Microsoft’s Bing Maps for the desktop–and soon for Windows Mobile–seems to be taking on Google Maps and doing it well. They already have some features in place such as the “Bird’s Eye” viewing feature that I like a lot. Over the next couple months Bing Maps will be getting some new local features so consumers can explore their neighborhoods, upload photos and have them stitched together, and have an interactive experience with the Bing Maps interface. So will it be better than Google Maps?
Tell us your thoughts, you can explore some of these new features at http://www.bing.com/maps/explore/.
Strike 1 for me is that it doesn’t work in Google Chrome.
Update: Stefan @bing let me know that it was an issue with not having Silverlight. Installed and now it works beautifully in Chrome. No more strikes…
Find out more after the break.
According to Microsoft’s press release of the new Bing Maps,
First, we’re releasing the beta version of a new Bing Maps experience that incorporates Streetside and Photosynth imagery to deliver an engaging mapping experience as customers change views, levels, or interact with the site. The new Bing Maps experience also features innovative new mapping applications such as Twitter Maps for real-time updates by area and Local Lens featuring hyperlocal, neighborhood content. You can explore the new features yourself at bing.com/maps/explore or, for a guided tour of the new features, check out this video with Blaise Agüera y Arcas, Chief Architect, Bing Maps.
Streetside will incorporate local blogs about hot new places–sort of like Bing Maps meets Yelp–for reviews of local destinations and hot spots. Photosynth will bring a user-generated content idea to Bing Maps by allowing users to snap pictures and upload them from various angles. Bing Maps will geolocate the images stitch them together to create a 3D image on mapping application–all from user content!
[via PocketNow.com]
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