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Massive 33.7TB of New Imagery in Virtual Earth

posted by Satri on Tuesday November 20, @10:10AM   Printer-friendly   Email story  Permalink  Trackback URI  Slashdotthis  Diggthis  Del.icio.us
from the that's-data dept.
Microsoft Web Mapping Virtual Globe
Microsoft announced a massive November worldwide imagery update, 33.7TB in so many different places you'll have to follow the link to learn more. As much as important, last month's update brought many new features. This week, new features were also added to the VE API: "It is now possible to import 3D collections into VEDataType.VECollection. It is now possible to import KML and GPX data into VEDataType.ImportXML. [...] Localized driving directions can now be accessed through the API. [...] SSL support has been added for the Virtual Earth map control [...]"

Related Stories

Microsoft Virtual Earth to Support Google's KML Format [+]
The Geothough blog informs us Microsoft has plan to support Google's kml format in Virtual Earth. From the blog: "[...] in the Microsoft "vendor spotlight" presentation which just finished, the speaker said that Virtual Earth will support the ability to display KML in a September / October release this year. [...] so I think this is a very welcome announcement (assuming it's correct), which can only cement KML's position as a de facto standard (I don't think Microsoft could have stopped KML's momentum, but if they had released a competing format it would have been an unfortunate distraction)." Don't forget Google's KML is slowly becoming an OGC standard.
Major Virtual Earth Release: KML Support, 3D Birds Eye and Much More 3 comments [+]
Correction : The Google Earth Blog actually reported this story yesterday. My apologies to the blog's author.

Ogle Earth reports first about this major VE update. Head on over there for more details, but the new features are :
  • Importing of GeoRSS and GPX and.... KML!
  • Bird's eye view in 3D
  • 3D modelling
  • Better search
A longer more detailed list can be found here in the Virtual Earth Developer Forum. Be sure to check out the Sketchup Killer app they bundled with the update. Right click on the 3D globe, and select "Add 3D model". It will install the modelling app at this point. Update: 10/17 13:39 GMT by S : I added a few related stories below. This is really a major improvement of Microsoft's Virtual Earth. Here's another GEB entry on the new KML support in VE. SharpGIS offers a few interesting screenshots. And be sure to read the official Virtual Earth blog entry. Oh, and Microsoft have rejoined the Open Geospatial Consortium, this is great news!
Virtual Earth for Mobile Updated, VE for China, 3D Building Models and More [+]
Here's a few recent geonews items regarding Microsoft Virtual Earth. First, Live Search for Mobile has been updated, including many new enhancements. Here's some details on Live Maps for China: "# Getting access to Chinese geo data is notoriously hard. Who are you getting the data from? Is it handled via a joint-venture? Where are your servers located? # Was the data allowed to leave China? What other restrictions were placed on the data and its use? # What are the issues surrounding showing images? Why would they be more concerned about their own population seeing them?" More on this expansion here. There's also a link to a Virtual Earth customer survey and technical presentations. And finally, a mean to know building height directly from Virtual Earth 3D building models.
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