Crazy for College Campuses

According to The Wired Campus, the Google Trike team is planning to take Street View photos for college campuses. So far, the following three colleges are being photographed:

1. California State University at San Diego
2. University of San Diego
3. University of Pennsylvania

If you're a college student, keep an eye out for the Google Trike!

Suspects Sighted with Street View

This has been all over the Internet. I usually don't post popular Street View news like this, but it's a slow Street View week.

Tons of News

Sorry for the delay; I try not to blog on Sundays.

Changing the Rules: To appease the strict privacy rules of the European Union, Google has agreed to stop holding the original (non-blurred, non-edited) Street View video files. However, this would mean there is more chance for error in the pictures, and these errors are nearly impossible to fix. Be prepared for thousands of coverage gaps in the middle of European streets. Read more here.

Google Trike Update: Two main new locations were added from Google Trike imagery this week: Disneyland Paris and a bicycle trail in Monterey, California. Read more here and here.

Pancake Navigation

Google has released a new smart navigation tool feature called the "pancake". This way, you don't need to continue to click the Street View arrows to get from one place to another; you can zoom across from one point to another. To use it, just hover your mouse until you see a three-dimensional transparent oval or rectangle. Double-clicking it will zoom the Street View to adjust to that specific location. The 3D-like effects are similar to EveryScape's, but you only use them if you want to. If you double-click a rectangle, it will zoom to a view of that part of a facade. It's too amazing to describe in words, so try it out for yourself!

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Here's a video of the new feature:

Twitter Tracking

It turns out that Twitter is an excellent place for finding Street View sightings. Just searching for "Google Street View car" has revealed that people have apparently recently seen Street View cars in Los Angeles, New York, and Austin–three locations that haven't been reported yet! Since regular blog posts can't keep up with this, a new widget has been placed on this blog's sidebar, "Twitter Car Sightings". Hopefully, it will help us keep up with locations not covered by the media. I'll save the regular blog posts for media coverage.

So, get ready for updated imagery in the United States!

Street View Holodeck

Some Google employees have built a "Holodeck" that provides an amazing Street View experience. You can read more about it at Google Blogoscoped.

Google Trike Trying Suggestions

Google has recently released an official website about the "Google Trike" that's been spotted. It turns out, this feature is currently only available in the United Kingdom.

Google is talking suggestions for British locations that people would like to see on Street View but aren't reachable by car. To suggest a location, go to the Google Trike submission form. It's free and anonymous.

VisitBritain is helping out with this new feature. And yes, Google has found someone strong enough to ride it!

Pegman's Tricycle

In San Diego, California, the owner of a bicycle shop discovered a tricycle-like device with the Google logo on it, along with Street View laser cameras. This could be a new form of providing Street View panoramas in areas where cars cannot reach, but my hope is that it means Google is planning to release indoor Street View.

The mystery continues...

Samochody w Polsce (a Česká republika)

Krakow Post reports that Google Polska has announced Street View imagery being constructed for two cities in Poland: Krakow and Warsaw.

This is great news, but another European nation has been reported to be upcoming (one that even Street View Stuff didn't know about). According to the same article, three countries were listed as also being upcoming. Greece and Hungary were listed, along with a surprise nation, the Czech Republic!

Actually, the Czech addition isn't too surprising, since Google cars have been spotted in many other European nations.

Jittery Japanese II

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Looks like the Japanese are complaining again.

According to BBC NEWS, Google is planning to drive through the streets of Japan again. This time, the cameras will be forty centimeters lower than they were before so they can "respect the privacy of homeowners."

In Japan, buildings and homes are built closer to the street than in other nations, so Google has been apparently capturing some interesting views of people's everyday (or not) lives.

Note: Google was not forced to retake their photos; they are doing this as a favor to the citizens of Japan.