noise to signal

Virtual Earth is now Windows Live Local

That is, http://local.live.com/.

And we've released a shiny new version. Besides general UI improvements, map style improvements, and higher-resolution aerial photos worldwide, we've also added high-resolution "Bird's Eye" imagery in a bunch of places in the US. Naturally I need to point you to some samples.

First off, I'll show off my map improvements. We went from the perfectly fine but a little sparse map style on the left to the much richer and more attractive map style on the right. (click to see at actual size)

And now for some fun links to imagery.

Let's start with classy little place in Beverly Hills. Be sure to click on the second item in the scratch pad so you can see the guest quarters I've arranged for all of you to visit.

In the same category of the obnoxiously rich, some people's commute is nicer than others.

Sometimes the super rich share, though, and we get to see something like the Getty Museum.

And then there's also cows.

Although some of our imagery isn't as current as I'd like, it does mean we get to see some amusing things in the aerial imagery, like frame numbers. There are more, but I'll let you look for those. Having different eras of imagery also means that you can see things like subdivisions in the process of being built.

And, of course, with the bird's eye imagery we can also act as virtual tourists, which believe me we've all been spending some time doing. Here's an old friend.