Bing Maps Gets Massive Image Update
PrintLet’s just assume that you prefer not to trust the big G with your data. Where are you supposed to go for your online mapping needs? As it turns out, Bing Maps is a perfectly acceptable alternative. With the most recent update, it’s gotten potentially even more useful thanks to the addition of about 6.7 million square kilometers of aerial imagery.
We’ve always had a fondness for Bing’s visual style, which is frankly more polished than Google Maps. It is a bit slower than Google, but that’s just a small tradeoff. The aerial and bird’s eye views are some of the coolest features, and we expect they’ve been helped by the addition of all that image data. The vast majority of the new data is for the aerial view (a top down angle). There’s much less for the bird’s eye view (an oblique angle). It’s good to see Microsoft continuing to invest in their Bing Maps, but is anyone really using it over Google? If you prefer Bing Maps, let us know why in the comments.
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eday_2010
March 08, 2010 at 5:01am
Unless I am using Street View just for fun, I use Bing Maps for everything else. The Bird's Eye view is really cool, and the mapping overall just seems better to me.
reutnes
March 06, 2010 at 7:23pm
I checked it out and I guess bing's maps are okay. Bird's eye was not available in my area and the satellite imagery was pretty crappy, and Bing also fails to have business names on the map in our downtown area.
I have personally found Google's Streetview service to be excellent when traveling long-distance. Seeing what that easy-to-miss turn looks like from the street before going there in person is extremely helpful.
Baer
March 06, 2010 at 1:31pm
I know of a few inacurate areas in this area in Google that in fact are correct in Bing. I also like the look better. Not a big thing but it seems like Bing, while not perfection, keeps on improving.
cjdavis7
March 05, 2010 at 10:45pm
(This is regarding the beta Silverlight version of Bing Maps.) I have been trying Bing Maps and I too really like the visuals and zooming appearance. The additional search options are very useful as well. Where I ran into problems was just the interface on the left pane. I found myself often wanting to do something I couldn't (like modify the route or go back to something or search in the vicinity etc) and had to browse back and forth to get to what I wanted. Sometimes it was there, just not obvious (needed to scroll down and didn't see that I could). Also, I don't see a way to do more than two destination on a single trip. I'll keep watching it though, because there's a lot to like! Just some small things still that need tweaking in my opinion.
ajuhawk
March 06, 2010 at 10:08am
Modifying the route is incredibly easy with the Bing silverlight version, just click and drag on the section you want to change. You can even drag your endpoints... also the local search works really well and shows various things in the neighborhood in a nice manner (making it easy to add them to the route).
It's not perfect, but works pretty well...
IMathis
March 05, 2010 at 10:04pm
I have switched over to Bing maps almost exclusively. I prefer the interface and aesthetics, and Bing3D seems to work much better than Google Earth.
rubix
March 05, 2010 at 8:07pm
I have found that Bing is more accurate in my area. After wrong directions or inaccurate locations in Google Maps, I will be choosing Bing from now on. The only thing that Google does much better than Bing, in my experience, is searching for people.
southernsara
March 05, 2010 at 6:10pm
Why is it better for Big M to have your information than Big G? I do like the aerial and birds-eye views for viewing a place I'm going to visit, but for every day use I still prefer Google maps.
powerman123
March 05, 2010 at 5:55pm
Bing renders the images way too slow, I'll stick to google maps.
Reaner
March 05, 2010 at 4:54pm
I completely abandoned Google, except for Youtube, and use Bing maps for all my mapping needs. So far it has served me well getting information for businesses i my area.
Reaner
March 05, 2010 at 4:54pm
I completely abandoned Google, except for Youtube, and use Bing maps for all my mapping needs. So far it has served me well getting information for businesses i my area.
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