Along with the “map” and “satellite” views, there is a “hybrid” view that overlays map data (such as street names) on top of the satellite imagery. Hybrid view is available for the US, Canada, UK, and Japan.

It’s cool and useful, but it’s not a new idea. TerraFly has been offering street names and other information overlayed on aerial imagery (US only) for many years. TerraFly also includes local info by clicking on any image. When will Google add that?