Bing Maps Beta hits the spot
Microsoft Bing Maps Beta is a working preview of what Bing Maps could be once it becomes more stable.
New features and tools powered by Silverlight make the experience visually impressive: Bing Maps Apps offer real-time geolocalised Twitter updates, traffic information, 3D photos of landmarks and monuments, local newspaper front pages, point of interest information (restaurants, hotels and local businesses with reviews) all integrated in a 3D modeled smooth Streetside (Bing’s equivalent of Google StreetView).
Check the unmerciful side by side comparison screenshot below, Google Maps is on the left, Bing Maps Beta on the right. Bing’s Bird Eye view is created from aerial photos taken from an angle that remind of old Sim City games.
Let’s be honest, Bing Maps is still in a Beta phase and it crashes quite often, but playing with it is really fun and the amount of information offered is overwhelming.
Not every location in the planet could offer so many businesses and points of interest as Times Square in Manhattan, New York. In the image above you can spot tweets marked by light blue pins (I would have preferred a different visualisation that showed the recency of the tweet), purple pins are restaurants, green pins are 3D Photosynth photos, grey bubbles show different kind of businesses and when an orange cross is next to them it means there are several businesses in the same location.
Bing Brother is coming
Microsoft’s technology allows automatic face blurring and high quality smooth image rotations and zooming. Check the people in the image below, it’s a street view (this is what happens when you get to choose the name first, good job Google) of the same area shown in the image above, but from a different angle.
One of the most innovative features of Bing Maps is Photosynth, a technology that allows creating a 3D environment by sticking multiple photos together. Probably the application needs some ironing and will run smoother in the future, but Photosynth images didn’t impress me much.
0
Loading ...