Google unveils Street View across Australia

August 2008 Australia became the third country to have its cities streets and landmarks "scanned into"Google as the search giant unveils its most ambitious Street View project to date.

Google Street View is an online tool that lets users take a virtual tour of landscapes from their computer by perusing an interactive database of millions of 360-degree snapshots.

The snapshots are taken by a fleet of cars fitted with special cameras that drive across the country capturing images on every street corner and along every highway.

"Google Maps has its origins as an Australian invention so we're thrilled to bring Street View here as one of the first countries in the world"he said.