Now when you're milling about town -- virtually via Street View of course -- you can view the the top business listings for the surrounding area as annotations inside your view. They are the same annotations that appear when zoomed out, but now at your service while you poke around town close up.
Annotations are denoted with icons that are next to each business; click on the icons to view the business listings in miniature form. Google also has plans to add annotations for more businesses and transit locations to round out Street View's utility in the near future.
Essentially Google is transforming Street View from a view-only panorama to an interactive virtual double of the physical world. The annotations should make it much easier to visually pinpoint a place to grab a cup of joe while plotting out your daily activities. They're also potentially a big boon for the included local businesses and point to the value of Google Places.
