Google Maps high resolution 3D imagery
Google has been busy with updates this week as it began rolling out high-resolution 3D imagery on both Google Maps and Google Earth, starting with New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area.
3D imagery from Google Earth was first included in Maps after a May 2013 update, and this week's update is evidently another step up from the search giant's previous imagery set, achieved by using better cameras and improved algorithms to reconstruct these cities in 3D, reports TechCrunch. The new technology enables more realistic imaging of billboards, kiosks and bus stops, as you can see in the comparison below, whilst also giving larger structures a much more detailed look.
Promising to give the same treatment to more cities next year, the currently available new imagery is incredibly detailed, and is viewable in both Google Earth or in Earth View mode in Google Maps. Some impressive examples include the recently finished Freedom Tower, and the Statue of Liberty in NYC, as well as the Bay Bridge in San Francisco.
Google Translate update
In addition to updating Maps, Google has also added support for 10 more languages to Google Translate this week. This update will enable an additional 200 million people around the world to translate text to and from their native languages via Google's online service.
The 10 new languages added are from Asia and Africa, and include the following:
- Chichewa (from Malawi)
- Malagasy (from Madagascar)
- Sesotho (from Lesotho)
- Malayalam (from India)
- Myanmar (from Myanmar)
- Sinhala (from Sri Lanka)
- Sundanese (from Java in Indonesia)
- Kazakh (from Kazakhstan)
- Tajik (from Tajikistan)
- Uzbek (from Uzbekistan)
Most notably, the latest update includes Burmese, the official language of Myanmar, along with Malayalam, one of India's six classical languages with 38 million speakers. The latter shows particular significance as it ties into Google's plans to tap into the Indian market and get more Indian users onto its services.
Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt has stressed the importance of free speech in Myanmar in the past, calling for its government to bring its efforts in regulating the Internet to a close and to embrace Internet freedom. With the update adding Burmese to Google Translate, it shows that the search giant is serious in wanting to improve access to worldwide information for people in Myanmar.
These latest language additions bring Google Translate's total number of supported languages to 90. The company offers much thanks to its Translate Community who supplement the tool's algorithms by correcting translations. The aforementioned languages are now live on Google Translate.
