A view of Dallas via Microsoft Virtual Earth
Microsoft has rolled out a slew of upgrades to its Live Maps and Virtual Earth programs. I don’t have a GPS device and I haven’t had time to play with the improved traffic data yet, but Ars Technica has taken the new LIve Maps out for a spin:
Users of GPS devices will also be happy with Live Maps improvements, as they can now export maps in formats that are compatible with nearly any device: KML, GPX, and GeoRSS. The Live Maps team says that GPS compatibility was one of the most oft-requested features. “You can now plan your trip on the web by creating a Collection of Waypoints, then use the Export feature to take them with you on the road,” reads the blog post. Users aren’t limited to using these files with GPS devices either–any application that can read KML, GPX, and GeoRSS files will work.
Live Maps’ traffic information is now also more accurate, thanks to MSR’s ClearFlow predicting traffic on side streets, and traffic info is now available for more cities. As a result, there is now an option to select a better route based on traffic when you are getting driving directions, although during my time playing with it, I found the feature to be of no real benefit. Live Maps showed me that the original route it gave me was full of yellow and red lines, but when I checked the box to “Choose route based on traffic,” it still gave me the same route. There’s more than one route to get between point A and point B, guys, and I know from experience that the other routes won’t take as long if the recommended route is jam-packed with cars.
I did like the 3D city renderings, though they use a lot of processing power and will slow all but the most powerful computers down to a crawl.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Entries (RSS)