Google Maps is going 3D: Incredible new feature will let users zoom around like they're in 'their own personal helicopter'



'Your own personal helicopter': New version of Maps will let you dive round exact 3D replicas of cities

Hi-tech 'Google Planes' amass enough data to recreate buildings, bridges... even trees



Re-vamp comes just as Apple 'plans to ditch Google Maps on the iPhone and iPad'

Google has announced a complete overhaul to the imagery on Google Maps.

The search giant has sent a convoy of planes over major cities in the world, each plane capturing advanced 3D information and detailed photographs.

The result will be a complete 3D experience of major cities across the world, allowing users to swoop and fly through replicas which are exact - with even trees getting the 3D treatment.



It is the next step of Google's controversial plan to create a photo-based map of the world - and it will begin rolling out before the end of the year.

Google is also planning to introduce offline support to Google Maps, in a bid to offset the expected loss of traffic from iPhone and iPad users, with Apple set to launch their own competitor to Maps.

Both The Wall Street Journal and a technology blog called 9to5 have reported that Apple next week will make a move to drop Google Maps, which currently comes pre-loaded on all iPhone and iPad products.

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Privacy concerns: Google now has camera planes which have taken images like this of San Francisco

Apple is working on an alternative app that it has been secretly patching together from a series of recent acquisitions, claimed the Journal.

The leak suggests the company plans to use next week's Apple Developers Conference to announce Google Maps as the built-in option on its mobile platform.

Google mapping executive Brian McClendon didn't directly address questions about the potential Apple setback, simply saying that Google wants to make its maps available in as many places as possible.

He also declined to name the cities getting the treatment, but it showed a demonstration of a 3-D map of San Francisco, in which a user can navigate around an aerial view of the city.

From previous experience, Google usually gives the early treatment to San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris and Berlin, among others.



McClendon, said the company was using a fleet of airplanes owned and operated by contractors and flying exclusively for Google.

Peter Birch, a product manager for Google Earth, said: 'We're trying to create the illusion that you're just flying over the city, almost as if you were in your own personal helicopter.'

The 3D maps are expected to arrive by the end of the year, and offline support for Android devices may arrive within the next few weeks.



Google plans to release the maps by the end of the year, but hasn't revealed which cities will be captured

Asked about potential privacy implications, McClendon said the privacy issues were similar to all aerial imagery.

Google has for years operated a fleet of camera-equipped cars that crisscross the globe taking panoramic pictures of streets for its mapping service. The cars have raised privacy concerns in some countries.

If Apple ousts Google Maps as a built-in option on the iPhone and iPad, it would be the latest fissure between two former allies. Their relationship has been degenerating into a bitter rivalry since Google's 2008 release of its Android software to compete against Apple's iPhone.

Since then, both companies have increasingly been encroaching on each other's turf.

Google's mapping service has been a featured app in Apple's mobile operating system since the iPhone's debut five years ago.

Processing the mobile mapping requests from users of Apple's devices provided Google with valuable insights into people's whereabouts and preferences. That, in turn, helped Google sell more ads to local businesses.