Mapping China's byways: Tencent street view fleet heads down new roads

Tencent, Asia's largest internet company, is expanding its maps function by dispatching a fleet of camera cars to create the most comprehensive street view on the mainland.

Since it launched about a year ago, Tencent's street view boasts more than 100 cities and countless sights and landmarks.

But Tencent has some catching up to do. Google launched its iconic street view in 2007, and today Google Maps dominates the mobile app market, with more than half of all smartphones in the world using a version of it.

Locally, Tencent's main rival, Baidu, runs the most popular mobile map app.

On the mainland, whose streets are off limits to Google's quirky street-view camera cars, Tencent has dispatched Volkswagen Polos carrying up to US$90,000 worth of cameras.

Even a lack of roads is no barrier to Tencent's engineers, who have developed novel ways to gather images in remote areas, such as mounting cameras on boats. The result is a collection of unique panoramas of China such as magnificent views of Mt Everest, the Tumen River on the border with Russia and North Korea, and vistas of the South China Sea.

"Tencent street view is one of our most important product differentiations," said Jerry Huang, director of investor relations.