Another big imagery/3D update for Virtual Earth

January 26, 2008 By 4 Comments

Microsoft just doesn’t play around.  They’re back with another absolutely massive update, this one totaling around 27TB!  I love the amount of 3D they continue to push out.  It’s slightly lower quality than Google Earth, but the sheer volume of it more than compensates.

Much of the new imagery is for cities that have new 3D data.  This makes sense.  3D buildings tend to look way out of place when they’re on top of low-res imagery.

The good stuff:

New 3D Cities

  • Redding, CA
  • Colorado Springs, CO
  • Fort Collins, CO
  • Des Moines, IA
  • Sioux City, IA
  • Waterloo, IA
  • Boise City, ID
  • Decatur, IL
  • Ann Arbor, MI
  • Dearborn, MI
  • Flint, MI
  • Kalamazoo, MI
  • Lansing, MI
  • Lincoln, NE
  • Omaha, NE
  • Reno, NV
  • Ogden, UT
  • Bellingham, WA
  • Kenosha-Racine, WI

Ortho Aerial Imagery

  • Ann Arbor, MI
  • Bellingham, WA
  • Boise City, ID
  • Colorado Springs, CO
  • Decatur, IL
  • Des Moines, IA
  • Flint, MI
  • Fort Collins, CO
  • Kalamazoo, MI
  • Kenosha-Racine, WI
  • Lansing, MI
  • Lincoln, NE
  • Omaha, NE
  • Redding, CA
  • Reno, NV
  • Sioux City, IA
  • Waterloo, IA

Also, Japan now has level 19 tiles — it previously only went to 18.

Oblique Aerial Imaery

  • USA
    • Dekalb, AL
    • Fayette, AL
    • Lamar, AL
    • Madison, AL
    • Marion, AL
    • Marshall, AL
    • Morgan, AL
    • Walker, AL
    • Winston, AL
    • Barrow, GA
    • Gwinnett, GA
    • Newton, GA
    • Ada, ID
    • Madison, IL
    • Delaware, IN
    • Lake, IN
    • Sedgwich, KS
    • Anoka, MN
    • St Louis, MN
    • Amite, MS
    • Covington, MS
    • Itawamba, MS
    • Jones, MS
    • Lee, MS
    • Marshall, MS
    • Newton, MS
    • Prentiss, MS
    • Rankin, MS
    • Wayne, MS
    • Cabarrus, NC
    • Gaston, NC
    • Lake, OH
    • Trumbull, OH
    • Bucks, PA
    • Delaware, PA
    • Luzerne, PA
    • Kanawha, WV
    • Alachua, FL
    • Pinellas, FL
    • Volusia, FL
    • Brazoria, TX
    • Hood, TX
    • Jasper, TX
    • Jefferson, TX
    • Montgomery, TX
    • Webb, TX
    • Wise, TX
  • Europe
    • Genk, Belgium
    • Bad Salzuflen, Germany
    • Geissen, Germany
    • Greifswald, Germany
    • Neubrandenburg, Germany
    • Neunkirchen, Germany
    • Odense, Denmark
    • Algeciras, Spain
    • Aviles, Spain
    • Cadiz, Spain
    • Cartagena, Spain
    • Granollers, Spain
    • Irun, Spain
    • Oviedo, Spain
    • Sagunto, Spain
    • Tarragona, Spain
    • Jyvaskyla, Finland
    • Delft, Netherlands
    • Terneuzen, Netherlands
    • Olbia, Italy
    • Biella, Italy
    • Boras, Sweden
    • Eskilstuna, Sweden
    • Falun, Sweden
    • Gavle, Sweden
    • Jonkoping, Sweden
    • Kalmar, Sweden
    • Karlstad, Sweden
    • Vasteras, Sweden
    • Vaxjo, Sweden

Satellite Imagery

  • Ibadan, Nigeria
  • Karachi, Pakistan
  • Lahore, Pakistan
  • Seville, Spain
  • Tehran, Iran
  • Dubai, UAE
  • Erode, India
  • Kannur (Cannanore), India
  • Lakshadweep, India
  • Chengdu, China
  • Kenming, China
  • Changsha, China
  • Chongqing, China
  • Qingdao, China
  • Shanghai, China
  • Salvador, Brazil
  • SaoPaulo, Brazil
  • Medellin, Colombia
  • Winnipeg, Canada

Insanely awesome.

Filed Under: Virtual Earth / Live Maps Tagged With: , ,

Big layer update for Google Earth

January 26, 2008 By 1 Comment

As reported in the Google LatLong blog, the first big layer update for 2008 is out.  Included in it:

  • Improved Earthquake layer, with a fresh look and more information.
  • Expanded National Geographic layer, now covering Europe, Asia and South America.
  • Updated roads in 26 countries:
    • Russia, Malaysia, Thailand, Aruba, Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
  • Two million more more photos in the Panoramio layer

More info about these updates can be found at the Google LatLong Blog, the Google Earth Blog and the Panoramio Blog.

Filed Under: Google Earth Tagged With: , , ,

New layers in Google Sky

January 9, 2008 By Leave a Comment

As reported by Ogle Earth,

Google Sky now has a handful of new layers. They include:

  • Featured Observatories
  • Current Sky Events
  • Education Center
  • Historical Sky Maps

Good stuff. Go check em out.

Update: Some commentary from Google Earth Blog and the official announcement from Google.

Filed Under: Google Earth, Google Sky Tagged With: ,

Mobile demo of Virtual Earth at CES

January 8, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Mobile Virtual Earth demo(via VE / LM) Yesterday at CES in Las Vegas, Bill Gates showed off a completely fake but completely cool demo of Virtual Earth on a handheld device. The technology used in the demo is still a few years away, but it’s a cool glimpse at the future.

One thing that stood out to me in the demo was the trees in the 3D city. Microsoft has hinted before that they’re working on getting trees into VE, and I’d love to see that happen soon. I don’t think this demo indicates that they’re coming anytime soon, but I’d obviously expect to see them in the desktop version of VE before they appear in a mobile version.

Be sure to watch the full video (4:21) to see it in action.

Filed Under: Mobile, Virtual Earth / Live Maps Tagged With: ,

Yahoo Go 3.0 released, with a nice version of Yahoo Maps

January 8, 2008 By 2 Comments

Yahoo Go MapAs reported by Mobileography, Yahoo has just released Yahoo! Go 3.0.  Among the many features in this new mobile suite is a pretty good version of Yahoo Maps.

In my brief testing, it seems very similar to Google Maps Mobile, though I give a slight edge to Google. Their app seems to load tiles a bit faster and it’s much smoother when moving, but they’re really very close.

I’m hoping this release forces Google to bring out more mobile products, or at least enhance their existing ones.  Google Maps Mobile is great, but certainly could be better in a few areas.

If you have a compatible phone (and if you have a non-iPhone that can access the web, you probably do), go check out Yahoo Go and leave your comments below.

Filed Under: Mobile, Yahoo Maps Tagged With: , ,

Golf Nation adds Virtual Earth support to 8,000 course listings

January 6, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Golf Nation, one of the largest golf course directories around, has added Virtual Earth maps to supplement their already existing Google Maps.

On any of their course pages (here is an example), you can choose between viewing each course in Google maps or in Virtual Earth (look immediately below the small Google Map on that page).

This obviously isn’t a huge story, but it goes to show the ever-expanding growth of Virtual Earth onto Google’s territory. 8,000 new pages with Virtual Earth content is quite a lot.

Filed Under: Virtual Earth / Live Maps Tagged With: , ,