Google announced a new feature for Google Maps earlier today.  The new feature enables users to get a better view of the streets of San Francisco, New York, and Las Vegas.  Now someone in Sri Lanka can get a glimpse of how the Las Vegas strip looks like without actually going.  How does it work?

First, point your browser to one of those cities.  I pointed it to Las Vegas[1]:

After that, a Street View button will appear and so will a camera icon.  Once you click on the camera icon, you will be asked to zoom in and an icon of a person will show up (I drew an arrow pointing at the person icon):

With your mouse, you can drag and drop the icon of the man anywhere in the blue-outlined streets.  Once you drop the man there, a screen shot of that location will appear.  As an example, I dropped the man at 3600 Las Vegas Blvd S., the location of the famous Bellagio hotel[2]:

As of right now, I do not know what Google’s plans are for expanding this feature to other cities.  But I can definetely say that the competition between Google Street View and Microsoft Live Search Maps[3] will probably intensify further, thus provoking both companies to expand such features faster.  Microsoft provides the same feature from the point-of-view of inside a race car, a sports car, and in person.

[1] Google Maps: Las Vegas
[2] Google Maps: Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas
[3] Microsoft Live Search Maps