The latest and greatest from Google and Microsoft
Over the past five years Google and Microsoft have grown into fierce rivals and its the consumers that are benefiting. Microsoft changed the world with its operating system and the results are astounding when you consider that every software company, PC maker, peripheral manufacturer, retail electronic store, and virtually all commerce on the web is due to Microsoft’s innovations. Can you imagine the impact on our economy if they didn’t exist today? And Google, the tiny basic search engine that realized advertising on the web would as big and as profitable as any business before it.
In the past few weeks both companies have unveiled many a press release outlining a new groundbreaking product or enhanced upgrades to their existing products. Case in point Microsoft added a 3D feature (Birds Eye) to its Live Maps that allows users of its satellite mapping program Virtual Earth to see 3D enhanced photo views of cities which a variety of view angles.
Google responded by debuting Street View, a feature that gives ground level views that even show the detail of street sings, license plates on cars and one unlucky guy coming out of a strip club to feed the meter.
While both products are impressive, privacy issues have been raised in regards to the clarity of the Google product. One can surmise that Microsoft was concerned enough about possible litigation that they choose to render the buildings and everything else at street level into ‘photo realistic’ views.
Interestingly enough Google’s director of Earth and Maps advised ‘Beyond the seven communities we cover now, we will soon be expanded to other metropolitan areas’
Not to be outdone Microsoft announced The 3-D imagery of New York City will debut along with similar aerial perspectives of several other Canadian, U.K. and U.S. cities, with many more cities worldwide.
No matter what they announce next we will be the beneficiaries of this competition for web supremacy.
Bill Gates, Email, Broadband, Joost, Seattle, 451 Press, Google, Live Search, Google Earth
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