RSSMS Preps 'Virtual Earth' Mapping Service
By David Worthington | Published May 24, 2005, 3:30 PM
Microsoft is firing a shot across Google's bow with a new service called MSN Virtual Earth. Virtual Earth overlays satellite imagery of local buildings and neighborhoods viewed at a 45-degree-angle onto its MapPoint maps and directions Web site. MSN is the second vendor to enhance its mapping services with images from space after an update made to Google Maps in April set an industry first by combining both of those elements.
Microsoft founder and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates announced the service over the weekend during the "D" Conference in California. At present time, the service provides 45-degree-angle views of buildings and neighborhoods within 10 U.S. cities using data provided by Microsoft partner Pictometry.
Local yellow page data from a third party will be added in as a rolling update, providing users with information on local businesses and attractions; users may add community information that is not listed in the database.
The 45-degree views are limited to the ten supported cities.
Unlike A9, America Online and Google, images of storefronts will not appear until the next calendar year. While that feature may be lacking, MSN has taken the satellite "zoom" function two levels closer than TerraServer and presumably its competitors.
In a private demonstration, BetaNews was shown detail that plunges down to local street blocks and nearly onto rooftops. Local landmarks are labeled and maps will be updated every two years on average.
Street maps and directions are overlaid onto the satellite images, creating hybrid maps, using the next generation of Microsoft's MapPoint technology. Traffic and weather patterns will be integrated into the maps as richer features are added to the basic service.
Another feature imposed over the satellite maps is a pop-up window called Scratch Pad. Scratch Pad is a clipboard collection area that temporarily stores recent searches and can be used to share searches with others through MSN Spaces or via e-mail.
Tom Bailey, Director of Sales and Marketing at Microsoft's MapPoint Business Unit, told BetaNews that MSN Virtual Earth will provide a common experience across portable services, automotive devices and the desktop, being scaled to each environment.
While it will not disclose any specific plans, Microsoft is considering integrating Virtual Earth across the full Microsoft spectrum with MapPoint, Microsoft Office and Microsoft CRM products currently in mind.
Microsoft sells commercial mapping software including: Microsoft MapPoint and Microsoft Street and Trips. Last week, rival Google announced its own desktop software called Google Earth.
Virtual Earth is being tested as a closed beta and is scheduled for release by the end of the summer.
Nice San Francisco photo!
Now, try to find this place in my http://www.virtuar.com/ysf2/ - San Francisco Virtual Tour
http://www.virtuar.com/alcatraz/ - Alcatraz Virtual Tour also!
Go where no plane has gone before!
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|Everyone always takes up for google when in all actuality they are just as shady and lame as M$. All the M$ haters out there who post antibill stuff while using billys OS need to get a linux distro or shut the hell up. That's like having sex with a girl with a lamb skin condom and all the while telling her how ineffective they are against the transmission of STD's....Your just not gonna get much action.
What?
I have no clue...
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|It's comforting to know that Google won't back down to Microsoft and we'll see the quality of product rise in their likely head to head battle. Hooray for how things are suppose to be!
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|Wow... i can see my old apartment in that 4th shot...
privacy is an interesting thing... my first Seattle apartment was close to the space needle, so i found out that if i left my curtains open, and went up in the needle, you could use the binoculars to see what was on TV...
i've since moved away from Washington, but the microsoft beta tests are hard to beat... ok, play this video game for an hour, then fill out this form and you can have whatever game/program from this list you want.
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|Google has made a very cool move buying keyhole. although it doesnt provide highres images in abundance yet, this is soon to come. hard to beat, google and keyhole. besides, nowadays the world is a tiny bit bigger than a mere ten us city's. google's move is international, whereas microsoft sticks in its own backyard. pretty smalltown mentality that is bound to fail. wether they like it or not: the usa is not the center of the world and information. wake up guys...
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|I'm not sure what your point was, but if you're implying that Google is moving to be international, I would point out that presently they do not have international maps for Satellite view, and we don't yet know what Microsoft's plans. So you can't claim International support from either source just yet.
I would also point out that the reason other countries are not yet included is because many countries do not allow nor provide those images... yet. Even in the US, there are areas where Google (and MSN likely will be) is requested to block out images of government facilities.
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|if you take a look at keyhole you will find that it spans the earth. and indeed both google and microsoft mapping services are in devellopment so there is still a lot lacking. and skipping the areas that some (?) countries leave out for security reasons, that still leaves an awfull lot of non american countries hardly documented. and, ok, maybe its because of the early stage of the program it only mentions a few usa cities, I just hope it wont stay at that. and as for google, their move to aquire keyhole is a very logic one and will surely confirm their position in the search market. try it out, although also still in a primary phase, it offers a lot of international information, I found lacking in the other one. by the way nice and good critic !
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|I can't wait. The Google maps isnt that great as you cannot zoom in enough.
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|This is Wow! software. And if Google duplicates it, then the world just got better (unless Congress decides to remove it from the market).
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|WOW
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|I saw some screenshots for this on another site... very impressive looking. I'm looking forward to seeing Google's response to this.
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|DOES THIS HAVE MAPS
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