New Live Search Maps is Live

Just checked on maps.live.com and noticed a bunch of new features, and checked with the Virtual Earth / Live Maps blog and sure enough the new release is now live.

Denver in 3D (you really have to try it out, much improved!)

Man there's a lot of stuff here. Just taking the high points from Steve Lombardi's blog post:

Lots of back end improvements (seems much snappier, right off the bat)
Safari and IE8 compatibility
Map Control update to version 6.1 (for developers
Export your Collection to your Nav/GPS device (nice!)
Improved "version 2" cities (Las Vegas, Dallas, Denver, Phoenix to start, lots more to come)
3D modeling with 3DVIA (much improved)
Labels for Bird's Eye imagery
1-Click Directions improvments
MapCruncher integration (this is very cool, add layers of information from within Live Maps)
"GeoWeb" tagging and collections enhancements
Neighborhood Subscribe via GeoRSS
Tour Enhancements including Hi-Def Movies
Directions and Traffic Enhancements
Improved KML display including Google MyMaps links

So much stuff it's going to take a lot more than one post to tell you about. Check out Live Maps, and the Virtual Earth / Live Maps blog and let us know what you think in the comments.

Published Apr 11 2008, 06:47 AM by Kip Kniskern

Filed under: Live Maps, Live Maps 3D

Comments

	BV2312 said: I think all peeps should read the following: blog.multimap.com/.../a-new-and-improved-multimap Plus UK gets redirected to MultiMap.com I've not been getting any Live Alert from this site for a while! Please sort it :) April 11, 2008 8:53 AM
	VasiS said: IE8 support!? 3D craps-out in IE8 spitting a bunch of exceptions. Finally i see the globe, i can zoom-in but nothing changes the images are not updated as i zoom-in. is something wrong on my comp.!? or do you also notice any issues with IE8!? April 11, 2008 9:59 AM
	LosHavros said: I feel Multimap is a step backwards from Live Maps. If they want to call Live Maps 'Multimap', then just rebrand it! Instead, they're using Multimap's own implementation. I'm not impressed. April 11, 2008 10:08 AM
	foaf said: "Multimap is now the lead consumer mapping experience for Live Search in the UK" Terrible news. Multimap abandons all the sleekness sleekness of Live Maps. Google Maps has consistently been more accurate (street address/post code search) for a while, yet I stuck with Live Maps hoping it would improve. Even if Multimap brings accuracy to the table, I'd still use Google Maps over Multimap any day! April 11, 2008 10:22 AM
	derviskemal said: omg, what a big step back. Bring back the live search maps like the new US version one in the UK! maps.live.com ahhhhh stupid MS! April 11, 2008 10:36 AM
	BV2312 said: You can shop the redirection, by removing the en-gb from (IE/Tools/Internet Options/Languages) or by using maps.live.com Personally i think multimap has alot of info to offer like train distances and nearby infomation but i think it should be collectively in one places, you don't see google using a company in italy and redirecting to their site rather than maps.google.co.uk. I see why they have done it, beacuse of the market share of Live Maps vs Multi Map April 11, 2008 10:57 AM