameras to collect panoramic imagery of the Philippines. From there, the cars will continue to drive across the country, and once Street View imagery is published, people will be able to explore the Philippines on Google Maps from anywhere in the world.

For those keen to start virtually touring Manila today, Google is publishing special Street View panoramas of four sites at Intramuros: San Agustin Church, Baluarte de San Diego, Plaza San Luis Complex and Fort Santiago. These 360-degree photos were collected using the Street View Trekker, a wearable backpack camera system that is part of the Street View fleet. Google plans to use the Trekker, along with the Street View Trolley, a pushcart camera system, to capture more of the Philippines’ off-road, natural and indoor destinations as part of their efforts to bring more Filipino sites online for the world to see.

Google also hopes Street View will provide Filipinos with different ways of exploring favorite and new local spots, as well as with more relevant and useful online map services.

“Our partnership with Google to bring Street View to the Philippines will allow us to create a digital experience of our landscapes, which we hope will entice more people around the world to learn about our diverse offerings and visit our country. For us here at home, Street View can also help make the maps of our country even “more fun” and interesting, as well as enable Filipinos to explore their country more, which in turn can help boost domestic travel and tourism,” Philippine Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. said.

Google goes to great lengths to safeguard privacy on Google Maps while enabling people to explore and learn from Street View imagery. Google has developed highly sophisticated technology that effectively blurs human faces and license plates of vehicles to render them unidentifiable. In addition, Google is very responsive to requests received from users to further blur any images that feature them — to submit a request, people can use the ‘report a problem’ tool available on the bottom right corner of Google Maps.

“We are delighted to work with the Department of Tourism of the Philippines to begin driving and capturing Street View imagery of the country. The Philippines is a diverse archipelago, with heritage and beauty to be found within and in between every island. By providing people and businesses alike with more useful map information, Street View can also help celebrate Filipino culture and even create lasting economic impact. We can’t wait to share the new panoramic road imagery of the Philippines on Google Maps when the imagery launches at a later date,” says Ryan Morales, Country Marketing Manager, Google Philippines.

Google looks forward to announcing when the images collected for the Philippines are ready to share, and these will be available at maps.google.com.ph.

Notes from the Top of the World: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Latest Google Maps Special Collection

Tenzing-Hillary Airport - the most dangerous airport in the world

Google Maps has recently unveiled Street View images for Mt. Everest and other notable mountains. This takes armchair explorers like us to great heights even without the extreme cold, avalanche and what not.

"Today, we released photos of the some of the most famous mountains in the world on Google Maps. I was lucky to be part of the team that traveled around the world to capture the imagery and experience the mountains first-hand.

I’ve always had a sense of adventure. In 2011, when my colleague asked if I wanted to go on a trip to Everest Base Camp, I couldn’t resist, and we recruited a group of Googlers and fellow explorers to join us. Then we learned we could capture imagery of our trip for Google Maps with a tripod and a digital camera. We had plenty of room in our packs, so we loaded up our cameras and mountaineering gear, and hopped on a plane to Nepal.

Explore Everest, Kilimanjaro and More with Google Maps

Google Maps has recently unveiled Street View images for Mt. Everest and other notable mountains. This takes armchair explorers like us to great heights even without the extreme cold, avalanche and what not.

 
Most of us have a bucket list of the places we want to visit in our lifetime and usually, the list is pretty long. Google Maps has a bucket list too, and it’s checking off a couple of its favorites and share them with you. If tall mountains are your thing, you’re in luck.

Now you can explore some of the most famous mountains on Earth, including Aconcagua (South America), Kilimanjaro (Africa), Mount Elbrus (Europe) and Everest Base Camp (Asia) on Google Maps. These mountains belong to the group of peaks known as the Seven Summits—the highest mountain on each of the seven continents. While there’s nothing quite like standing on the mountain, with Google Maps you can instantly transport yourself to the top of these peaks and enjoy the sights without all of the avalanches, rock slides, crevasses, and dangers from altitude and weather that mountaineers face.

Exploring the Grand Canyon on Google Maps

Back in October, Google Maps took the Street View Trekker (its newest camera platform) to the Grand Canyon for its inaugural collection of 360 degree imagery. This is one of the latest projects Google has worked on to further its goal of providing people with the most comprehensive, accurate and easy-to-use maps in the world.

The imagery has now been processed, stitched together, and turned into panoramics that are available on Google Maps. The collection includes more than 9,500 panoramas from trails along the Grand Canyon south rim and nearby Meteor Crater.