Posts Tagged ‘Bird’s Eye View’
Live Search Maps with 3D mode
27 Nov. 2008 | Author: The German-language version of Microsoft’s local search Live Search Maps introduces several new features, matching similar capabilities in the US-edition (see earlier post).
Microsoft Business Manager Toni Pelg explained the new functionality in the Windows Live blog.
Users can now view the maps in 3D mode. The link to this view is found in the upper left menu in Map View. Alongside aerial and bird’s eye views, streets and labels are also available here in either 2D or 3D versions. Before being able to use 3D Mode, one needs to have installed Microsoft’s online globe program Virtual 3D (only available for Windows). If not preinstalled, one is prompted to do so at the first attempt to view in 3D mode. Once installed, the user is able to navigate through the virtual landscape per mouse-click. Particularly impressive is that the current weather conditions are displayed in the virtual landscape, though approximately 15 minutes behind the actual conditions, said Pelg.
Further, aerial view now offer two additional zoom levels. For locations where bird’s eye views are already available, once the maximum zoom level is reached, the angled aerial views are loaded to add detail.
However Microsoft hasn’t merely pepped up the map views, but has also redesigned the navigation setup of its local search service. For example, the Route Planner is now also available at the start via the search entry page, and users who want to switch to other Country/Language editions (previously somewhat clumsy) can simply change this on the right side of the header. New too, is the so-called MSN Search Agent. This appears after a local search, below the search results. Pelg said that this new feature provides an overall view of information at the location, such as maps, links, images, news and weather.
Posted in Local Search per PC, Local Search, News, Local Search Engines, Practical features | 
Tags: 3D, 3D-Modus, Bird's Eye View, dreidimensional, Live Search Maps, lokale Informationen, lokale Suchmaschine, Microsoft, Microsoft Virtual Earth, Toni Pelg, Vogelperspektive, Local Search | 
No Comments »
YellowMap sets importance on local search
“Welcome to the secrets of your local world!” is the slogan greeting the users of lokaleauskunft.de on its start page. The portal is a product of YellowMap AG in Karlsruhe, which is also the operator of the online-directory YellowMap.de.
The difference between the sibling-services is not easily seen at first glance. For example, both portals offer directory search, a telephone directory, city plans, city information and a personal user area.
However the emphasis differs. Whereas YellowMap.de centers on the localized directory search, lokaleauskunft.de weighs in much more on its coverage of extensive local content for individual cities, which until now have been lacking. The new portal, still in beta-phase, is still under development. It plans, according to information provided to Lokale-Suche-Blog, to become in the medium-term an “information-source for all local information” – presumably comparable with city-pages similar to meinestadt.de. When this is to happen has not been announced.
In contrast to YellowMap.de the users of lokaleauskunft.de are as yet unable to rate or describe found service providers; this is to change soon, according to the operators of the new service. In the mean time, the city plans are more user-friendly. Here one can display results using map, satellite, hybrid or bird’s eye views, using cartographic material from Microsoft Virtual earth. Noteworthy is lokaleauskunft.de’s route planner, with which one can not only find the fastest or shortest route, but also the most economical. Additionally it also provides route plans for pedestrians and cyclists, alongside motorists
Live Search Maps: new bird’s eye view photos
Microsoft has further expanded the German-version of its local search presence Live Search Maps, by adding many new “Bird’s Eye” views.
As referred to by Tony Pelg, Business Manager at Microsoft, in a posting in the Windows Live Blog, for the first time there are high resolution oblique views available for the Ruhr-area, including for Bottrop, Dinslaken, Dorsten, Duisburg, Essen, Gladbeck, Marl, Moers and Wesel. Newly included is also Duusseldorf, and also new pix of Berlin. The capital city was already viewable from above in this web-presence, as of the launch of the service in August 2007 (see our post).
Well-timed for the coming vacation period, Pelg also mentioned Microsoft’s numerous aerial views of best-loved vacation destinations and cities outside of Germany – such as Sydney (Australia), Calgary, Montreal and Toronto (Canada) or Las Palmas, Telde and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Spain). Areas and cities in the USA, Greece, Great Britain and the netherlands have also been added, and can all be viewed in the new high-res versions online.
Live Search Maps: New RoutePlanner functionality
Recently the German edition of the Microsoft local search service, Live Search Maps, allows direct access to route planning from the map view.
Toni Pelg, a Business Manager at Microsoft, detailed this development in the Windows Live Blog.
To activate the Route Planner from within the maps, one uses a right-click (Control+click for Mac) with the mouse, on the desired start location on the map, and then selects in the resulting Pop-up menu “Route from…” [de=Route von]. At this point, the Route Planner opens within the browser window, with the selected location registering automatically as the start point. The destination is selected similarly. Alternatively, one is able to manually enter the destination in the Destination field. After clicking the “RoutePlan” button, the desired routing is generated.
This new feature also functions in all view types – map, aerial, hybrid and “bird’s eye view.”
