Hooray! Due to the most recent update (October 3) of Google Maps/Earth satellite imagery data, we now have a seamless, and more importantly, cloudless, satellite view of practically the whole Metro Manila! Finally, the Central Business District of Makati is now shown in all its glory! For example, here’s PBCom Tower, the country’s tallest building.

I mentioned before back in May that DigitalGlobe, Google’s main provider of satellite imagery, has a composite image of the Metro. Well, it seems that this exact same image I pointed out is now included in Google’s database. The update post reveals that 32 cities have now high-resolution DigitalGlobe CitySphere imagery. Well it seems Manila is one of those exclusive 32.

The sad thing is that this image is at least 2 years old. This is a bit unfortunate since the previous imagery of the Manila-Pasay quadrant was more recent. In the updated imagery, the Main Mall and Entertainment Mall of the M Mall of Asia (M, because the ‘S’ got blown away by Typhoon Milenyo) is still under construction. Then again, there were clouds partially covering the mall in the previous imagery. Compare and contrast below.

I haven’t checked the countryside yet to see if there’s new imagery too. And apparently, I don’t see the new imagery yet in Google Earth, though the update post said it should be there.

Update: Scratch that, I see the new imagery in GEarth. And I see some of the new spots. The stretch from Sto. Tomas, Malvar, Lipa City, Batangas City all the way to Puerto Galera for one. Talisay City, Negros Occidental, for another. Eastern Biliran and nearby parts of Leyte. Southern tip of Bondoc Peninsula. A tiny swath of Occidental Mindoro. A strip of land from Subic Bay to central Zambales Mountains. A strip of land in Maguindanao. General Santos City. Heck, I’ll just update the image in my previous post.

Remember, you read it here first!