Search engine company Google has updated its maps service to show London and 12 other cities in 3D.
Integrated with Google’s Street View, the updated maps show outlines of major buildings and landscape running on vector-based software for faster downloading.
Users can view 3D maps of Paris, Barcelona, Stockholm, Singapore and Lisbon.
However, the new service can be used in handsets having Android 2.0 or above.
The new maps allow dragging, zooming, twisting and tilting, features available on touchscreens.
The Google Maps 5.0 for mobiles also offer offline reliability. Maps get preloaded in the background so tat they are still available even if the user loses Internet connection temporarily, says Google.
Google started its Street View service in the US in 2007 and is now in operation in over 25 countries.
However, the company has run into trouble repeatedly, including hefty fines, with several governments in Europe and India over privacy concerns.
