Newsletter Archive
September 2008
Virginia and Texas DoT Launch Web Sites Integrating Virtual Earth
In early and mid-September, the Virginia Department of Transportation (DoT) became the latest public-sector agency to launch online citizen services portals built on Virtual Earth, while the Texas DoT expanded its integration to newly launched Virtual Earth Web sites. On the Virginia DoT Travel Center Web site, the “Truck Restrictions” Web portal layers road and travel information with rich, detailed imagery from Virtual Earth for Virginia residents. In addition, Virginia now offers a 511 Web site, which is also built on the Virtual Earth platform; it is an online resource for citizens to check up-to-date traffic conditions, routes and alternative transportation information. In Texas, the DoT launched four Intelligent Transportation System Web sites that provide up-to-date camera views of traffic and weather conditions, in addition to select road signs on Virtual Earth maps in Road and Aerial view modes. For more information, click here and visit the Virginia DoT site and the Texas DoT site.
Web Sites Use Virtual Earth to Track Hurricane Gustav
Several news and informational sites are helping people visualize Hurricane Gustav using the Virtual Earth platform, including the Texas Natural Resources Information System, MSNBC, The Timothy Group, Weather Central Inc., My Weather Mobile and CNN broadcast. Each showcases different features. For example, MSNBC features the hurricane’s path, in addition to speed and pressure. My Weather Mobile also brings the tropical storm to the iPhone, presenting rich storm radar images on the device. More information and links to different sites.
Live Search Local Listings Center Now Available
In early September, the Live Search Local Listings Center fully launched in the U.S. Businesses can now easily add their listings to Live Search Maps for free and reach their customers. This helps increase the chance of consumers finding the right business on Live Search Local. More information and step-by-step instructions for signing up.
Inca Mobile Launches Live Media GPS With Virtual Earth
Inca X Mobile released Live Media GPS beta, free software that streams video and tracks location together. Run on Windows Mobile 5.0 and 6.0, the application streams the video using Microsoft Silverlight, while visually indicating the location on a Virtual Earth map. Side by side, the features allow consumers to broadcast up-to-date video and location information for others to track. More information.
Nordstrom Retail Store Location Finder Uses Virtual Earth
In early September, Nordstrom Inc. rolled out its retail store location finder using the Virtual Earth platform. Shoppers can now search the location of Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack and Spa Nordstrom on a rich and immersive map with Aerial and Bird’s Eye* capabilities. In addition to the location results, consumers can also see event information, contact information, store hours and point-to-point driving directions. More information.
Philadelphia Open Studio Tours Uses Virtual Earth
The Center for Emerging Visual Artists built its interactive Philadelphia Open Studio Tours (POST) map application on the Virtual Earth platform. POST is an annual citywide event for participating artists to showcase and sell their work. The map features unique pushpins labeled “P” for each artist location, in addition to Aerial and Bird’s Eye* imagery. More information.
The Body Shop Launches Global Store Locator Powered by Virtual Earth and SQL Server 2008
In early September, The Body Shop International plc, the global manufacturer and retailer of ethically produced beauty and cosmetic products, adopted the Virtual Earth platform as its global store locator. Taking advantage of Microsoft SQL Server 2005’s and Microsoft SQL Server 2008’s geospatial capabilities, the locator allows users to quickly visualize the nearest and most convenient The Body Shop® store to their home or workplace, simply by entering their postcode and country. With more than 2,500 locations, find your nearest The Body Shop®.
IS Consulting Releases MapDotNet UX Beta Featuring Virtual Earth
In mid-September, IS Consulting Services LLC released MapDotNet UX Beta, which includes Virtual Earth base map data and imagery, in addition to many other applications. Functions of the beta include a custom legend, hot-spot analysis, multiple tile layers and many more. One feature mapping developers can build is an up-to-date animated weather map with the Silverlight 2.0 interface and Virtual Earth tiles. More information.
Virtual Sweden Launches Map With Panoramic Photographs on Virtual Earth
Virtual Sweden, a Web site with panoramic images from select parts of the world, launched a map on its site using the Virtual Earth platform. The map highlights places the Web site owner has visited and photographed, including Stockholm, Sweden. Viewers can see those places in 3-D and aerial imagery, in addition to the photographer’s panoramic image, with pushpins pinpointing the exact locations. More information.
Dassault Systèmes Releases New Version of Virtual Earth-3DVIA
On Sept. 22, Dassault Systèmes announced the latest version of Microsoft Virtual Earth-3DVIA, a simple solution for professionals and consumers to create customized 3-D worlds, such as scenes, houses, buildings or cities, on the Virtual Earth platform. The new release now enables professionals and consumers to create and redesign complete 3-D scenes using content on the 3DVIA.com library. Other increased functionalities include interactive tutorials and improved interface and navigation. More information.
Mr & Mrs Smith Boutique Hotel Collection Launch Interactive Route Planner in the U.K. Using Virtual Earth Technology
The boutique hotel experts at Mr & Mrs Smith have created an innovative, interactive online route planner, allowing customers to enjoy a relaxing journey on the way to their stylish Smith-hotel stay using Microsoft Virtual Earth mapping technology. It’s a tool that lets consumers map trips from A to B in the U.K. The technology includes road data and aerial imagery, in addition to the route planner that allows the option to avoid motorways and take a more scenic route. The Virtual Earth map is also overlaid with specially selected information for customers, pinpointing practical pit stops from petrol stations to picnic spots. More information.
Case Study: Weather Central Benefits With Virtual Earth Integration
Weather Central Inc., which provides hardware and software systems for creating custom local, weather, traffic, news and sports content for broadcasters and online customers, integrated its solution with Virtual Earth mapping technology. Virtual Earth enhanced the solution by providing high-quality imagery, easy integration and use, innovation, and solid technology support, helping to save Weather Central time and money. The integration increased cost-efficiency at Weather Central by reducing the cost of image database maintenance and producing localized products faster. More information.
Virtual Earth Presents Irish Customer and Partner Day
On Oct. 16, Virtual Earth will host an event in Ireland for new and existing customers and partners. The event will be held in Dublin, Ireland, and will provide a full day of informative sessions, including a presentation from Virtual Earth partner Bizmaps, and a technical session delivered by Johannes Kebeck, a Virtual Earth technology specialist. The event will give customers and partners real insight into how using mapping in business applications can help create customer satisfaction. More information on the event.
Virtual Earth Presents French Customer and Partner Days
On Oct. 21–22, the Virtual Earth team will be heading to France to deliver exciting Virtual Earth presentations to new and existing customers and partners. On the first day, the Virtual Earth team will hold a customer day in Paris where current customers such as L’Oreal and Logic-Immo will present their latest mapping applications. On the second day, the team will host a partner day where partners Noven Pharmaceuticals Inc., Itelios SAS and Expertime will present their innovative solutions for integrating Virtual Earth with their business applications. For more information, please visit the customer event page and the partner days page.
Microsoft Virtual Earth Webcast on Latest Release
On Oct. 2, Chris Pendleton will host a Microsoft Corp. webcast introducing the latest version of Virtual Earth platform. The webcast, titled “Momentum Webcast: See More and Do More with Microsoft Virtual Earth (Level 100),” focuses on the new features including mobile support, expanded international mapping, more data, richer imagery and improved functionality. More information.
Microsoft PDC Features Virtual Earth Session
On Oct. 26–30, Microsoft will host its 2008 Professional Developers Conference at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Virtual Earth Senior Product Manager Mark Brown will present a session titled “Live Platform: Deep Dive on Microsoft Virtual Earth.” The session will cover the latest Virtual Earth release, such as the improvements to the platform and newest capabilities. More information.
Texas GIS Forum Discusses Virtual Earth
On Oct. 27-31, the Texas GIS Forum will take place at the J.J. Pickle Research Campus in Austin, Texas. Two sessions involve discussions of Virtual Earth. The first is hosted by Microsoft instructors Ed Katibah and Mark Merchant describing Microsoft SQL Server 2008 with Virtual Earth. The second is titled “The GIS Tool Bag,” which will demonstrate various GIS resources essential for emergencies including in platforms such as Virtual Earth. More information.
Recent Updates
September 2008 Imagery Release
In mid-September, the Virtual Earth team announced 46 TB of new imagery, including ortho imagery of places throughout the United States such as cities in Arizona, Florida, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and Washington. The release also features new vector overlays for specific data sources for orthos and Bird’s Eye view.* More information and a complete list of new imagery.
Live Search Maps India Launches
On Sept. 17, the Live Search Maps team announced the launch of Live Search Maps India. Key features include street maps, location search, business listings search, driving directions, share, print and collections. People can now view street maps for nine major cities in India and approximately 20,000 other cities as points on the map. More information.
Virtual Earth 6.2 Release
On Sept. 24, the Virtual Earth team announced new innovations to the Virtual Earth platform. In this latest release, Virtual Earth now has richer data including pushpin clustering, increased unique addresses, more relevant search results, landmark hints, imagery relevancy with near-matching capabilities, new Bird’s Eye and 3-D imagery,* weather integration, and increased functionality. The platform also includes flexible development for mobile, enhanced international functionality and features, one-click directions, and new Virtual Earth Web services. More information.
Live Search Maps Updates
On Sept. 24, the Virtual Earth team announced updates to Live Search Maps. Tied to the Virtual Earth 6.2 release, Live Search Maps now features business search augmented by community contributions, a local search vertical with search refinement and related searches features, an innovative ratings and reviews scorecard on business details pages, multi-point directions, landmark hints in directions, improved results for place searches, new aerial and bird’s eye imagery,* updated roads and places, localized map labels, new map style for the British Isles, 3DVIA integration, and near-real-time weather for 3-D mode. More information.
1. 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.
