Google's Street View, a feature that lets users experience an area at the street level through an interactive 360 degree panorama, has returned to India six years after it was rejected by the government over security concerns.
The feature has been launched in 10 Indian cities in partnership with Tech Mahindra and Genesys, who have done all of the data collection and will license the images to Google.
The service, which will be accessible through Google Maps, will be available in 50 Indian cities by the end of this year, company executive Miriam Daniel said on Wednesday, 27 July.
Street View has been around for 15 years and is available in over 100 countries with a database of over 220 billion images. Google doesn't usually partner with third parties for this.
MapmyIndia Launches Competing Service
On Wednesday, homegrown technology company MapmyIndia also released its own street view service, Mappls RealView, to the public.
While Google said its street view has covered 1,50,000 kilometers of Indian roads with new launch, MapmyIndia says has covered about 1,00,000 kilometers.
“We are excited to give to users in India, a fully indigenous alternative to foreign map apps, that is more advanced in its capabilities and is more valuable for users, while also being fully Indian. We hope users in India will try out Mappls and give us feedback so we can keep improving." Rohan Verma, CEO & Executive Director, MapmyIndia, said in a press release.
In 2016, India, Google's largest market in terms of numbers, had rejected its plans to collect images for its Street View service in the country after security agencies raised concerns.
"We believe the launch of Street View will turn a new page in India’s mapping experience, bringing the power of virtual imagery to help people visually explore, businesses create, and governments address local challenges," said Daniel.
The tech giant is making the Street View API available to local developers "enabling them to deliver richer mapping experiences within their apps and services."
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