MapForums

See summary over on SlashGeo -

Slashgeo | Impressive Upgrade to Virtual Earth 3D

Also, the VE blog post roundup at -

Map Forums - Virtual Earth Blogs at MapForums.com

The improved 3D maps are incredible (trees!), I can't wait to see Chicago...

Eric

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Order MapPoint 2006 | Read Programming MapPoint in .NET | Start Using the Pushpin Tool - Free Trial Download - click here.

Immersive Imagery. Virtual Earth is an industry leader in providing precise views of the world through bird’s eye1 view and panning, and improved 3D model accuracy and resolution to bring location-based information to life.

· More Detailed 3D Experiences. With this latest release, the map detail for Las Vegas, NV; Phoenix, AZ; Dallas, TX; and Denver, CO features improvements in 3D model accuracy and resolution detail to reveal more buildings, small terrain features, building textures, and trees that enhance overall realism. This enhanced 3D map detail will soon roll out to the more than 250 cities where 3D models are currently available.
· Tailored 3D Tours. Media producers can customize video output of 3D fly though tours in six resolutions, in 15 or 30 frames per second, and can add photos and hide or display pushpin icons.
· Bird’s Eye View in 3D. Easily toggle bird’s eye view on and off for a seamless experience.
· Bird’s Eye Hybrid View. This new map style adds street names to the bird’s eye maps to provide better visual context and orientation.

Enhanced Location Functionality. Take advantage of a host of new features that deliver directions—in more languages—to get users where they’re going faster.

· New Walking Directions. When traveling on foot in North America and the European Union, find the most direct route to walk to a destination, ignoring one-way streets, medians, and other detours that pertain to motor vehicles.
· New Traffic-based Routing. Want to take the frontage road and avoid the highway at rush hour? Choose alternate routes based on current traffic flows to get there faster.
· New Reverse Geocoding. In the U.S., find the closest street address based only on latitude and longitude coordinates from a GPS or other geospatial device.
· Improved Localized Directions. Driving and walking directions are now available in 15 languages, including English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, and Italian, among others.
· New Locales. The Virtual Earth dashboard, or navcontrol, is now localized to support languages including English for U.S.-based speakers, Japanese, Italian, as well as French for both France and Canada-based speakers.

Enhanced Infrastructure. The Virtual Earth platform is designed for the enterprise user, from features to support.

· Safari Support. The new map control includes improved support for Apple Safari 2 and new support for Safari 3, enabling Mac users to enjoy many of the features of Virtual Earth that are available on Internet Explorer®.
· Improved Printing Support. Printing support is also expanded for cross-browser support of Internet Explorer 6 and 7, Firefox 2 for PC, and Safari 2 and 3 for Mac only.
· Updated Interactive SDK. The new Virtual Earth Interactive SDK is now available for online viewing or via download, to demonstrate the new functionality of the Virtual Earth map control.

__________________
Order MapPoint 2006 | Read Programming MapPoint in .NET | Start Using the Pushpin Tool - Free Trial Download - click here.