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Microsoft's Virtual Earth

This is the year that online maps and Web search come together. Microsoft's Virtual Earth latest to connect map and search

Microsoft is launching an early version of MSN Virtual Earth, a mapping service that closely ties to its Web search engine and its Web log program. The release, at 9 p.m. yesterday, is the company's answer to a mapping service from search-sector leader Google that debuted earlier this year.

The team behind it previously developed Microsoft's MapPoint technology, which helped people find locations and directions online.

Virtual Earth, at virtualearth.msn.com, offers aerial views of cities overlaid with road networks and other information. It has new navigation tools that allow users to pan and drag maps.

The search results can also be posted on a blog in the MSN Spaces service.

The application won't have pinpoint accuracy, but its results should be within 250 meters of a user's location, said Tom Bailey, a director of marketing with the Virtual Earth team.

Google took a significant step in making maps more useful, Stein added. The company launched its satellite mapping site in February at maps.google.com.

The site also offers driving directions and markers that point to locations of search results.

MSN's Virtual Earth is a direct competitor to Google Maps.

Last month, Google released Google Earth, a free downloadable application based on technology from Keyhole, a company it acquired last year.

Google has allowed Web enthusiasts to use its mapping technology on their own sites, as long as the sites are freely available online. Numerous homegrown efforts have sprung up on the Web as a result.

Microsoft said it will make the same allowances with Virtual Earth, and has set up a how-to Web site for developers at www.viavirtualearth.com.

Resource: Seattle Times

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