Bing Maps (Microsoft)

As much as I'm a self-confessed Google-Junkie, I have recently made an interesting discovery about Microsoft's 'Bing 3D' mapping application.

Until recently, it has been a very poor substitute for Google Maps or Google Earth, but recent updates to its mapping database have found it leap-frogging Google Earth in certain aspects.

Database Updates: All too often I find that Google's image database is far out of date. Case in point, fire up Google Earth and look at your home. Notice how it’s represented by an image perhaps five or more years old! Look at Bing 3D and you will see that it shows detail up to about a year ago. On the other hand, one must zoom to an elevation above the surface of about 1km before Bing switches to a high-resolution mode. I suspect that this is a bandwidth saving measure.

This might not sound like its anything important, but when it comes to back-country trail creation or riding, with new Forest Service Roads and clear-cuts appearing every year, it makes a huge difference to understanding one's whereabouts.

In my case, I spent Saturday clearing a trail near Lookout Mt. On Google Earth it shows two cut-blocks in the area and a road that only makes its way into the forest a short way. Bing 3D however, displays the up-to-date representation of five cut-blocks and more significant Forest Service roads.

At any rate, Bing 3D is yet another piece of technology to add to your arsenal of trail technology. If you run an iPhone, you can also download the free Motion-X 'App' and switch back and forth between Bing 3D and Open-Maps topographical software. Check it out here:

http://www.microsoft.com/Downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e9298080-50c4-4f2e-9fc4-4009074996ba&displaylang=en

Trail Technology - I Dig It!

Andrew D.