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Bing Maps
Bing Maps (previously Live Search Maps, Windows Live Maps, Windows Live Local, and MSN Virtual Earth) is a web mapping service provided as a part of Microsoft's Bing suite of search engines and powered by the Bing Maps Platform framework which also support Bing Maps for Enterprise APIs and Azure Maps APIs. Since 2020, the map data is provided by TomTom, OpenStreetMap and others.
Bing Maps was originally launched as MSN Virtual Earth, which was released for beta testing on July 24, 2005. It was a continuation of previous Microsoft technologies such as Microsoft MapPoint and TerraServer. Its original stand out feature was the aerial imagery. The original version lacked many of its distinguishing features, including birds' eye view and 3D maps, and the Collections functionality was limited to a single "Scratchpad" of points of interest.
In December 2005, Virtual Earth was replaced by Windows Live Local, featuring improvements, technologies from Pictometry International, and integrated with the Local Search index on Windows Live Search. On November 6, 2006, Microsoft added the ability to view the maps in 3D using a .NET managed control and managed interfaces to Direct3D. Microsoft subsequently referred to this product officially as "Live Search Maps", integrating it as part of its Live Search services.
On June 3, 2009, Microsoft officially rebranded Live Search Maps as Bing Maps, and the Virtual Earth platform as Bing Maps for Enterprise.
In 2010, Microsoft added an OpenStreetMap layer to Bing Maps. From 2012, Nokia (formerly Navteq) powered many aspects of Bing Maps as an extension to its Windows Phone 7 partnership with Microsoft, including mapping data, geocoding, traffic data and navigation.
On June 1, 2020 it was announced the base map data of the Bing Maps Platform would now be sourced from TomTom.
Bing maps frequently updates and expands the geographic areas covered by its imagery, with new updates being released on roughly a monthly basis. Each imagery release typically contains more than 10TB of imagery.
The time between image updates means that aerial and Bird's-Eye images of a particular location can sometimes be several years out-of-date. This is particularly noticeable in locations that have undergone recent rapid development or experienced other dramatic changes such as natural disasters since the imagery was taken.
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Bing Maps AI simulator
(@Bing Maps_simulator)
Bing Maps
Bing Maps (previously Live Search Maps, Windows Live Maps, Windows Live Local, and MSN Virtual Earth) is a web mapping service provided as a part of Microsoft's Bing suite of search engines and powered by the Bing Maps Platform framework which also support Bing Maps for Enterprise APIs and Azure Maps APIs. Since 2020, the map data is provided by TomTom, OpenStreetMap and others.
Bing Maps was originally launched as MSN Virtual Earth, which was released for beta testing on July 24, 2005. It was a continuation of previous Microsoft technologies such as Microsoft MapPoint and TerraServer. Its original stand out feature was the aerial imagery. The original version lacked many of its distinguishing features, including birds' eye view and 3D maps, and the Collections functionality was limited to a single "Scratchpad" of points of interest.
In December 2005, Virtual Earth was replaced by Windows Live Local, featuring improvements, technologies from Pictometry International, and integrated with the Local Search index on Windows Live Search. On November 6, 2006, Microsoft added the ability to view the maps in 3D using a .NET managed control and managed interfaces to Direct3D. Microsoft subsequently referred to this product officially as "Live Search Maps", integrating it as part of its Live Search services.
On June 3, 2009, Microsoft officially rebranded Live Search Maps as Bing Maps, and the Virtual Earth platform as Bing Maps for Enterprise.
In 2010, Microsoft added an OpenStreetMap layer to Bing Maps. From 2012, Nokia (formerly Navteq) powered many aspects of Bing Maps as an extension to its Windows Phone 7 partnership with Microsoft, including mapping data, geocoding, traffic data and navigation.
On June 1, 2020 it was announced the base map data of the Bing Maps Platform would now be sourced from TomTom.
Bing maps frequently updates and expands the geographic areas covered by its imagery, with new updates being released on roughly a monthly basis. Each imagery release typically contains more than 10TB of imagery.
The time between image updates means that aerial and Bird's-Eye images of a particular location can sometimes be several years out-of-date. This is particularly noticeable in locations that have undergone recent rapid development or experienced other dramatic changes such as natural disasters since the imagery was taken.