Google's Street View lands in the Philippines

Google has just made the
landmarks of the Philippines
more accessible to people
around the world.
The Web giant announced
Tuesday it had begun
capturing Street View imagery
from the southeast Asian
nation, launching first in the
capital of Manila, with an
eventual expansion into the
country's more than 7,000
islands. Google offered a
preview of the service through
360-degree photos captured
from within Manila's walled
city of Intramuros.
Google's backpack-attached
Street View Trekker camera
captured the full glory of
historic churches and forts,
including The San Agustin
Church, Baluarte de San
Diego , Plaza San Luis
Complex, and Fort Santiago.
Rapid expansion in the
Philippines is likely to benefit
from a program that allows
third-parties to borrow
backpacks, which are
equipped with a 15-lens
camera system that pops out
of the top of the wearable
pack and constantly records
images. Each lens points in a
different direction so that
when combined all of the
images can be stitched into
360-degree panoramic views.
The video below offers a
snapshot of the process
specific to the Philippines.