We’re big fans of Bing Maps around these parts (the “Bird’s Eye view always amazes us) and today Bing Maps evangelist, Chris Pendleton, announced that they’ve just added 9,460 square kilometers of imagery as part of their monthly release

Pendleton writes:

This month’s release showcases high precision imagery for the USA, Canada and the United Kingdom. The biggest drop by far was Greater Vancouver Metro.

Cool! New imagery just a few months before the Winter Olympics.

You can take a virtual tour of some of the new content using the Bing Maps World Tour app.

Note: Although the blog posts says it’s the October, 2009 update, the World Tour app reports it’s the November, 2009 update. We will try to get an answer.

Happy Touring!

Source: Bing Maps Blog

See Also: Since we mentioned it, here’s a Bird’s Eye Image of Apple Inc. Headquarters in Cupertino, CA. If you click the plus sign (+) you can continue to zoom-in one level.

UPDATE: Google Just Released Their List of Updated Imagery. You can access it here.

Access MapQuest

What’s New?

1] …new terrain and vegetation imagery at zoom levels 4 – 9. Now you can visualize real-world terrain (such as mountains) that you’ll be driving through on your next trip across the country.

2]… Completely redone the entire road network to improve readability and shape of the roads with the new colors and styling. A cleaner map style is achieved by highlighting the major roads more clearly and the smaller access roads with narrower lines and lighter colors.

3] More building footprints [in large cities] showing how large a building is on the street. In addition, you’ll now see main subway stops shown on the map.

4] Improved hybrid map view.

Access MapQuest

Source: MapQuest Blog

Hat Tip: A.S. @ All Points Blog

From the Announcement:

DigitalGlobe, [has] announced it has signed an agreement with Microsoft Corp. to launch the Clear30 program, an initiative to distribute high-resolution, 30-cm aerial imagery of contiguous landscapes, initially in the U.S. and Western Europe. These orthophoto mosaics will be available through Bing Maps and through DigitalGlobe channels. The Clear30 imagery will be exclusive to Bing and DigitalGlobe.

[Snip]

The Clear30 initiative is a new agreement that expands the current relationship between Microsoft and DigitalGlobe and reflects a commitment to increase accessibility and use of high-resolution digital imagery. To collect the first ever multicontinental aerial imagery from 30 cm, the companies will use the UltraCamG, a large format digital aerial camera manufactured by Vexcel Imaging GmbH,, a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft.

[Snip]

“We’re excited about the launch of the Clear30 program and our continued relationship with DigitalGlobe,” said Steve Stanzel, general manager of Bing Maps at Microsoft Corp. “By providing DigitalGlobe exclusive access to our advanced UltraCamG imagery, we can provide our mutual customers easy access and integration of high-resolution digital aerial orthophotos for vast landscapes around the world.”

Digital Globe provides imagery to many organizations and is also used at Google. Note the Digital Eye copyright at the bottom of this image.

Source: Digital Globe

One of the big players in commercial (as opposed to government) satellite imagery is DigitalGlobe of Longmont, CO. They provide images to Google, Bing, and many other companies. They also provide images to the government and military.

In an extremely interesting 7.5 minute (we wish it was longer) audio interview, Joshua-Michéle Ross from O’Reilly Radar talks with Dr. Walter Scott, Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer of DigitalGlobe.

Some of the topics discussed include:

+ Uncommon uses of DigitalGlobe satellite imagery
+ Competitive advantages in the satellite imagery business
+ Tools to get imagery in the hands of users
+ Augmented reality

Source: O’Reilly Radar

See Also: A Small Sample of DigitalGlobe Images

See Also: Primer on the Satellite Imaging Industry (via DigitalGlobe)

See Also: Imagery Search Using DigitalGlobe’s ImageFinder
This material is for sale but you usually see a preview image online. It’s also a good example of a deep/invisible web database.

From the Article:

A novel navigation system under development at Microsoft aims to tweak users’ visual memory with carefully chosen video clips of a route. Developed with researchers from the University of Konstanz in Germany, the software creates video using 360-degree panoramic images of the street that are strung together. Such images have already been gathered by several different mapping companies for many roads around the world. The navigation system, called Videomap, adjusts the speed of the video and the picture to highlight key areas along the route.

[Snip]

Videomap still provides written directions and a map with a highlighted route. But unlike existing software, such as Google Maps or MapQuest, the system also allows users to watch a video of their drive.

[Snip]

When given Videomap directions, drivers made the correct turn 80 percent of the time. With a map and text directions, the drivers made the correct turn only 60 percent of the time.

[Snip]

Arzu Coltekin, a senior researcher at the University of Zurich who works in the Geographic Information Visualization and Analysis Division, finds the work interesting. Some might say that a system such as Videomap isn’t necessary because of the proliferation of GPS receivers in cars, but Coltekin notes that it would still be useful for those who bike or walk, which “is quite common in Europe. And when you are walking or biking, often you don’t have a GPS.” But she says the team needs to come up with a way to automatically identify landmarks.

[Billy] Chen, [a researcher in the MSN Advanced Engineering group], says that Microsoft could use a list of landmarks that is already in its geospatial database, or such a list could perhaps be compiled by users.

Access the Complete Article

Source: Technology Review

See Also: Learn More and Watch a Video About Videomap

See Also: Billy Chen’s Home Page