Microsoft on Monday took the wraps off Virtual Earth 3D, a new version of the company’s mapping application that enables users to “fly” through three-dimensional models of cities from directly within their Web browser - complete with virtual billboards. The idea is that users can type a query into Windows Live Search and click on the “maps” tab to bring up results in a local context, with the ability to view two-dimensional aerial and bird’s-eye imagery, or the new 3D models offered by Virtual Earth. As part of the change, Windows Live Local is being re-branded Windows Live Search Maps.
The service is poised to compete with Google Earth, a standalone application that complements the search giant’s online mapping service. But Microsoft says its offering takes the concept to another level, by bringing the virtual world closer to the physical world. Instead of grey scale boxes of buildings like in Google Earth, Virtual Earth 3D uses photographs to create realistic, textured buildings. Microsoft says it developed the cameras it uses to capture the images in house, as well as creating an algorithmic program to build the textured 3D models. The only glitch on this nice new features is that 3D maps are now offered only for 15 cities in the USA. Kinda big glitch…
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