Google has spent much of the last few months making a variety of enhancements and updates to Google Maps — the initiative kicked off in June when the company announced radically improved 3D images. Today, the company announced new 45-degree imagery for 37 US cities and 14 more international locations, improved high-resolution aerial imagery for 17 cities, and new high-resolution satellite imagery for a whopping 112 countries and regions. This is the second major update we've seen Google roll out since its June announcement; in late July, the company made a similarly large update to all three components of its mapping service.

While most of the cities included in this update aren't exactly major metropolitan areas (you can see the full list of updates on Google's blog), it's clear that Google is focused on making its mapping service into an even bigger selling point for buying into the company's ecosystem, especially in light of Apple's iOS 6 mapping failure and Tim Cook's subsequent apology this morning. With a lot of iOS customers wishing for an alternative solution, Google is showing that it can combine it's solid, well-tested mapping platform with visual flair to match Apple's Flyover feature.