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December 7th, 2005, 13:08 GMT · By Alex Muradin

Virtual Earth Becomes Windows Live Local

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Virtual Earth becomes Windows Live Local and is expected to go live today! This is a bold step for Microsoft that hopes this new service will supply a significant boost in local search services. The exciting news is the actual combination of the popular Virtual Earth and Live Local.

This new service offers both satellites and aerial captured images to be seen at the click of a mouse. A noticeable
difference in this technology versus Google Earth is that Microsoft uses low flying airplanes to acquire their images rather than just satellite pictures.

The images and technology are acquired from Pictometry International Corp.; the licensing deal was made with Microsoft earlier this year. Windows Live Local offers users much higher resolution images and quality than Virtual Earth. Users will be able to zoom in closer and tilt to view buildings and streets from different angles with more ease and clarity than its predecessor had been able to do.

The official Virtual Earth blog said, "Virtual Earth has become part of the Windows Live Family and will be known as Windows Live Local (WLL)," the posting reads. "Keep your eyes open - you should be able to start enjoying features like Birds Eye imagery and User pushpins in just a few days."

It added that service is "indeed around the corner." Today's the day to turn that corner.

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READER COMMENTS:


Comment #1 by: bobad on 09 Dec 2005, 02:55 UTC reply to this comment

Right now, Google Earth owns MS Virtual Earth. The globe paradigm is much easier than MS's "flat Earth" offering. Google's closeups are much newer and in color. Google's software is much faster and smoother. The ongoing competition between MS and Google will be interesting, and the users will be winners as both improve. Knowing MS, they will not rest until they have a better product than Google, but they have a long way to go. Stick around and don't blink, because things may start happening very fast!

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