BING Maps Explore (Streetside)

BING Maps Explore (Streetside)
*Sliverlight required & in beta
**Streetside mode is in some USA Cities only currently


Looks familiar to Google StreetView but is a light blue indicating 'StreetSide' coverage.


Streetside mode - has similar features to streetview, controls are slightly different.


Apps for your BING Maps - Nearby App (useful), Traffic, Twitter App displays geo-tweets, many more to explore.


Nearby Map App- Markers(Icons) group in clusters when there is not enough space to display all markers at zoom levels.


BING Maps Explore has new controls - automatic 'finds' the best map mode for your zoom level

try it
http://www.bing.com/maps/explore/

warning to firefox users - can cause memory leaks and freeze up your browser.

source:
http://www.bing.com/community/blogs/maps/archive/2009/12/02/bing-maps-adds-streetside-enhanced-bird-s-eye-photosynth-and-more.aspx

Bing Maps Silverlight - World Tour

Bing Maps Silverlight - World Tour



"Microsoft will announce the latest imagery updates to its Bing Maps platform, which for the first time, can all be viewed using the brand new ‘Bing Maps World Tour’ application. Just about every month, Microsoft adds tens of terabytes of new content to Bing Maps, bringing new locations to life and reinvigorating pre-existing areas with fresh, high resolution imagery. Now, thanks to Silverlight and Windows Azure technology"

To see a live example of this (silverlight plug-in required)
http://bingmapsupdates.cloudapp.net/

YouTube Video of it in action.





Source with thanks to:
Guy McGerr
www.webershandwick.co.uk

Virtual Earth News & Weather Silverlight Demo

Virtual Earth News & Weather Silverlight Demo


Very impressive Silverlight Demonstration showing weather (cloud/radar) across the USA.
(Hurricane Ike can be seen in the bottom right)

Silverlight 2.0 interface and Virtual Earth tiles with real time weather feeds showing current weather conditions.
There also is a radar refresh rate 5 minutes or 15 minutes

http://demo2.ischosting.net/weathersldemo/
[requires Microsoft Sliverlight]

Other geospatial applications that can be used with Virtual Earth:

* Windows Communications Foundation (WCF)-based web services
* Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) Map and Tile renderer
* Virtual Earth Base Map Data and Imagery
* Silverlight 2.0 Map Control
* Spatial Data Import (Shapefile, SQL Server 2008, ArcSDE and PostGIS)

more information
http://www.mapdotnet.com/Pages2.0/index.aspx


An Up and Coming Virtual Earth Events

26 September 2008 11:00 GMT, London (so 12 noon as UK is on BST)

Following the success of the previous webcast, the second of our quarterly Virtual Earth technical briefings is once again presented by Johannes Kebeck, EMEA Virtual Earth Technology Specialist.

This webcast is aimed at developers and offers an opportunity to get an update on the Virtual Earth platform. Additionally you will learn some of the latest tips and tricks and can take part in an online Q&A with Johanne.

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032385964&EventCategory=4&culture=en-GB&CountryCode=GB

The New Version of Virtual Earth

Thursday, October 02, 2008 9:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada) (5pm BST)

Microsoft is excited to announce the latest version of the Virtual Earth platform, which can now deliver the Virtual Earth mapping experience on the desktop, on mobile devices, and via broadcast. The new release features mobile support, expanded international mapping, richer imagery, a broader range of data, and improved functionality. Organizations using Virtual Earth can see more and do more than ever, with enhancements that allow users to find, discover, and visualize data in new and innovative ways.

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032388370&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US


Virtual Earth Globalisation BBC
'The BBC BOX' that is getting tracked around the globe using a GPS beacon that is attached to a Shipping Container.
Not very exciting stuff currently but in a year hopefully the paths of the all the routes it has taken will be shown on the Map.
Update: They have just filled the BBC Box with whiskey in Glasgow.


This Shipping Container is going to be tracked for a year.

BBC Virtual Earth is being used to track the box at a 12 hourly rate.

(Thanks to Keir Clarke for finding that one)

Deep Zoom - Sliverlight 2 Beta

Deep Zoom - Sliverlight 2 Beta

Deep Zoom requires silverlight 2 beta 1, works in firefox 3beta3.


This has potential - this is only one single image (4.1mb) but if you used quadtiles then the quality of the image when zooming would be preserved - this requires pre-processing and can be time consuming when dealing with high resolution images.
A Free Application 'MapCruncher' will produce tiles that can be used.
The extra item here is that you are not restricted to using raster data.
Vector Data can also be used.

Sliverlight highlights:

• Custom branded experiences using 2D vector graphics, animation, styling, and skinning.

• Highly sophisticated across major browsers on Mac, Windows, Linux, and devices.

• HD video and adaptive streaming techniques for world-class media experiences.

• Unparalleled interactivity with high resolution content through Deep Zoom technology enabling smooth browsing independent of screen size.

To Create 'Vector Tiles' there is a little known set of python scripts available here
http://research.microsoft.com/MapCruncher/TiledVectors/TiledVectorsDemo-1.1/description.html

There is a demo that works straight from the download (USA States)

In Virtual Earth

Very Generalised when zoomed out.



A Very Generalised Dataset but when you zoom in is much faster at displaying. Notice the less generalised data when zoomed in (this demo is purely to show the process).
When in 3D mode the Vector lines are rasterised on the fly.

Limitations - Polylines only - Polygon generalisation can be more demanding.

Combined the Four Products (Sliverlight, MapCruncher, TileVectors and Virtual Earth) and you have a nice production line for creating your own online/offline interactive maps.