Meet the photographer who brings Google Street View INDOORS Google Streetview will now venture into your business, at a price, and the Chocolate Factory has been busy signing up local shutterbugs, so El Reg caught up with one of them to find out what it takes to get one's shelves added to Streetview. Turns out it takes about two hundred quid, depending on the size of one's business, …
"Does Google also provide equipment to let them poke your around your WLAN?"
Read point 4 of this: http://www.priv.gc.ca/media/nr-c/2010/let_101019_e.cfm
47. Google intends to rely on its users’ handsets to collect the information on the location of WiFi networks that it needs for its location-based services database. The improvements in smart-phone technology in the past few years have allowed Google to obtain the data it needs for this purpose from the handsets themselves.
Given the "accidental" feature creep and total disdain for privacy as evidenced by Schmidt, your answer is thus: yes - any Android phone will do. Let the downvotes begin..
It's a shame they don't go the whole hog and use LiDAR / laser scanning to generate a full 3D interior map. That could be particularly useful for large public buildings such as hospitals, railway stations, or shopping centres. But we can't have that, turrurists might use it to plan their attacks.
I think the latest Android Jelly Bean iteration is quite interesting regarding this - the new panoramic "photo sphere" function in the camera app would seem to allow private individuals and businesses not keen on shelling out the cost of professional photography to take Street View style images. Perhaps they'll soon be able to be added to Street View as well as just Google Maps...
...and of course I can't be specific, but here in the States, (at least some) solicitations were made through Craig's List. On applying, one must download an agreement running to many pages which, like so many businesses in this day and age, puts all the responsibility and liability on the photographer, in exchange for being able to call yourself a "Google Trusted Photographer" and to charge the property owner/manager directly (and deal with any payment issues). For some, it might be a good deal, depending on location, but it didn't seem so to me. Read the fine print!
The Germans did it first March 2010:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9i41Sh5xWY
With a bit of searching you'll be able to find one with subtitles. It's evidence that Germans *do* have a sense of humour. This version actually makes another few points that the BBC version skips over: Google itself does NOT like close scrutiny, and is in a powerful position to deny you service if it wanted to.
A BBC version, about a month ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJOF3UeLvtA
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