Google Street View in Asia
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In Asia, Google Street View is currently available in parts of Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Macau, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. It has also been planned for parts of India[1].
Service in Japan was introduced on August 4, 2008. Japan's coverage is currently concentrated in five areas with a total of 10 camera icons. The service has faced criticisms from bloggers in Japan of cultural insensitivity.[2]
Google Street View camera cars were spotted in the streets of Singapore in December 2008 and January 2009; and were launched on December 2, 2009. Certain features like Bayfront Avenue, Lorong Danau, Jalan Sungei Poyan, Resorts World Sentosa and latest updated info such as Circle Line are not available, but Google Maps have revamped its satellite imagery, into 2009 – 2010 imaging. Google Street View have plans to re-shoot again in Singapore, beginning with Singapore F1 Race on November 2011.
In early 2009, camera cars with the Google Street View labels were spotted in Hong Kong's streets. On August 18, 2009, Taipei, Taiwan was added. On October 7, and December 2, 2009, more locations in Japan were added. On January 21, 2010, more Taiwan locations are added. At the same time, more Japanese locations are added. Unusually, while Street View images are, at present, primarily collected during daylight hours, a number of Taipei streets were imaged at night.
On March 11, 2010, Google Street View for Hong Kong, Macau, and more locations in Japan was launched.
On December 8, 2010, Google updated some of Japan's imagery with HD photographs.
On May 26, 2011, Google announced that, in India, capturing of Street View images in Bangalore, the capital of the state of Karnataka, had started. However, Google Street View was banned from Bangalore on June 20, 2011.[3]
On September 2, 2011 Google has revealed that its Street View feature will be introduced to the country in association with the Tourism Authority of Thailand.[4]
On September 3, 2011 Google started to collaborate with Tourism Malaysia to record Malaysian locations to be featured on its Google Map Street View.[5]
On January 24, 2012 Google Street View was launched in South Korea starting with imagery from the country's capital Seoul as well as South Korea's second largest city of Busan.[6]
On March 21, 2012, the Thailand street view is available.
On April 3, 2012, Google Street View updated Singapore's street view at its headquarters (Asia Square @ Marina View). Staff members can be spotted in rainbow color holding different Google logos.
On April 19, 2012, Israel is available street view.
Timeline of introductions
Note: Bold indicates locations available in newer high quality view, and italic bold indicates locations partially available in high quality view.
Areas included
People's Republic of China
| Region | Major cities/areas |
|---|---|
| Hong Kong | Major parts of Hong Kong |
| Macau | Part of Macau |
Israel
| Region | Major cities/areas |
|---|---|
| Full Cities | Haifa, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv |
| Landmarks | Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel Museum, Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, Kafr Kanna, Merhavia Moshav, Mini Israel, Nahsholim, Ramat Gan Safari |
Japan
| Region | Major cities/areas |
|---|---|
| Chūbu | Niigata, Sado, Nagoya, Gifu |
| Chūgoku | Okayama, Hiroshima |
| Hokkaidō | Sapporo, Hakodate, Asahikawa |
| Kansai | Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara |
| Kantō | Chiba, Saitama, Tokyo, Yokohama |
| Kyūshū | Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Hirado, Kumamoto, Tanegashima, Yakushima, Amami Ōshima, Tokunoshima, Okinawa, Miyako Islands, Kagoshima |
| Tōhoku | Sendai, Fukushima, Morioka |
Singapore
| Region | Major cities/areas |
|---|---|
| Singapore[9] | 95% of Singapore |
South Korea
| Major cities/areas |
|---|
| Busan, Seoul |
Taiwan
Controversy
Like in other places, there has been controversy surrounding plans to bring Street View to various Asian countries.
In Israel, there have been concerns that introducing the service could increase the risk of terrorism to which the region is prone.[10]
Google had to reshoot all images in Japan because the camera cars that took the original photographs were originally too high, leading to privacy concerns. Japanese houses are generally built quite close to the road. Roads are also narrow, often without pavements. Such factors led to privacy concerns with the original photographs.[11]
Police in South Korea raided offices in that country in order to determine if Street View was legal.[12]
References
- ^ "Google Street View Car in Mumbai". Hitched Hiker. March 25, 2011. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
- ^ Japan and Google Street View, special coverage page at Global Voices Online.
- ^ "Google Street View blocked in Bangalore". IT World. June 20, 2011. Retrieved August 4, 2011.
- ^ http://thenextweb.com/asia/2011/09/02/thailand-set-to-get-google-street-view/
- ^ http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Science%2Band%2BTech/Story/A1Story20110903-297503.html
- ^ http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2012/01/take-tour-of-south-korea-using-street.html
- ^ Pedaling to new places with Street View
- ^ http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2011/08/journey-to-bring-iraqs-national-museum.html
- ^ "CBC News – Technology & Science – Google Street View adds 9 Canadian cities". Canada: CBC. December 2, 2009. Retrieved February 7, 2010.
- ^ Guynn, Jessica (February 22, 2011). "Some in Israel warn against Google Street View". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
- ^ "Street View under fire in Japan". BBC. UK. May 14, 2009. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
- ^ Whitney, Lance (August 10, 2010). "South Korea raids Google over Street View". CNet News. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
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