Google Maps API Javascript v3 smooth panTo - google-maps

Question

I have done quite a few searches here and there. None of them give satisfactory answer, all we know is Google Maps API v3 has a limitation, that if the panTo target is more than 1 window height/width of the current center, it will not be smooth.
Still, I want to achieve "somewhat" smoother, not just "jumping" to the target.
Here is my solution (not perfect but I think it's better than jumping):
Calculate distance between current and target locations
Divide into several sections, each section is a little less than one window
panTo each section to achieve "sectional" smooth animation.
It's fine to find out each section target by the following algorithm:
Current is c(x,y)
Target is t(x,y)
Section count is s
Each section is c(x) + (t(x) - c(x)) / s , c(y) + (t(y) - c(y)) / s
Here is the problem: how to calculate the section count?
It should be based on the current zoom level and window size, right?
Ok, I finally come up with some like this and it works (but did not consider the zoom level)
var distance = Math.sqrt(Math.abs(Math.pow(lastLocation.lat() - status.Lat, 2)) + Math.abs(Math.pow(lastLocation.lng() - status.Lng, 2)));
//console.info('last:' + lastLocation.lat() + ',' + lastLocation.lng());
//console.info('new:' + status.Lat + ',' + status.Lng);
//console.info('distance:' + distance);
var smoothFactor = 8.0 / 1440; //hard code for screen size without considering zoom as well...
var factor = $(window).width() * smoothFactor;
smoothPanSections = [];
var sectionCount = Math.ceil(distance / factor);
var sectionLat = (status.Lat - lastLocation.lat()) / sectionCount;
var sectionLng = (status.Lng - lastLocation.lng()) / sectionCount;
for (var i = 1; i <= sectionCount; i++) {
if (i < sectionCount) {
smoothPanSections.push({ Lat: lastLocation.lat() + sectionLat * i, Lng: lastLocation.lng() + sectionLng * i });
}
else
smoothPanSections.push({ Lat: status.Lat, Lng: status.Lng });
}
panStatus();
And the panStatus is:
function panStatus() {
if (smoothPanSections.length > 0) {
var target = smoothPanSections.shift();
//still have more sections
if (smoothPanSections.length > 0) {
google.maps.event.addListenerOnce(map, 'idle', function () {
window.setTimeout(function () {
panStatus();
}, 100);
});
}
var location = new google.maps.LatLng(target.Lat, target.Lng);
map.panTo(location, zoomSize);
}
}