Google and Toyota map South Africa

In the coming weeks Google teams, using Toyota Prius models, will be driving around South Africa and taking photographs of locations, including Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria, Port Elizabeth and Durban.

Street View is a hugely popular feature of Google Maps that is already available in more than 100 metropolitan areas around the world.

It allows users to virtually explore and navigate a neighbourhood through panoramic street-level images. It is also available in Google Earth and on Google Maps for Mobile.

Coming to a street near you

Images collected by the cars will be processed and carefully stitched together, a technological process that can take several months. They will eventually be made available in Street View on Google Maps for South Africa.

In areas where Street View is available you can access street-level imagery by zooming into the lowest level on Google Maps, or by dragging the orange "Pegman" icon on the left-hand side of the map onto a blue highlighted street.

You can check out a restaurant before arriving, make travel plans, arrange meeting points, or get a helping hand with geography homework. House hunters can save time by exploring properties and their surrounding area in advance and also by looking up driving directions.

Businesses can also benefit from the Street View technology by embedding Google Maps directly into their site for free, helping them to promote a chain of hotels or raise awareness about a local library or restaurant.

Practical, and fun

Toyota's senior vice president for Sales and Marketing, Andrew Kirby, said: "We are thrilled to be partnering with Google and supplying our environmental friendly Prius for this groundbreaking project in South Africa. Locals and international visitors alike will benefit tremendously from Street View, which is both fun and practical.”

Commenting on the initiative, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, the Minister of Tourism said, "The internet is a remarkably rich resource for raising awareness about South Africa - our people, our cities and our environment. It will give tourists a taste of the variety that the country offers, and a chance to research their holidays in advance, all with the click of a mouse.

“Ahead of the World Cup, we're pleased to have Google bringing us some of their most innovative technology so that we can showcase South Africa to the world."

For more information on Street View and how it can be used for recreational purposes and by businesses please visit www.google.co.za/help/maps/streetview/faq.html