best of google maps and google earth 2011
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Best of Google Maps and Google Earth 2011
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• 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.
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January: Fresh 45-Degree ImageryGoogle 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.
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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.
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March: Japan Satellite ImageryAfter 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.
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April: Mountain TourApril 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.
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May: 360-Degree BusinessesIn 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.
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June: Live Transit UpdatesPartnering 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.
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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.
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August: Land ArtGoogle 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.
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September: Helicopter ViewThe 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.
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October: One Billion DownloadsGoogle 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.
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November: Google Goes InsideGoogle 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.
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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.
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