Map data update for Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and parts of Europe

We’re always looking to improve the accuracy of our maps and the value of the services we offer around them. To do that we need to have the best quality map data possible, and we believe that nobody knows the world around them better than our users. For this reason we’re always excited when we can update our maps and enable users to participate in improving them, as we have previously in the United States and Canada.

Today we’re adding Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, and Switzerland to the set of countries in which this is possible. These map updates will improve our geocoding and directions, increase the accuracy and coverage of natural features such as forest and water bodies, and add walking paths and bicycling trails.

The updates will roll out over the next 24 hours, and will be applied automatically to existing Maps API applications. However we ask that you refresh any cached addresses, latlngs, or routes for these countries that were obtained using the Maps APIs before this update as soon as possible.

If you have any questions or concerns about how these updates affect your Maps API application, or for help refreshing your cached data, please post to the relevant forum. We look forward to lots of great map feedback from our users in these countries that will improve the maps experience both in Google Maps and in the Maps API.

Posted by Thor Mitchell, Google Maps API Product Manager

Imagery Update – Week of November 1st

The Google Earth and Maps Imagery team has just released another extensive batch of aeriel and satellite images for your enjoyment! In honor of the upcoming U.S. holiday Veterans Day (November 11th), we’ll take a look at a few military-themed museums.

Let’s start with a wide-view of the naval ships on display at the Baltimore Maritime Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. Historic ships that you can zoom in on and see close up in Google Earth or Maps include the last sail-only warship USS Constellation (lower left); the submarine USS Torsk (upper left) which sunk the last enemy ship in World War II; and the cutter USCGC Taney (upper right), the last ship still floating that fought during the Pearl Harbor attack.

Baltimore Maritime Museum in Baltimore, MD

Now that we’ve got our sea legs, let move sub-orbital and beyond at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Here we can see a restored Saturn V-1 “moon shot” test vehicle and the A-12 Oxcart “Blackbird” spy plane.

U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL

These are just a few examples of the many museums around the globe that are included in our latest imagery batch.

High Resolution Aerial Updates:
USA: Baltimore, Cedar Rapids, Huntsville, Long Island, Redding, Springfield (IL), St. Joseph (MO)
Austria: Schladming
Finland: Pori
Ireland: Athlone, Drogheda, Dundalk, Enniscorthy, Galway, Limerick, Monaghan, Tralee, Waterford,
Spain: Vasco

Countries receiving High Resolution Satellite Updates:
Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, People’s Republic of the Congo, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, The Bahamas, Togo, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

These updates are currently only available in Google Earth, but they’ll also be in Google Maps soon. To get a complete picture of where we updated imagery, download this KML for viewing in Google Earth.