Since its release Google Maps more or less instantly topped everyone else. Now MSN has jumped into the game with Virtual Earth. Superficially it is closer to Google Maps than the previous generation of map websites. I was going to give them a bit of grief over their shaky support of Safari, but Google Maps didn’t support Safari at all when it was first released (although it does a nice job now). Just like Google Maps it picks the wrong house when I put in my addresses, as a matter of fact they both pick the same wrong house.
The aerial/satellite maps seems to be better under Virtual Earth than Google Maps, at least when they show up. On Virtual Earth I’m getting about 30% broken images on the maps. There are also some developer resources at Via Virtual Earth showing you how to use Virtual Earth on your own website.
The better images are a big pull for Virtual Earth, but the UI isn’t as nice as Google Maps. For now I’ll likely continue to use Google Maps over the others unless I’m specifically looking for image quality on the map.
2 replies on “MSN Virtual Earth”
See the AP news story “Did Microsoft wipe Apple off the map?” at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050726/ap_on_hi_te/disappearing_apple
“Internet sleuths discovered that anyone using Microsoft’s new ‘Virtual Earth’ Web site for a bird’s-eye view of Apple’s corporate headquarters saw only a grainy overhead photograph of what appears to be a single, nondescript warehouse and a deserted parking lot — not Apple’s sprawling campus, with 11 modern buildings surrounding a plush courtyard.
“Microsoft blames an outdated photograph. But Apple’s headquarters in Silicon Valley shows up more appropriately for anyone viewing the same location using Google’s mapping Web site, which also combines many of the same government-funded satellite and aerial overhead photographs.”
“Riding with the Urban Mappers” discusses Amazon.com’s A9.com project, sending SUVs mounted with cameras down city streets to create photo maps using A9’s block-view technology:
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,68405,00.html
See the beta maps of 20 popular cities (Fargo, ND?) at:
http://maps.a9.com/