Google Maps reveals 45-degree images of 26 cities worldwide

30 May 2012

Dublin's St Patrick's Cathedral as seen at 45 degrees on Google Maps

Some 26 cities – from Santa Fe and Texarkana to Dublin, Cracow and Zurich – have been given the 45-degree image treatment on Google Maps.

The update includes Google’s first 45-degree imagery for Poland and Ireland.

The 45-degree view adds extra definition to historic buildings and can be so vivid you might just want to reach out and touch the buildings.

The addition of 45-degree views could also be seen as Google’s potential fight-back against Apple which not only plans to drop Google Maps in the forthcoming iPhone 5 but intends to introduce a new ‘3D mode’.

In October, Apple acquired Swedish mapping firm C3, whose software and camera technology renders 2D photos into high-quality and detailed 3D images.

List of cities updated to 45 degrees on Google Maps

The full list of cities included in the latest 45-degree update are:

US: Albany, GA (outskirts); Atascocita, TX; Clarksville, TN; Columbia, MO; Corpus Christi, TX; Fayetteville, NC; Fort Collins, CO; Fort Smith, AR; Greensboro, NC; Jackson, TN; Lafayette, LA; Plaquemine, LA; Pueblo, CO; Santa Fe, NM; Texarkana, AR; Tyler, TX

Europe: Bern, Switzerland; Cracow, Poland; Dublin, Ireland; Gdansk, Poland; Lugo, Spain; Ourense, Spain; Poznan, Poland; Warsaw, Poland; Wroclaw, Poland; Zurich, Switzerland

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com