The Google Maps team does some of the more interesting things on the Web. It’s always a pleasure to hear what they have to say so this week’s Office Hours hangout is a treat.

This week has Josh Livni and Peter Birch of the Google Maps and Earth team talking about the Google Maps API. They start the hangout with a look back on the history and evolution of Google Maps and Google Earth. It’s revealed that Google is heavily investing in Google Maps and Earth for mobile devices. It’s by far the most popular form of the application for people and they are constantly updating it for the needs of those who want to use it.

Livni and Birch also reveal that mobile is now the platform where they do most of the experimentation for Maps and Earth. Since it’s still a relatively new platform, they can do these kind of things without the ramifications of mucking with desktop applications. These experiments are then brought to the desktop platform once proven successful.

Mobile is a key topic in this hangout as the team also talks up the changes coming to Google Earth mobile. One of these changes is that users can implement their own data into Google Earth to set up tours. Users should also be able to download tours for the area that they’re in via mobile.

All this and more is discussed in this week’s Maps API hangout. It has a lot of really interesting insights into Google Maps and Earth. Check it out: