Google is taking Google Maps unto the next level by including 3D mapping and topography to not just buildings and structures, but to entire metropolitan areas. The service would be available by the end of 2012, and it would look something like this:
The Mountain-View based company on Wednesday invited various journalists to their offices in San Francisco and gave them first dibs to the new services the company is soon introducing for Google Maps and the technology that comes with it.
The new services include Google Maps in an offline version for Android phones. This service would render the map images even without a cellular connection since it would save the map with a click of a button for later viewing. Google added that for now, the offline version would only be available for Android while iOS users would have to wait for an announcement.
Google Maps in 3D would be available in mobile devices and during a press conference today, Google announced that using it would give the illusion one is flying over the city, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.
The company plans to "use new imagery rendering techniques and computer vision" on planes to automatically render 3D images including building structures, terrain and even landscaping of entire cities. By the end of the year, the 3D maps the company generates will represent the living area of a combined population of 300 million people.
Google Maps went live in 2005 and since then, the service has been introduced to various platforms.
The company said today that Google Maps has over one billion monthly users.