Virtual Earth Updated Features
Microsoft has just released a preview version of their new Virtual Earth mapping application which allows you to traverse a city (Seattle) as though you were actually driving in a car. If you're using Internet Explorer then you get an even slicker interface which allows you to use the keyboard directions just as in a primative video game.
My first impressions are good, and by the time this makes it to the live site I'm sure it will be stunning. It also has potential to not only mess with A9's local mapping engine (which I personally think sucks), but also take back some market share from Yahoo! and Google. The real test will be to see how Microsoft integrates search into this application. It would be useful to search for a store and then be able to see its front facade before visiting it especially if your using this in a vehicle.
I think that it will be tough to integrate this into the already feature rich client that they have developed, but more importantly they need to digitize more cities (quick!) then semi-lock the car onto roads. I've noticed that as you 'drive' it does make a good attempt to direct you on roads making small corrections as necessary, but I would rather it confine my to roadways while I'm in this view.
If I were you, I would expect more from the Big Three (Microsoft, Yahoo!, and Google) in the near future.