At CES this year, Navteq showed off their new laser based mapping system, which allows their trucks to drive down roads at highway speeds while creating a 3D map of the surrounding area.  To be clear, these aren’t just pictures, but a fully 3D view from the road.

With mobile bandwidth increasing, such as T-Mobile’s jump to a 7.2mbps network, these 3D images could stream to your device, much like how Google’s current navigation system works.  If Navteq combines this with laser scanning from helicopters in major cities, they could have a Google Earth competitor in their hands as well.