Street View hits the stunning Swiss Alps railways

(Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog)

From the Amazon to the ancient ruins of Pompeii, Street View technology has put imagery of some of the world’s most interesting and significant sites online for everyone to enjoy. Now, for the first time in Google Maps, we’re hitting the train tracks to capture the majesty of the famous railway lines of the Swiss Alps and the surrounding scenery.

In cooperation with Rhaetian Railway, our Street View team has collected images from one of the world’s most scenic railway routes—the Albula-Bernina line in Switzerland—that will soon be live on Google Maps. The picturesque route through the Swiss Alps is one of most famous in the world, winding its way through wild mountain scenery from Thusis, Switzerland; past the resort town of St. Moritz; to its final stop just over the border in Tirano, Italy.

View Albula-Bernina Line in a larger map

A complex system of tunnels, viaducts and galleries allow the railway line to pass through the narrow valleys and climb almost 2,000 meters in altitude. It’s unique to see technology and architecture like this in a natural landscape, and the route is a popular tourist destination offering amazing photography opportunities.

To capture the stunning scenery for Street View, we mounted our trike—a three-wheel pedicab with a camera system on top—to a flatbed at the front of a train. As the train travelled along the line, cameras facing nine different directions captured still photos of the surrounding areas that we’re now stitching together into 360-degree panoramic views. Soon, we’ll publish the imagery on Google Maps for people around the globe to enjoy and experience themselves. The imagery will provide admirers of this route with completely new perspectives, and also help document and preserve this UNESCO World Heritage site.

In the meantime, enjoy these photos from imagery collection day:

To get the latest on Street View go to maps.google.com/streetview.

Posted by Ulf Spitzer, Street View Program Manager, Europe

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Follow Your World, now in 43 more languages

Ever since we launched the English version of Follow Your World earlier this year, users around the globe have been able to receive email notifications whenever imagery of locations they care about are updated in Google Maps and Google Earth.

Today we’re happy to announce the expansion of this tool. We’ve localized the software into 43 additional languages so that the application can easily be accessed by millions more people around the world.

Simply use the app to indicate areas around the world that interest you - be they your current neighborhood, college town, or dream vacation spot - and receive an email update whenever new satellite or aerial imagery for those places are added to Maps and Earth.

Follow Your World: now in Chinese and 43 other languages
Follow Your World is now available for users of the following languages:

Arabic, Basque, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, English (UK), Estonian, Farsi, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish (Spain), Spanish (Latin America), Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese

We hope this handy feature helps you stay connected with your favorite locations around the world!

Posted by Jeral Poskey, Google Earth Consumer Operations

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Google Geo Teachers Institutes bring innovative educators together

Educators have created many exciting lessons with Google’s tools. These tools help students learn about the world in fun ways. Recently they had the opportunity to share this work with peers from all over the US at two Google Geo Teachers Institute events, first in Washington DC at National Geographic Headquarters and then at the University of Southern Maine Lewiston-Auburn College in Lewiston, Maine.

The Institute was an intensive, two-day event where participants got hands-on experience using Google Earth, Google Maps, and Google SketchUp. Participants also learned about Google Fusion Tables and Chromebooks, and heard from a variety of guest educators. Juan Jose Valdez, head geographer at National Geographic Society, and Angus King, former governor of Maine, gave keynote addresses on the importance of geographic literacy and the state of technology in education today.

Educators had the opportunity to see and hear how Google’s tools can be integrated easily into all subjects to create a more meaningful learning experience for their students. For example, Jerome Burg of Google Lit Trips demonstrated how Google Earth can be used to teach all levels of literature. Mike Hathorn of Hartford High School and Beryl Reid of Billerica School District discussed how students are using SketchUp for historical architecture projects. Margaret Chernosky of Bangor High School showed attendees how she helps students visualize geographic data into Google Earth. Jim Sill of El Diamante High School shared his Google Maps educational tips and tricks as well.

Google Earth and SketchUp bring the world's geographic information to teachers and students in a new and unique way. Google Earth's satellite imagery and Google SketchUp models create a 3D experience of the entire planet, giving students an opportunity to explore in ways never before possible. The many layers provided in Google Earth include a plethora of information and resources for both teachers and students. From literature to science and from math to history, Google Earth, Maps, and SketchUp provide a compelling and fresh way to teach, learn, and explore.

Visit the Google for Educators website for more ideas on how to bring geographic technology into the classroom.

Posted by Allyson McDuffie, Geo Education Team

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Faster updates to local business listings

(Cross-posted on the Small Business Blog.)

Our goal to create a digital representation of the real world doesn’t just mean a birds’ eye view through Google Earth, or a street-level view through Google Maps. It means providing a local view as well, and tools like Google Places help people across the globe learn about and connect with the places and businesses in their immediate areas.

We use a variety of authoritative sources to give users relevant local information about places that might interest them, including data from partners, users, and directly from business owners who verify their organic listings via Google Places for business. In addition, we always want to know about changes to a business that should be reflected on our local search products. That’s why we have the “Report a problem” tool on Google Maps, and also enable users to click on the "Edit this place” link at the top of the Place page to provide updates to a business listing.

And while some business owners may have previously verified their organic listing to ensure that their company information was correct at that particular moment in time, we recognize that amidst all the work that goes into running a successful enterprise, remembering to update their Google Places account may not always be top of mind. Oftentimes, a neighborhood local or a loyal customer is eager to help their favorite business update its online presence when it moves into a bigger space across the street, or extends its hours for the summer season.

That’s why today, we’re introducing a new process that helps streamline the way updates are made to potentially outdated or incorrect business listings. Previously, verified business listings would always reflect the information provided by its owner - even if we received data about an updated name, address, or hours of operation. But now, if a user provides new information about a business they know -- or if our system identifies information from another source on the web that may be more recent than the data the business owner provided via Google Places -- the organic listing will automatically be updated and the business owner will be sent an email notification about the change. Without requiring any effort on the part of the business owner, we’ll take measures to keep their listing up-to-date if our system determines that the edit is accurate. Of course, if the business owner disagrees or has even more recent information, they can always directly log in to their Google Places account and make further edits.

Online ads from business owners using our AdWords or AdWords Express programs will not be affected by these automatic updates. Ads will continue to display the business information the owner has provided in Google Places.

We hope these new features help users find the most accurate local information available, and make it even easier for business owners to manage their online presence. If you’re a business owner with additional questions about your specific listing, please consult the Google Places for business Help Center or visit our user support forum.

Posted by Lior Ron, Google Places Product Manager

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Congratulations to the 2011 Google Earth Outreach Developer Grant awardees

The nonprofit mapping community is alive with amazing game-changing ideas. In May, Google Earth Outreach asked nonprofit organizations to think big: what kind of map would they want to create if they had the funding or developer resources to do so? We were thrilled by the number of applications we received, full of concrete ideas for tremendously impactful maps.

While it was difficult to select projects with the highest potential impact from the long list of great applications we received, we are excited to announce the Google Earth Outreach Developer Grant awardees. Each organization below proposed cutting-edge visualizations in the public benefit sector utilizing a broad spectrum of tools ranging from narrated tours in Google Earth to Google Maps and Places API applications for Android to Google Fusion Tables. In total, we’ve awarded over $300,000 to the Google Earth Outreach Developer Grantees. We wish to congratulate all awardees for developing proposals that we hope will help them make the world a better place.

These organizations are all currently making great progress towards their project goals. Within the coming months, they will complete development of their mapping applications. We look forward to sharing the completed projects with you on the Google Earth Outreach site, so check back soon!

Atlantic Public Media	One Species at a Time: Stories of Biodiversity on the Move, with the Encyclopedia of Life (in Google Earth narrated tours)
California Academy of Sciences	A Global Water Story: Translating immersive programming about water from the Planetarium to Google Earth
David Suzuki Foundation	Our Natural Capital: mapping ecosystem services in southern Ontario, Canada
Golden Gate Parks Conservancy	The Story of Crissy Field: the transformation of an urban park in Google Earth
HabitatMap, Inc.	AirCasting: citizen air quality monitoring using Android devices
The HALO Trust	Notes from the (Mine)Field: a Google Earth tour of humanitarian landmine clearance
International Rivers Network	The Wrong Climate for Damming Rivers
The Nature Conservancy	Adopt an Acre in Google Earth & Maps
Pepperwood Foundation, on behalf of iNaturalist.org	iNaturalist App on Android: citizen naturalists armed with Android devices can upload photos of flora and fauna to iNaturalist.org
Save the Elephants	Tracking Animals for Conservation: Real-time mapping in the field on Android and Publishing Elephant Tracking Data in Fusion Tables
Water for People	SanMap: supporting sanitation-related businesses in urban African cities
When I Walk, Inc.	AXSmap mobile app using Google Places API for reviews and ratings of accessibility
Widecast Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network - Bonaire	Track Your Turtles: The Great Migration Game and sea turtle monitoring in Bonaire
World Resources Institute	Google Earth Tour of Reefs at Risk
World Wildlife Fund	Eyes on the Forest: Interactive map on Sumatran Deforestation

These organizations were funded through the Google Inc. Charitable Giving Fund at the Tides Foundation.

Posted by Tanya Birch, Google Earth Outreach

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Step inside the map with Google MapsGL

You’re now one step closer to experiencing and interacting with a 3D mirror of the real world within your browser with Google MapsGL. Google MapsGL takes Google Maps and harnesses the power of Web Graphics Library (WebGL) to create far richer visuals and animations.

WebGL is a new technology that brings hardware-accelerated 3D graphics to the browser without additional installed software. With WebGL your maps experience is much better with 3D buildings, smoother transitions between imagery and the ability to instantly “swoop” into Street View without a plugin.



Starting today, if you’re using supported browsers (such as Chrome 14+ or Firefox Beta) with compatible video cards, you can opt in to the early beta release. Visit maps.google.com and click “Try it now,” or visit maps.google.com/gl to learn more.

We’ve been using WebGL to create experiences like our Chrome experiments “3 Dreams of Black” and “All is Not Lost,” which happen right in the browser. Previously, such sophisticated 3D graphics have only been possible on traditional desktop applications and have required manual installation. WebGL ushers in a whole new generation of graphics on the web, and with that, we can begin to redefine the expectations of an online map.

Check out Chrome Experiments WebGL for more WebGL-powered applications, and opt in to Google MapsGL to begin using the next generation of mapping today.

Posted by Brian McClendon, VP of Google Maps and Earth

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Take the green route in Google Maps

(Cross posted from the Google Green Blog)

We’ve learned that most people who use Google Maps just want to get from Point A to Point B -- as quickly and painlessly as possible. Whether it’s planning a weekend bike route, finding the quickest roads during rush hour, or identifying bus paths with the fewest transfers, people are making the most out of Maps features to travel faster and greener. Here’s how you can use Google Maps to minimize your impact on the environment.

Commuting by bike
As an avid cyclist, I feel very fortunate to live in Boulder, Colorado and be surrounded by over 300 miles of bike lanes, routes and paths. When the weather is cooperating, I try to commute to work every day. It’s a great way to stay healthy and arrive at the office feeling awake! According to Biking Directions in Google Maps, it takes me 10 minutes to travel 2 miles from Point A (my house) to Point B (the office). It also shows three alternative routes, and I can check the weather in Google Maps to see if I’ll need a rain jacket for the ride home. I can also use Biking Directions on my mobile phone, which came in handy for me during a biking trip in Austin when I got lost on a major highway and needed a safe route back to the hotel.

Did you know that Google Maps has biking directions available in over 200 US cities and in 9 Canadian regions? A collaboration with Rails to Trails, an organization that converts old railroad tracks into bike paths, has made information about over 12,000 miles of bike paths available to Google Maps users.

Taking public transit

Millions of people use Google Transit every week, viewing public transit routes on both Google Maps and Google Maps for mobile in over 470 cities around the world. You can take a train from Kyoto to Osaka or find your way around London on the Tube. In some places, you can compare the cost of taking public transit and driving by viewing the calculation below the list of directions (like in this example). Feel free to customize your routes and departure and arrival times under “Show options” to minimize walking or limit the number of transfers. You’ll know if your bus is late by checking out live transit updates.

Being green in the car
According to the 2011 Urban Mobility Report by Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University, motorists wasted 1.9 billion gallons of fuel last year in the US because of traffic congestion, costing the average commuter an additional $713 in commuting costs. You can save time and money by clicking on the Traffic layer in the top right corner to view real-time traffic conditions on your route, and then drag and adjust your route to green. If you need directions in advance, save paper by sending your directions directly to your car, GPS, or phone. The Send-to-Car feature is available to more than 20 car brands worldwide, and the Send-to-GPS feature is available to more than 10 GPS brands. And for those of you who drive electric vehicles, you can search for electric vehicle charging stations by typing “ev charging station in [your city]” and recharge.

As you can see, Google Maps is loaded with features to help you save time, save money, and get where you need to be -- all while minimizing your commute’s impact on the environment. Go green with Google Maps, and safe travels!

Posted by Tasha Danko, Geo Team

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