Google Street View Images Galore, Updates in 13 Countries

Despite many setbacks and problems, Google Street View is moving forward to make the world more easily accessible. Google has now released its biggest imagery update yet, adding new or updated images in 13 countries the service was already live in.

"Since we launched Street View on Google Maps in the U.S. in 2007 we’ve added 26 more countries and enabled you to explore images across all seven continents. Today we’re excited to share with you the latest expansion of Street View because it’s our biggest update yet," Kei Kawai, product manager for Street View on Google Maps, announced.

Google has now unloaded a batch of new images in half the countries Street View is available in.

Even better, many of the countries are some of the more recently added to the Street View family, meaning that the new imagery greatly expands the previously covered area.

New or updated images are now available in Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Romania, South Africa, Taiwan, Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

"I like wine so I’m particularly interested in seeing the new imagery around Italy’s famous Chianti region and other beautiful areas of Tuscany. Across the mediterranean in Spain, the home of another renowned wine is available with the addition of the Rioja province," he said about a couple of the regions now available in Street View. There are plenty of other new places to see, of course.

Things don't always go smooth for Street View, for example, a recent expansion into India was met with failure as shooting had to stop very soon after it started.

Authorities were, apparently, worried about the Street View cars shooting sensitive locations and the security threat this may create. Of course, all of these areas are available to anyone walking around with a camera already.