Google has added its street view data, the panorama photos available for select U.S. cities, to the Google Maps API. The new API tools give developers a way to incorporate street view images into their own sites.

The new GStreetviewPanorama object in the Google Maps API allows you do things like embed street views directly in your pages or access them through a map, for example, to combine driving directions with street view images.

According to a post on the Google Maps API blog, “the API allows you to embed one or multiple panoramas in any location on a site and move, remove, hide and unhide them as necessary.” The API also enables developers to interact with the street views via JavaScript, which means you can use, for instance, the panTo function to create smooth animated rotations in embedded views.

You can expect to see street views get some wider attention as they move into popular Google Maps mashups in the near future. The ability to add the panoramic images to Maps will be a boon for tools like apartment finders or other visually-oriented mashups.

As part of the update Google has also added over a dozen new street view locations like Nashville, Austin, Spokane and others, including Yosemite National Park.

[via Google Blogoscoped]

See Also:

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• Easily Add Google Maps To Your Site With New Embed Code