Web search firm Google has updated its Google Maps app to allow Android users to view London and some other European cities in 3D.

3D maps to Google Maps 5.0 were first added for Android users back in December 2010, but, at that time, only a small number of American cities were included in the service.

Apart from London, 3D maps of Barcelona, Paris, Stockholm, Lisbon, Singapore, Boulder and eleven cities of South Africa have also been launched by the search giant. The new 3D maps require Android OS 2.0 or above.

To add 3D images of new cities, Google engineers rebuilt Google Maps' graphics engine. Earlier, the app only downloaded two-dimensional images of cities. Now, the app allows downloading of a vector-based description of an area.

Now, the Google Maps app allows users of Android-based devices to drag & tilt their way around over one hundred cities worldwide.

Google Maps 5.0 is available for free to download from the Android Marketplace.