3D imagery now available on iPad and iPhone, using the super-cool technology that google had their press conference about a month or so ago.
A map must be comprehensive and accurate no matter where you are or what device you use. We also believe maps can be useful in ways you might not have imagined. With today’s release of Google Earth for iOS you can literally fly through breathtaking 3D city landscapes and images and follow virtual tours of places you’ve never been — all with a simple swipe of your fingertip. It’s a new, and I think magical way to explore the world in which we live.
I’ve played with this a bit on my new iPad and I have to say, the locations where the 3D imagery is in is stunningly cool. Like looking at something out of a movie, or from an amazingly well rendered system, except it’s all programatic. The downside (for now) is that the loading of the 3D areas is slow (no doubt a lot of people are doing what I’m doing and playing with it) and the 3D areas are limited (again, this will improve in time).
I suspect there’s some sort of irony in that no doubt now more iOS users will get the 3D imagery than Android users, due to the new maps being restricted to Android 4.0+ (no one in our office here has an android that’s higher than 2.3, so this is my first glimpse of the new maps).