Google (NSDQ: GOOG) has made Street View accessible on a wider range of phones, its mobile team said in its blog. After photographing France, Italy, Spain and Australia, the internet giant has made its application Google Maps for mobile version 2.3 with Street View accessible on the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) S60 and Windows Mobile, phones, it says, are especially popular in those countries. Street View, previously released on Google Maps for Android, BlackBerry, and iPhone, lets users orient themselves by getting “full screen panorama images” of the street. Google has also added additional features to its Maps application, adding “request walking directions” to its driving and public transit directions, the ability to receive transit alerts from public transportation authorities, and reviews of places and businesses. They’ve also reworked the entire user interface which Google says has made the app more responsive and easier to use.

Google has also added a new feature to its email service that lets users send SMS text messages from Gmail, the company posted in its blog. The service combines Gmail’s instant messenger Chat function with texting, allowing a user chatting from their computer to communicate with a friend using texting on their mobile. The service is free, but as Google points out, the text messages count toward a user’s mobile messaging plan and could cost them. Notes Google, “Unless you know your friends have unlimited text message plans, please be sensitive to their phone bills.” The service is currently available only for US cellphone numbers.