Google To Update Street View Images Across Dozens of Countries, Deleted Blog Post Says (theverge.com)
- Reference: 0175121811
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/09/24/1415224/google-to-update-street-view-images-across-dozens-of-countries-deleted-blog-post-says
- Source link: https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/24/24252979/google-maps-updated-street-view-images
> In a now-removed blog post seen by The Verge, Google announced that the new images are coming to countries like Australia, Brazil, Denmark, Japan, the Philippines, Rwanda, Serbia, South Africa, and more. Google is also bringing Street View to a handful of countries where it's never been available, including Bosnia, Namibia, Lichtenstein, and Paraguay. The company said its more portable Street View camera, which launched in 2022, will help offer images of "even more places in the future."
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> Google Maps and Google Earth are getting sharper satellite imagery as well, thanks to the company's cloud-removal AI tool that takes out clouds, shadows, haze, and mist. This should result in "brighter, more vibrant" images, according to Google.
[1] https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/24/24252979/google-maps-updated-street-view-images
The answer to global warming? (Score:3, Funny)
> ... the company's cloud-removal AI tool that takes out clouds, shadows, haze, and mist.
If it can do all that, why can't it remove greenhouse gases as well? Not to mention SO2 and particulates from forest fires...
Re: The answer to global warming? (Score:2)
They are removing clouds, or the haze caused by clouds, from the images, not actually removing clouds.
Re: (Score:1)
> They are removing clouds, or the haze caused by clouds, from the images, not actually removing clouds.
I think that the post had been intended as funny.
Deleted blog post (Score:2)
Interesting. Wonder why the blog entry was deleted?
Possibly because one of the governments had objected?
More portable Street View camera (Score:2)
Several years ago, I looked up the street view of a road in Beirut, Lebanon. I wondered how they were getting their Google car down some of those roads. Until I turned my view towards a large storefront window along the side of the road. The reflection showed some guy walking along with a backpack and a camera sticking out the top.
So, more portable cameras have been available for maybe five years.
AI Removal (Score:2)
Next year we'll start hearing about what else it removes that the public ought to know about.
Some online sleuths have uncovered significant misconduct using these technologies.
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Oddly, I ran into an entire suburban street just outside Boston the other day with a Street View blackhole.
Just a working-class neighborhood where a FoF lives, no rich people there. It didn't harm my route planning, just unexpected.
Maybe a safe house, I dunno. I'll check again when they do the next update.
Sounds expensive (Score:2)
They're spending more money than ever on this. Kind of makes you worry. Either they already found a way to monetize this in a big way. Or they're about to. But it does make you wonder what privacy-invasive thing they'll be able to do with overhead and street-level imagery, AI, and all of your personal information.
Re: (Score:2)
> They're spending more money than ever on this.
Not that much in the case of [1]Liechtenstein [wikipedia.org]:
> There are about 250 kilometres (155 mi) of paved roadway within Liechtenstein, with 90 km (56 mi) of marked bicycle paths.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liechtenstein
Re: (Score:2)
I've never seen Google Street View images along bicycle paths, not least because they use road vehicles to take the images.
Re: (Score:2)
One obvious way to monetize is to rent the data to firms training self-driving cars.
Whatever is visible from above or from the public street is public info IMHO. I don't have privacy issues with that.