> - 3d maps has been done like this already (by bing and others), though this looks a better resolution.

Bing appears to be using a non-scalable approach for Bird's Eye view. E.g., Seattle downtown contains a few 3d buildings in a very confined area. It might even be manually modeled.

What Google has announced is impressive because it is automated and scalable. Small demos are great and all (e.g. C3) but qualitatively different from getting something like this deployed into the real world.

Disclaimer: I work at Google.

C3 is a "small demo"? C3's 3D maps have been deployed and are publicly usable and cover at least 25 metropolitan areas. Google may be catching up fast, but there is nothing shown in the video that C3 haven't done already.

Plus, let's not forget that Apple bought C3, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them roll this out at an even larger scale next week.

Sorry, I was not aware that C3 had been at that stage. Kudos for C3.

Sorry. Clearly I remembered that wrong. I was thinking of yell.co.uk in the uk. Not sure why I wrote bing.

>- As someone who works with city spaces - can I use the 3d data? How can I download it or who do I have to pay?

I don't work with city spaces and I would still kill to have access to the 3d data.

if it's getting to your client via HTTP there will be a way to get at it, legit or not.