Google Street View: London to get snap-happy?
It looks like Google's Street View mapping service is making its way to London. Time for a celebration or time to hide your secret vices? You decide
Pull up those trousers, put out that sneaky fag and take your hand off your secretary's backside -- Google Street View is ramping up in the UK. Dvorak reported a while ago that one of Google's special Street View vehicles had been spotted within London. We think that -- like German tourists -- if there's one, there's probably more following closely behind.
Google Street View, for those of you who don't know, is Google's initiative to photograph the roads and buildings of cities from the perspective of a pedestrian. It's a useful service, but there's no secret that it raises questions relating to privacy: people have been caught smoking by Google cameras, only to have their family discover their filthy habit as a result.
When Google first launched Street View earlier this year, it covered just five cities in the US (ten more were added later in the year). This leads us to believe Google might not just focus on London. We could see Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Bognor Regis Street Views launched at once. But no-one's actually seen any other Google vehicles, so it could just mean Google is experimenting in London and we'll not see anything here for a long time.
If you see any Googmobiles driving around the city with cameras mounted on their roofs, snap a photo and send it in to edit AT cnet.co.uk. Oh, send any photos you have of badgers having crazy (legal) fun, too. We love crazy badgers. -Nate Lanxon