Newsletter Archive
December 2008
CNN Uses Microsoft Photosynth To Create 3D Image of Inauguration
CNN has teamed with Microsoft Photosynth to create a unique view of the exact moment that President-elect Barack Obama takes the oath of office on Tuesday, Jan. 20. Using Microsoft Photosynth technology, CNN and Microsoft will produce the first “synth” of a historic moment.
In this case, the initial images comprise those captured on cell phones, cameras, and mobile devices by inauguration attendees of the moment Obama is sworn in as president. More Information.
Kansas Department of Transportation Improves Road Condition Web Site Using Virtual Earth
The Kansas Department of Transportation has leveraged Microsoft Virtual Earth to improve its 511 road condition Web site, making it even easier for customers to access road information. The site, built around the Virtual Earth map interface, allows customers to access road condition data visually. The interface not only allows the Kansas Department of Transportation to highlight current and planned activities visually but also has incorporated colored vectors to provide customers with visual indicators of current road conditions. Hovering over any color-coded route provides the name of the road, the condition status and the last time the data was updated. More Information.
Masternaut Three X Conquers the Great Wall of China With Help From Virtual Earth
On Dec. 9, four staff members from Masternaut Three X, a United Kingdom-based fleet service, took part in a five-day walking expedition along the 3,900-mile Great Wall of China to raise more than $73,000 (U.S.) for the Help the Aged charity. The team used a Masternaut Three X lone “walker” solution, a satellite tracking device that utilized Virtual Earth technology to track the team in real time and monitor its progress. By leveraging Virtual Earth, the devices allowed the team members to calculate their journey in detail and reliably, helping maximize their safety. More Information.
Microsoft Virtual Earth Participates in I/ITSEC Training and Simulation Conference
From Dec. 1–4, Virtual Earth was a participant at the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) in Orlando, Fla. At the event, Microsoft Corp. highlighted the Virtual Earth data visualization platform, showcasing both the Web and offline platforms. Visitors were particularly impressed by the photo-realism and detail of the models, which are derived from Virtual Earth aerial imagery. More Information.
London Executive Wins Estate Agency of the Year Award With the Help of Virtual Earth
On Nov. 28, London Executive was named the U.K.’s Best Technology and Web company in the Estate Agency of the Year awards. Launched just one year ago, London Executive has now been recognized as the U.K.’s leading estate agency Web site, with the judge commending the company on its use of Microsoft Virtual Earth Bird’s Eye imagery. London Executive partnered with Earthware Ltd., which developed the site. Customers who are home buyers or tenants can see exactly where prospective properties are located and explore their surrounding neighborhoods using Virtual Earth technology. More Information.
Steve Milroy from Virtual Earth Presents at VSLive Conference
On Wednesday, Feb. 25, Steve Milroy from Virtual Earth will present “Mapping/Geospatial Solutions with the Microsoft Platform” at the 2009 VSLive conference. During the session, Milroy will focus on providing an introduction to geospatial solutions using the Virtual Earth platform. Geared toward the Visual Studio developer audience, VSLive will take place Feb. 22–26 in San Francisco. More Information.
Active Web Solutions Highlights Faith Activities in the U.K. Using Virtual Earth
At the end of November, Active Web Solutions partnered with Tricky Business to launch Faith Connections, a social networking site created on the Virtual Earth platform to help individuals in the Black Country (a region in the Midlands, United Kingdom) connect through faith. The Web site helps people locate community-based activities by presenting Christian information on the Faith Map and displaying organizations, their activities and events. By clicking on icons on the map and reading the associated tagged words, individuals can inform themselves about the activities taking place in different faith organizations. More Information.
New Version of 3DVIA Offers Easy 3-D Publishing in Virtual Earth
In mid-December, Dassault Systemes released the latest version of 3DVIA, making it easy for customers to publish 3-D models to Virtual Earth. The release lets customers build and publish 3-D models in three easy steps, leveraging the Virtual Earth geocoder directly in the software. 3DVIA also ties in its own library of 3-D objects, letting customers using native controls for adjusting their models that translate over to model settings within Virtual Earth. Customers who install the Virtual Earth 3D Managed Control have the option of downloading 3DVIA for free. More Information.
Vodafone’s Pocket Life Mobile Features Virtual Earth
In mid-December, mobile provider Vodafone leveraged Virtual Earth to help power the beta version of Pocket Life, a Web and mobile service that offers a seamless, integrated experience for communication, social networking, location-based services, and street and satellite mapping. Using Virtual Earth, Vodafone offers customers the ability to share location information, search for nearby businesses and locations, get directions, and more through the Pocket Life service. In addition, customers can monitor the locations of friends and watch their movements, all tracked on a Virtual Earth-powered map. More Information.
Virtual Earth Featured in “The Day the Earth Stood Still”
The December 2008 remake of the film “The Day the Earth Stood Still” features Virtual Earth, with filmmakers creatively using the platform to track objects in space during the film. The use of Virtual Earth to function in this manner highlights the ability to use the integrated Analytical Graphics Inc. (AGI) analytical modeling tools within Virtual Earth to track satellites, missiles and other objects. Virtual Earth partner AGI provides integrated tools that allow customers to track space, land and sea assets directly within Virtual Earth. More Information.
Qdoba Leverages Virtual Earth for Store Locator
Qdoba Inc. has chosen the Virtual Earth platform to help provide customers with store location information. Using Virtual Earth, customers of Qdoba Mexican Grill can quickly locate restaurants using custom location icons on Virtual Earth-powered maps. In addition to getting mapping information, customers can click on the Directions/Map link for any Qdoba location to be presented with step-by-step directions courtesy of Virtual Earth. More Information.
Coldwater Creek Powers New Store Locator With Virtual Earth
Hoping to take advantage of the post-holiday shopping rush, Coldwater Creek Inc. used Virtual Earth to help enhance the customer experience for its online store locator. Customers looking for detailed information on a particular location need only click on the See Details link to be presented with a Virtual Earth map of the location with door-to-door driving directions and step-by-step instructions. Customers also can immediately see updated store contact information and hours without navigating away from the map. More Information.
Virtual Earth Presents at Inman News Real Estate Connect Conference
From Jan. 7–9, Virtual Earth will present three sessions at the 2009 Inman News Real Estate Connect conference in New York. At the event, which is geared toward real estate professionals interested in innovation in the industry, Virtual Earth will present new mapping technologies that help real estate companies boost revenue. More Information.
Virtual Earth at the 2009 National Retail Federation Convention and Expo
Scheduled Jan. 11–14 in New York, the annual National Retail Federation Convention and Expo covers new technologies and best practices for the retail industry. This year Virtual Earth will present a tailored session titled “Show Your Customer the Big Picture With Microsoft Virtual Earth.” More Information.
Recent Updates - Microsoft Virtual Earth and Live Search Maps
Virtual Earth Builds 3-D Version of Santa’s North Pole Village and Santa Tracker for the Holidays
In the spirit of the holidays, Virtual Earth created a 3-D version of Santa’s village at the North Pole, including a 3-D tracker for Santa Claus and his reindeer. Customers could fly up to the North Pole and check out the village, even using an Xbox controller to steer the northern journey via a Universal Serial Bus (USB) attachment. Beyond checking out Santa’s North Pole village, customers were also able to actually track Santa along his delivery route in Virtual Earth 3D. Once Santa was located, customers could use the Virtual Earth toolbar to see Santa and his sleigh and reindeer from different angles and explore the different locations he was traveling over. For more information, please visit The North Pole – A Virtual Earth Christmas Experience and Tracking Santa in Virtual Earth 3D.
December Virtual Earth Imagery and Data Refresh
At the end of December, the Microsoft Virtual Earth team announced a refresh to 48 terabytes of road information, overlay data and imagery content — including an update to all tile sets where vector information is included. The desktop and mobile tile refresh includes global low-resolution multi-language desktop tiles as well as medium- and high-resolution tiles for Western Europe. In addition to global vector data updates, oblique (Bird’s Eye) photography has been reprocessed with new road labels, with the exception of Japan. The update also features new data and imagery sources for Mexico and much of Eastern Europe. For more information and a complete list of updates, please visit.
MapPoint 2009 European Edition Now Available
This month, Microsoft released the European edition of MapPoint 2009, featuring detailed street-level maps, an address-find capability and demographic information for Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The MapPoint desktop application allows customers to visualize and present business data, streamline travel, and integrate maps within Microsoft Office documents. More Information.
* 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.
