April 2009

 

Caterpillar Leverages Virtual Earth for Global Dealer Locator

In April, Caterpillar, a leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, released its new global dealer locator Web site, leveraging the Microsoft Virtual Earth platform to provide customers with an easier way to find Caterpillar dealers and equipment. The new application allows Caterpillar customers to search for dealers by address, name or geographic coordinates, and offers filters to help customers home in on the exact location and type of dealer they are looking for. Customers can specifically search for equipment to purchase, service or rent, with the information presented on a Virtual Earth map with custom Caterpillar icons. The service also takes advantage of Virtual Earth routing algorithms to provide driving directions to any given dealer location directly to the customer. More information.

Virtual Earth Powers New Child Locator Service From AT&T

On April 17, AT&T announced the release of its new child locator service, FamilyMap, that leverages the Virtual Earth platform to provide parents with a useful tool to track a child’s whereabouts. The Virtual Earth platform allows AT&T to note a child’s location on a rich Virtual Earth map that includes surrounding landmarks, with the added capability to label frequently visited areas and note child-safe locations. Virtual Earth allows FamilyMap customers to easily identify landmarks, and switch between satellite, street map views, and Virtual Earth Bird’s Eye* imagery to really assess any given area with detailed, angled views for additional context. More information.

City of Los Angeles Uses Virtual Earth for Solar Map and Power Reliability Projects

In April, the city of Los Angeles announced two power-related projects that leverage the Virtual Earth platform to provide a better experience to customers. The Los Angeles County Solar Map project leverages Virtual Earth to enable homeowners and businesses to quickly assess whether a given property is a good candidate for solar power by providing information on roof size and sun exposure. In addition, Bird’s Eye* and aerial imagery provide customers with a clear image of their location and the surrounding area. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is also leveraging the Virtual Earth platform for its Power Reliability Program. Using Virtual Earth allows the department to track related events and assess how well the department is doing in meeting objectives. The interactive maps also allow customers outside the LADWP to quickly see what is happening in their local neighborhoods. For more information, please visit Los Angeles County Launches Solar Map on Microsoft Virtual Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth Visualizing Power Reliability for Los Angeles.

BBC Uses Virtual Earth to Track Swine Flu Outbreak

To help audiences track and visualize the current swine flu outbreak, the BBC is leveraging Virtual Earth to provide an interactive resource for swine flu information. Site visitors can access Virtual Earth interactive maps that not only mark outbreak locations but also provide swine flu-related news, including text, video and audio content. Audiences can also access directly from the map eyewitness accounts provided by BBC readers, adding an additional level of context. More information.

May 2009 Virtual Earth Webcasts

In May, Virtual Earth will present two new webcasts as part of the ongoing Virtual Earth webcast series. On Tuesday, May 12, Virtual Earth presents “Visualize Data Across the Enterprise With Virtual Earth,” exploring how to use the Virtual Earth platform as a data visualization tool for your organization. For those interested in integrating the Virtual Earth platform with multiple technologies such as Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Office SharePoint 2007, on Wednesday, May 20, Virtual Earth presents “Developers Can Build Solutions Across the Enterprise With Virtual Earth.” More information.

Frotcom International Integrates Virtual Earth Into Tracking Solution

Frotcom International, a global provider of Web-based vehicle tracking solutions, has signed a deal with Microsoft Corp. to integrate Virtual Earth into its vehicle-tracking solution. This enables the addition of new features to the solution and improved map data manipulation. With Frotcom expanding its network of certified partners to countries in different continents, the enhanced Virtual Earth coverage provides further benefits to users. More information.

Seattle Department of Planning and Development Releases Web Applications With Virtual Earth

In mid-April, the city of Seattle launched two new Web applications powered by Virtual Earth for the Department of Planning and Development (DPD). The Virtual Earth-powered DPD Activity Locator provides DPD customers with the ability to visually check the status of open permits for construction, land use, demolition and billboards directly from an interactive Virtual Earth map. The DPD GIS application provides additional information into zoning, parcels, building outlines, addresses and more. It also helps customers narrow in on one particular location for additional information. Virtual Earth aerial imagery adds context in exploring locations. More information.

Inca X Adds Virtual Earth Silverlight Map Control to Its Web Site

Inca X, creator of the Live Media GPS mobile application that allows you to transform your GPS-enabled mobile phone into a “geocasting” device, has improved its offering by implementing Virtual Earth Silverlight Map Control. This addition enhances the geocast playback experience on the Inca X Web site, which plays video alongside a Virtual Earth map. More information.

Los Angeles Housing Department Uses Virtual Earth for Neighborhood Stabilization Web Site

On March 31, the Los Angeles Housing Department released its Neighborhood Stabilization Program Web site, which uses Virtual Earth to help customers search for foreclosure properties in their area. Leveraging Virtual Earth, the Los Angeles Housing Department provides customers with interactive maps that help prospective buyers find and see foreclosed properties in their area. Virtual Earth interactive maps not only provide detailed location information but also help visitors quickly assess whether the property qualifies for purchase assistance. More information.

Virtual Earth Improves the View for LonRes

LonRes, a subscription-only service for estate agents, relocation agents, valuers and surveyors for properties in London, has implemented Earthware Property, running on Virtual Earth, to further develop its successful London property portal. With the Virtual Earth Bird’s Eye imagery*, potential occupiers and subscribers are able to understand the location of a property without needing to physically visit it. For more information, please visit www.lonres.com.

Recent Updates — Microsoft Virtual Earth and Live Search Maps

 

April 2009 Virtual Earth API Updates

On April 9, Virtual Earth released the latest series of updates to the Virtual Earth API for Virtual Earth AJAX and Virtual Earth 3D map controls, including performance updates for both AJAX and 3D. Updates for April include native support for Windows Internet Explorer 8, new AJAX control methods and new 3-D control features. For a full list of new features and updates, please visit Virtual Earth API Release Information, April 2009.

April 2009 Microsoft Virtual Earth Imagery Release

On April 28, the Microsoft Virtual Earth team announced the April 2009 imagery release, including more than 9 TB of new data covering more than 1 million square kilometers. The release includes new ortho imagery in cities in multiple countries, such as Argentina, Brazil, China, France, India, Mexico and more. For a full list of the cities and countries where new imagery is available, please visit Virtual Earth Imagery Release, April 2009.

Multimap Add-In for Outlook 2007

Multimap is pleased to announce the launch of a new mapping add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. The add-in allows fast and simple insertion of maps to meetings, contacts and e-mail messages. The tool enables people to add maps and Bird’s Eye* imagery to their meeting requests so their customers, colleagues or friends can easily find the meeting location. All people need to do is simply click on “add map” and a new meeting request window will pop up. For more information or to install the add-in, please visit Multimap for Microsoft Outlook.

About Us

 

About Virtual Earth

The Virtual Earth platform is the next-generation mapping and location service from Microsoft. Virtual Earth enables business and government customers to enhance customer and constituent connections, gain deep business insight, and track and manage mobile assets. The platform provides exciting innovations in satellite and aerial imagery, including Bird’s Eye* and 3-D imagery, customizable features and map styles, and usability, as well as enhanced local search. More information.

About Live Search Maps

Virtual Earth powers Live Search Maps, an online local search and mapping Web site from Microsoft. Live Search Maps represents an exciting component of the Microsoft Live Search vision, which gives consumers a deeply immersive local experience in which they can easily find, discover, plan and share relevant location information that is important to them on the Web. To learn more about the service, go to Live Search Maps Fact Sheet or visit http://maps.live.com.

About Multimap

Multimap is an innovative provider of mapping and location-based services. The company delivers online maps, point-to-point driving directions and geospatial (“Where’s my nearest?”) searches to a wide variety of companies and organizations. The public Web site, http://www.multimap.com, provides a range of free, fast navigation and planning tools and rich and relevant local information. Key features include street-level maps of major destinations; road maps of the world; door-to-door travel directions; aerial photographs; Bird’s Eye imagery; local points of interest; and services such as hotel, restaurant and entertainment booking. The site attracts more than 10 million unique users per month. Multimap operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft.

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* Bird’s Eye view and 3-D view are available in many major cities worldwide. In addition, traffic updates are available in many major U.S. cities. For 3-D view you must have Virtual Earth 3D beta installed on your computer. For traffic information availability, visit http://maps.live.com; on the action bar, click on Traffic.